Classic 83

Travel Well.

Song: I'll Never Fall In Love Again, Tom Jones

_______
|《》|________
William's POV
----------------------

It's Evan's funeral today. It's in the local graveyard, but the after-party is in my house. A lot of people are attending the funeral, all of Evan's friends, me and Clara's friends, our relatives, and some supportive strangers.. Basically, our whole town.

Hurricane is relatively small, so everybody knows everyone even if they haven't talked.. So everyone knew Evan.

We're all gathered in the graveyard, chatting silently amongst themselves. Clara is beside me, crying into my shoulder. Michael is with Mark and Simon, but his friend Fredrick isn't there. I'm assuming they're no longer friends due to the, well, 'incident'. Elizabeth is with her group of friends. Some of them are crying, and some of them are comforting the tearful ones whilst some stare at the ground in shock, like they haven't fully processed the weight of the situation.

All these people crying sadden me. I'm starting to wish that I wasn't an absent father half the time, and I wish I could've given my children a good childhood. I love them, I do, but work was just in the way of supporting them. Even though I rarely saw him for a full day, I'm still crying for Evan. He might've always had barricaded himself in his room, and I might've always been sitting in my office or

The funeral isn't a proper one. We're not doing a church service. Clara wanted to, but she knew that for some reason, Evan was petrified of that place. And we wanted to have a funeral consisting of things that wouldn't terrify the shit out of him. Minus the burial, of course.

The casket was still being driven to the graveyard, so it was just a waiting game.

12 minutes passed by, and the casket was finally here. They laid the coffin beside the space that Evan was to be buried in, and now it was time for speeches. I went first.

I stood up beside the grave, getting all the guest's attention. "As you all know, my youngest son Evan has died. It was his 11th birthday, and his life was cut short,"

I could see Michael stiffen in place, along with his 2 friends. They looked awful, guilt ridden. What a wasted summer. Those 3 boys obviously meant no harm.

I take a deep breath before continuing. "In all honesty, I never understood him myself. None of us did, but that's what made him so wonderful! He was his own person and continued being how he was, despite what everyone else said. He perplexed everyone, always having his own way of doing things. Sleeping in the middle of the day,"

As I speak, my last comment triggers a quiet chuckle amongst the comers. "Or talking to his plushies like they were real people."

I look up in wonder with a small smile on my face, thinking of Evan and his characteristics. I'm coming up with this speech on the spot, I'm surprised I haven't stuttered.

"Evan was the type of friend to say, "if you get in trouble, I'll get in trouble with you," despite his fears. He was always so.. Supportive."

I glance over at Evan's friends. All of them are bawling at this point, with the exception of some.

"Yes, he might've been slightly irritating SOMETIMES, but he was a great boy to be around." I shake my head, sighing. "May he rest in peace. I'll never forget you, son, I never will."

There's quiet claps ringing in the crowd, all slowly nodding, enveloped in their own thoughts.

I step out of the way, thinking someone else was going to speak. I know Clara wasn't because she knows she won't be able to speak from crying too much. But then Michael and his friends stood up, wanting to make a speech. I wasn't really expecting that.