Excerpt: Submission

And as I stand here, amongst an ocean of black clothes and salty tears, I blink away my own with anger. Though gone from this world, they will live on in another. Yet, try as I might, I cannot keep my tears at bay.

Looking down at my hand I see a bracelet of flowers made on a summer afternoon now long forgotten by all but two boys. Two boys long gone because one has died and the other has changed. He told me then, he was happy. Though short as it was, he had lived, he had loved and he had lost. Yet, his life was filled with joy. We sat on the riverbank laughing over silly jokes and exchanging punches over stupid words. He lived.

The great white stone in front of me, I see the words but my vision is blurry. I grieve for them. I rejoice. Because for all they have lost, they have gained each other.