Blackwater
an excerpt

It was a quiet gathering, as all funerals all. Clad in black, somber faces lined the sides of the military hero’s casket. Most of the men and women there were wearing their uniforms in honor of their fallen comrade. Laura was standing on one side with her three kids in tow. Her eyes looking almost permanently red and swollen from the hours of crying.

Tegan in her child seat beside her was crying and screaming every now and then. She probably didn’t even understand what was going on, but she knew no one was trying to stop her from crying. Aiden was standing beside his young sister, his face a black stare, pale and thinking about something far away from there.

Shane stood beside him, holding his hand with a steady stream of tears running down her cheeks, but ever silent. She hadn’t spoken to anyone since she had woken up that morning. Her mother couldn’t be brought to worry too much about her own children, she was still trapped in her own world of grief.

Jessica stood beside her old friend, to show support for Laura and for Daniel. She had known him almost as long as Laura had known him, so today it was very hard for her too. But she knew her own personal pain was nothing compared to Laura’s. She knew there was nothing she could say to make her feel better, so all she could do was be there for her.

Jessica had been spending the last week with Laura, worried for her. She helped look after the kids, clean the house, making sure Laura kept eating. She felt like it was all she could do.

The priest was talking now; they beckoned to one of the high ranking officers who had come from Washington to talk on Daniel Blackwater’s behalf. He spoke about how well he had served his country, how proud he had been to be in the service. He then went out to talk about how much he loved his children and his wife. This was followed by the ceremony of the passing of the flag. The officers folded it in their ceremonious triangle, passing it to the general, who walked over to stand in front of Mrs. Blackwater. He waited for her to put out her arms to receive it, but she didn’t.

Jessica was afraid that this might happen; she knew that Laura blamed the army for what happen. She blamed the government for sending their men and women out to fight a shameful war, and she didn’t have it in her to accept the flag; she could barely bring herself to look at it.

Without any notice Shane took a step forward, wiping the tears from her cheeks with her sleeve then extended her arms in front of her in the customary fashion. The General took a step to stand in front of her, knelt down and placed the folded flag in her outstretched arms. He then stood once again and saluted her.

She used one arm to hug the flag to her chest, while the other hand returned to Aiden for support. The look on Laura face was unreadable, was it scorn, shame?

The General returned to his position and the first command for the firing squad was given. The raised their guns and took aim to shoot the sky down. The second command was given and the first shot rang out through the air.

The sharp crack hit everyone in the heart, the rhythmic shots sounding like the final nails in the coffin. Shane’s hand clutched Aiden’s tightly as she felt him flinch at every firing.