When They Were Lost . . . (Sequel to That Time In 1987. . . .)

Prologue: Funeral

(Foxy's POV)

(WARNING: FEELS)

Foxy straightened his tie as he stared out the glimmering window. It was raining, the welcoming aroma of rain seeping into his small house. His friend Chica had given him the suit to wear at Freddy's funeral. He sighed. Freddy had only died a few weeks before and it was summer vacation.

He remembered the day when he came to school and everyone asked him, "Where's Freddy?" All he wanted then was a corner to cry in.

He only watched as the rain dripped down lazily, pattering against the glass.

Two lights brightened in the distance, turning to the side and welcoming Foxy. Chica was picking him up for the funeral along with Bonnie.

He fingered the folded up papers in his pocket, butterflies at war in his stomach. Closing his eyes, he said softly, "I'm ready."

Foxy walked out the front door, letting the rain tap against his head like tears falling to the floor.

*****

The cemetery was filled with umbrellas being held in the air. Foxy knew that at least half of them were students that had come for the funeral. Foxy's face was a river as they pulled up, umbrellas tightly gripped in their white fists.

Once they got to the burial site, they all stared down at the ground, not believing that Freddy was really dead. The cold did not help.

After a while, a man with a tissue held to one eye stood up to a podium, holding the microphone silently to his mouth. "We are gathered today to mourn the loss of Freddy Jon Farrel. This spirited thirteen year old was . . . a wonderful little soul. Loved by all of his friends."

People sniffed all over. Foxy still held his paper in his pocket. They would soon call him up.

"Our program today will consist of the following: We will first have a musical number by all of Freddy's aunts: Teach Me to Walk in the Light, afterwards, we will have a speaker, Bonnie Bruno, after that, we will have another speaker, Chica Piletina, and we will close off the funeral with Freddy's mother Tina Farrel, and Foxy Parote."

The musical number was beautiful. They sang with harmony and beautiful voices. It reminded Foxy of angels singing. He smiled at the loveliness of the music. He didn't like it when they finished.

Bonnie was next. Foxy could see her shiver as she slowly walked up to the front, wet papers tucked under her arm.

She got up on the podium, looking out into the sea of people. Her voice was wavy and delicate as she spoke, but she could easily be heard. "Hi, everyone. My name is Bonnie Bruno. I am thirteen years old and in Junior High. When I started, I was just a shy young girl. I always had my nose in my diary. I brought it today." She held up a sparkling purple diary, which was the same color as her hair. "I have an entry about Freddy in here." She fingered a bookmark and opened up the diary, shivering.

"Dear Diary,

Today, my friend Chica introduced me to this boy named Freddy. He's really awesome! He's fearless and has a lot of friends. He's really kind and cheerful. He's a great friend. And, to add onto how great he is, even though he has a ton of friends in his group, he came over and sat with me, an unpopular young girl. Freddy is really awesome!"

She closed her diary and looked up, her eyes sparkling with tears, as though her eyes were the rain. "He was popular, and he hung out with me." She echoed it much quietly, but rather to herself: "He was popular, and he hung out with me. Freddy was a great friend to me and all my friends. He . . ." Foxy could tell that she had a sob stuck in her throat as she bowed her head forlornly. "I'm sorry . . ." she whimpered. "Thank you." Bonnie then got off of the podium and sat down in the grass, burying her hands into her face.

Chica's speech was about the same, speaking about how amazing Freddy was and how good of a friend he was. What really took Foxy's heart out was when she talked about how excited he was to go to the dance. She burst into tears, leaving off with, "And then . . ." She walked off of the stage with the tissue up to her eye.

Freddy's mother refused to talk, as she looked absolutely miserable. Foxy gulped when he rediscovered the fact that he was after Freddy's mother. He clenched the papers in his pocket and walked up to the podium, staring at all of the people in the sea of umbrellas. He had never talked to this many people at once before.

Once he started speaking, he had completely forgotten to take out the papers when he spoke. "In my school, I was . . . a crybaby." He almost laughed at the memory of Freddy calling him a crybaby when they fought in the school. "I always was bullied and being pushed into corners. I was scared and frightened all the time. But then . . . Freddy came along. I had been bullied the day before and I thought about what I've gone through, of course in a corner. Freddy skipped a class period just for me. Just to see what was up. People hated me, and there was this one light in my life. He helped me through hard times across the few weeks we knew each other. Then we were all kidnapped and Freddy was left behind. Do you know what he did? He came back to save us all. Freddy wasn't just a good friend. He changed the course of our lives, but he had to die."

He felt uncomfortable saying Freddy was dead. He sighed and changed it. "He didn't die. I know that you might think I'll say that he lives on in our hearts, but that's not true. He's gone. But that doesn't mean the memory of him isn't crystal clear.

"The scars of pain may be deep, but the scars of loss strike right through me. Freddy helped mend these scars. This eyepatch-" Foxy motioned to his plastic cover over his eye-- "was from a fight we got in. Friends fight. Does that mean they're not friends?"

Silence and sobs filled the rainy air.

"No," Foxy clarified. "It doesn't. Freddy was very good at being a friend and mending the scars of social pain. But even though the pain of his loss has struck through me, knowing that he is okay in some better place makes me feel whole and new again."

His eyes started to sting with tears. He sniffed and said quickly into the microphone, "I'm sorry," and hopped off, sitting next to Bonnie on the ground.

The rest of the funeral was just lowering the casket into the ground, but before that, Foxy looked at the casket.

Sitting atop the bright mahogany surface was Freddy's top hat.