‘Will you love me

As I have loved you?

Will you share with me the darkness

As I die?

For the moon and the stars will be gone like the night,

And the sun will be shining on you.’

- traditional church hymn

The music played quietly as the mourners proceeded in through the main entrance, nodding knowingly at the two youths dressed in black standing at the door. They nodded politely in reply, shaking hands and receiving hugs from people they hadn’t seen since they were toddlers and therefore didn’t actually know. The young girl seemed to be looking out for something, someone in particular. When the white stationwagon pulled up just outside the church, the girl ran down to open one of the back doors. A woman dressed in black like the others, but somehow different to them, stepped out quietly. She was assisted up the stairs and inside the church by two other women, also in black. They stood either side of her and the young girl, who had her arm around the woman’s shoulder. They took their seats at the front pew, and not long after were joined by the young man who had stood at the door earlier.

Together they wept, and for once the woman had her senses alert enough to acknowledge her surroundings and accept the situation she was in. Although it distressed her, she wept quietly with the two youths as the long black box was carried up the aisle to the front of the church. The top was opened to expose the contents – a wax-like human figure, dressed to the nines in a navy blue tuxedo. The young girl in the front row stood and walked over to the figure, placing a single white carnation in the man’s lapel and wiping her tears from her eyes. She sat back down with the two others and they whispered quietly amongst themselves.

The service started and ended quickly. Many of the guests had wonderful things to say, but none of their speaking could stop the tears from the young girl’s eyes. There was to be a wake originally, but it was called off. The girl waved sadly as the white stationwagon took the elder woman away again, leaving her with the young man and the other young people who gathered around her as the car drove off.