By: Sydney Xiong

The smell of wood encloses his body in a dark coffin, but never has he felt more free. He reached hands to touch the lid, but found his fingers reaching through the box. He sat up, and drifted into the daylight, surrounded by a gathering of men and women dressed in black.

From atop and afar, the shape of black umbrellas appear as an assemblage of black dots against the lawn of straightly trimmed grass, surrounding a wooden coffin which seems to be the center of attention. A large bouquet of white carnations rests on its lid, its lush health contrasts against the bleak atmosphere. A picture of a young teenage boy with a crooked and gummy smile displays on the coffin, behind the bouquet. From up close, the priest reads from the Gospel with a gentle voice and a mild expression, complemented by the benign piano tunes in the background. The crowd of neatly dressed men and women and children stood with their heads hung; all of them held a grave and silent expression, except for a couple, who could not hold their tears in as the woman cried into the man’s arms. The cries of his mother and father brought tears of his own down his face.

Just as he looked around the gathering did he just observe how many people had shown up to his funeral; His mother and father crying in each others’ arms, his grandparents stood next to them and tried to offer their comfort. His uncle and aunts, who usually never show up to family dinners, mourned silently. His best friends grieve over the loss of one of their closest companions. Even some of his teachers and acquaintances from school, who he would have never expected them to care enough to show up, stood and prayed for him. He stayed for a moment, grateful to be surrounded by all his loved ones one last time, though none of them could feel his presence.

After what seemed like an hour, the priest concluded his speech and shortly after, the crowd dispersed. As the groups of his loved ones left one by one, the boy’s wandering spirit drifted further and further up, into the sky and the daylight.