Chapter 3 Funeral of heart

The funeral came. Florin's parents were both crying. His mother even passed out a couple of times and her husband took her away and sprinkled her with water. Diana stood beside the coffing, staring at it. She didn't know what to do or what she should think. In fact, her mind was blank. All she could do was to watch that coffin.

When the time came for the coffin to be put into the ground, she felt a lump in her her throat. She felt she couldn't breathe anymore as that dull pain in her throat, that felt as if someone was strangling her, lowered into her chest. For the first time she felt something wet and warm sliding down her cheeks.

Rising her fingers she wiped her tears away. The dumbass has left her finally alone. No more troubles for her to get him out of.

Then, everything was over and everyone started to leave. When she raised her blurry eyes, Diana saw there were only her, her mother and his parents beside the grave. She wiped her eyes and turned towards her mother.

"Mom, where is dad?" He was there just before the coffin was buried.

"Honey, he went to get the car. He's waiting for us at the cemetery gate. He thought you'd need a ride home."

Diana shook her head slowly, looking briefly at the funeral stone.

"Sorry, mom. I think I'll just walk back home. You can go, I'll stay here for a bit more."

Her mother looked at her sympathetically. No doubt, her mother knew what she was feeling. But she didn't care anymore.

"Honey, are you sure? We could wait you at the gate until you're ready to go."

"Thanks, mom, but I'll pass. I just need some time alone to clear my head. You can go. I'll walk back home."

Her mother nodded. She walked towards Florin's parents that were standing silently beside their son's grave. They were holding hands and looked lost in the space. Diana's mother thought to herself they looked lost and scared, like a couple of children lost in the wilderness at the approaching of the night. But, on second thought, she might feel the same as them in this situation, or maybe even worse. She hugged them and said the usual words in this situation. Then she left, after taking another look at her daughter.

Diana felt out of place now, with her mother gone. She looked at his gravestone, on which a photo of him smiling was looking back at her. Suddenly she felt a hand on her right shoulder. She raised her head. His mother was looking at her with tears in her eyes. His father was a step behind, looking at the grave.

"Mrs Vasilescu, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to..."

She felt her throat squeezed aagain andthe tears came out again.

"That's fine, Diana. Stop blaming yourself... It wasn't your fault. If someone is to be blamed, that's on us. If we would have been more with him, he might have grown up differently... Alas, all is over now, there's no point in blaming anyone. Although we didn't see him too much, he always talked about you when we were together. Thank you for being such a close friend to him these years. If you ever need someone to talk, our door is always open for you!"

Then, she hugged Diana. His father gently nodded his head. They looked one last time at their son's smiling photo and then they left her alone, too.

She felt alone and she felt cold inside. A shiver made her squirm. For the first time she missed his crude jokes and unbridled laughter and his buffoonery. His antics made her days full of laughter too. She raised her hand and massaged her chest. It hurt. A lot.

"You dumbass, why did you have to do this? Why did you leave me here all alone? You promissed me we'll go together to high-school and then college. Why were you such an idiot? I hoped I'll marry you someday, but now you left me... What am I supposed to do now just by myself?"

Her tears were flowing and she stopped wiping them. She bent over the funeral stone and cried, holding it in her arms.

After crying for a while, she slowly stood up. Kissed her fingers and touched the stone. Then, sighing, she turned her back to the grave. A ray of light from the setting sun flickered over the gravestone. There, there were drops of her tears that were slipping down towards the loose earth. Once they reached the ground, they disappeared inside and they were gone forever.

The sun has set and the darkness descended over the graveyard. But beneath one of the tombstones the earth started shaking. On the stone, there was a photo of a smiling teen.