Out Of Control

We Only See Eachother At Weddings And Funerals

Franks pov

Trigger warning for funerals/death

My eyes raked over myself in the mirror. My reflection looking like a false copy of myself rather than the real thing. The dusty suit hung over my body, weirdly fitting and uncomfortable. I glared at the imposter in the mirror, trying to scare my reflection and make it back away.

I heard a knock on the ajar door, "C- come in." I said, surprised at the wobble in my voice. My aunt walked in, wearing a simple black knee-length dress and a sheer black scarf that was patterned with the white silhouettes of doves. Her warm brown hair was pinned up behind her head, flowing over her shoulders elegantly. I noticed things in her that I noticed in my mother, as if my aunt was an alternate version, the one that never broke.

"How are you?" She asked softly, her warm voice filling the silent room.

I shrugged my shoulders, shoving my hands in my pocket and looking down at my scuffed shoes. My aunt smiled at me sadly, her eyes glancing over the mirror.

I turned and walked out of the room, walking slowly down the stairs before leaning with my back against the door frame. I tilted my head towards the ceiling, trying to stop the tears that were forming. I heard my aunt's soft footsteps come down the stairs followed by the jingle of keys as she picked them up from where they lay on the coffee table.

"Are you ready to go, dear?" She asked me softly. I nodded, swallowing down the uncomfortable lump in my throat and stepping away from the door.

I walked out the now unlocked door, the blinding sun cut across my face as I exited the house. A harsh February breeze ran around the surrounding houses, seeping through my thin suit and chilling my bones. The nearby free branches drooped from the weight of lasts night's rain, their fronds perfectly matching my bleak mood. A few weak clouds hung in the sky, their wispy trails mulling around aimlessly.

I climbed in the back of my aunts mud-splattered Kia, I pulled the seatbelt across my chest before I settled for staring out the window as my aunt got in the driver's side and started the car.

I watched my breath fog up the cold window as blurred houses moved past in the background. I wrung my hands uncomfortably, picking at my cuticles absentmindedly. The atmosphere seemed dark and heavy, as if the entire world had stopped to mourn the loss of my mother. It hadn't, of course, but to my grief filled brain nothing but sadness could possibly exist anywhere in the world.

A gazed at the passing cars, wondering who inhabited them and what their destination was. I wondered if someone else we had passed was potentially feeling the same sorrow as myself.

We arrived at the church after about ten minutes of sullen silence. My eyes raked over the small group of people that stood somberly mingling outside. All of them clad in black from head to toe. A few sodden leaves hung around on the cobbled floor, sticking to the undersides of people shoes and became strewn around on the floor.

I recognised a few faces from my childhood. Though most of them looked liked strangers. "Are you ready, dear?" I heard my aunts soft voice call. I shrugged at the question, swallowing my tears, and stepped out into the cold.

My aunt followed suit, readjusting her black scarf that sat around her neck, tied I'm a loose not at the front. Someone I vaguely recognised as my mother's cousin walked up to us, "oh, Marie." She said pitifully, completely ignoring me as she clasped my aunts hands in a death-tight grip, "oh it's so unfortunate isn't it?" She barely leg my aunt nod before she continued, "oh but after Frank's death I think we all knew what was happening." I clenched my fists at her blasé attitude, noticing my aunt get equally uncomfortable. "Oh well, I'll see you soon." She finished.