The Funeral

And so it was. The pain that once burned like fire had faded away to an icy numbness. Black filled the edges of Tyler's vision and the only thing he could hear was his own heartbeat. His breath came in ragged, shallow gasps. Seconds passed as he lay there, then, he heard voices. People swarmed all over him, trying to help him, he realized. They wanted to save him. If he could have, he would of laughed. Surely they could tell that it was far to late for him to be saved, yet they were like children, naive to the darkness of the real world. The despair and suffering of the world that took everyone Tyler loved away from him. He would be joining them soon though. He would be able to leave all the pain behind. His eye shut as his fragile, human heart beat one last time.

The day was quiet. Still, maybe the word. There was no wind, no rain, no sunshine, nothing. Just how Tyler would have liked it, Josh thought to himself. Struggling to hold back the grief, tears flowed steadily, silently down his immobile face, feeling bruised inside, numbness, emptiness, walking behind the mahogany coffin, saying goodbye although he was gone already. Josh's soul was unwilling to acknowledge the finality of Tyler's death. Never to look upon his beautifully soft face again or feel his fragile embrace, see the warmth in his deep cocoa eyes, or be surrounded by his love. The christmas they had planned was never going to happen. He was never going to give Tyler his present. Never kiss Tyler under the mistletoe. It was all gone. 

 "A few words from his partner, I believe." The minister bowed his head as Josh swallowed the lump in his throat, disbelief he was doing this finally setting in.