The Funeral

        Roses are always thrown into the the hole for the dead. I’m standing over the casket of Richard J. Hawking. Everyone stands around the grave as the casket goes down all six feet. Some of the women cry while their boyfriend, husband or brother holds them telling them in soothing tones that he’s in a better place. Its raining so one of the men holding the rifles slips a little because of the mud. It’s a very depressing scene.

        The small marble tombstone reads “Richard J. Hawking, Brother Husband, Father, Son, Friend, Soldier. His sacrifice will never be forgotten”.

         All of the crowd gets up and reads the tombstone knowing that in fifty years or so his sacrifice will be forgotten and Richard Jay Hawking will just be another name on another tombstone of the thousands in Paqe Cemetery.

Little Jill looks over then starts to cry harder. Her mother holds her hand and asks “what’s wrong?”

      She replies “I can still see Daddy”.

      The mother just hugs her and tells her that it’ll all be okay and that they all felt that way.

      The soldiers start to shoot off their rifles. The casket is all the way in the hole now.  The crowd starts to get up and talk about what they are going to do now. Bill asks the mother if she was going to be all right.

      She responds bitterly “He was your brother, are you?”

      He sighs then says “It hurts, but i know in time i will be alrite, but you were his wife, u must be in pain.”

      “I rarely saw him anyway. He was always  off serving his country. He never could serve at his rightful place as a husband or a father,” she said glaring at the soldiers who had finished the ceremonial rifle shooting.

      “You know he loved you Lily, He loved you more then you will ever know.” He hugs her and walks to some of the others who had attended.

      The soldiers start to hand Lily the flag of honor. She screams wildly “ARE YOU PROUD OF HIM YOU FUCKERS. HE SERVED WITH YOU. YOU WERE IN HIS SQUAD AND YOU LET HIM DIE. HE DIED, AS A MATTER OF FACT, SAVING YOUR ASSES. HE RESCUED YOU FROM THAT GRENADE BY JUMPING ON IT AND YOU JUST STAND HERE SHOWING NOTHING.

      Damn you... DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL.”

      Tears start rolling down all of the soldiers faces. They still don’t break line.

      The flag falls in the mud.

      The soldiers leave. Most of the crowd does. All that is left is Lily and Jill. Lily walks over to the tombstone and falls to her knees. She starts crying hysterically. Jill just stares at me tears streaming down her face. I look away, I cant stand the sight of it.

      Lily and Jill finally leave. I look over and see him approaching me.

He says “Richard Jay Hawking, its time to go."

    We walk together.

    We disappear together.