An Excerpt...
Now
The old 1993 Toyota Camry lurched forward as Millie pressed the gas pedal. The ride to the gravesite was neither the smoothest nor the shortest, to say the least. As she drove along the gravel path, she bounced along with the car. Millie tilted her head to look at her sister Maisie, sighing out loud as she saw her with her head leaned against the back of her seat. She was curled up in a fetus-like position, and looking at her broke Millie’s heart.
They arrived at the parking site, and Millie pulled the keys out of the ignition. She laid her hand on Maisie’s shoulder and softly said “Come on, Mais, we don’t want to be late.” Millie practically had to drag Maisie out of the bathroom where the ceremony had been held, so they were a few minutes behind the schedule.
Millie looked out the window to see the Paces getting out of their car, clinging to each other. She saw her parents walk towards the gravesite as well. Never in her life had Millie been to a funeral as somber as this one.
***
Maisie looked at her black heels. Her feet ached from wearing them. She vaguely heard her sister talking to her, but she could not hear her. All she could hear, see, and think about were the shoes on her feet. She and Zachary had nicknamed them “the cute shoes from hell” and after their 2nd anniversary date, she swore she would never wear them again. She had packed them up and buried them deep into her closet, and never intended to so much as look at them again.
Until today. They were not her only black shoes, but Maisie deemed them appropriate enough to wear on her day from hell. Her second one, actually. She rubbed her feet, examining the blisters already beginning to form.
“Mais, hon, you can do this. I’ll help you.” Millie got out, went to the passenger’s door, and opened it up, sheltering herself with her umbrella from the rain. Maisie put her shoes back on and stepped out, taking her older sister’s hand.
They walked a few steps, attempting to stay dry, until Maisie’s heel caught in a small hole in the ground. She almost fell flat on her face, but Millie’s quick reflexes allowed her to catch Maisie.
“These freaking shoes! I hate them!” Maisie tore them off and viciously threw them to the ground before picking them up and repeating the throws.
Millie took Maisie in one hand and the shoes in the other. “One breath at a time.”
Maisie was seething with anger, but she continued on. Millie led her to a bigger hole in the ground, but there were people gathered around this one, and a casket next to it, ready to go into the ground. Maisie looked around at the many people surrounding the grave. So many familiar faces, so many friends, yet none of them could fathom what she was feeling. The emptiness…the pure sorrow…the hopelessness. No, not even her parents had even an inkling about what she was going through. Not even his parents. She was all alone in this world.
They made their way to the front, and as the minister began to say his final words, Maisie clung to Millie as she began to let the warm tears come for the first time that day. Quickly, but silently they came like a stream, and no amount of hand squeezing from her sister could heal this pain.
Comments
do you know where you're going, or is it coming to you as you write?