Prologue
I stand with my family, trying to play it cool. I look around the place, and my eyes catch sight of the girl I’ve known all my life. I frown, wondering how her long blonde Rapunzel hair has suddenly gone too short. She looks very tired, and her eyes are red and puffy. She looks at me, and I quickly look away. I focus on the black coffin box in front of me that’s decorated with sunflowers. I hear sniffles from either side of me. I try my best not to cry. I had already cried myself in my room for the past 22 hours, and I don’t think I can cry anymore.
“I now call upon Teagan to read the eulogy,” the priest says.
I watch as the blonde girl makes her way to the mic. She looks around nervously, and I have this urge to grab her hand and run away to someplace far, away from this place and the truth; to go way back in time, where my brother is still alive.
“This is very hard for me. When Katherine called me last night asking me to prepare a eulogy, I was terrified because I have so much to say about him, but I had such limited time to speak. I mean, I can literally write a book about him, maybe I will.” She chuckles a bit and wipes her cheeks as she continues, “Zayden and I were practically diaper buddies. We grew up and did everything together. Like everything. I still can’t believe he’s gone. Even in the morning, I pinched my face so hard to check if I was dreaming. Zayden deserved to live. This is unfair, but here we are.” Her eyes become watery again. “He was one of a kind. He wasn’t just my best friend; he was also another father to me and a loving brother. Zayden was my home. He was this person who could light up your day even in your darkest times. I remember the time my dog died and he spent the entire day at my house making a little coffin for it and then we buried it and he let me cry all night on his lap and played with my hair till I fell asleep.” there is a pause. I can see her smiling with her eyes closed and I know she’s trying to relive that moment. After few seconds she opens her eyes and says, “sorry” and chuckles as more tears roll down her cheeks. “The next day I woke up to a big box and him beside it. Inside there were my favourite movies, chocolates and ice cream, and then he said, ‘T, Tyson is not gone anywhere’ Then he placed his hand on my heart and said,’ he lives in you now. In your grief, you can either water it and let something grow from it or destroy it with a storm. Something beautiful will grow out of it if you let it. Something beautiful always grows from grief.” I close my eyes, not wanting to burst out in tears. “As he said, he is now living in each one of us, and it’s our responsibility to live for him too. I know he’ll always be with me, but without seeing that dorkish smile, I don’t know how I’m going to be, but I guess, as he said, I need to grow from grief. We all do. Thank you.”
I stand there with my eyes closed, not budging from my spot, but then when I hear someone saying something about burying the coffin, my eyes fly open. I see the coffin put in a big hole. I lung forward as I scream for them to stop, but my father grabs my arms as I scream and cry.
“No! No! Don’t bury him! No, please! Zayden!”
I feel someone holding my hand. I turn around and see Teagan looking at me. I squeeze her hand as I fall to my knees and cry. She wraps her arms around me as I cry and scream my twin brother’s name.
Suddenly, I hear a thud sound beside me. I turn around and find Teagan lying on the ground. I hear her parents panic. I watch them try to wake her up. Her dad carries her, and her hand slips away from mine as they take her away. I wipe my cheeks and sigh. “I’ll take good care of her. Don’t worry,” I whisper, looking at my brother’s grave before I stand up and follow them.
