The Funeral

The Funeral

A man in a suit sits alone at the back of an old gothic church that is filled with men and women dressed in black. He sits there quietly as the people, whose faces he cannot see, mourn the loss of a dearly beloved friend. The man sits with only his thoughts. He begins to ponder how fragile life can be, all the choices he has made in his own life, all the people he has ever known, and all the things he wish he had done differently. 

He is a young man no older than his late twenties, and as he sits lost in his train of thought a stranger joins him in the pew. The stranger says nothing, only silently looks on at the service that is taking place. Finally the stranger makes a remark to the young man. 

"Such a shame a life being cut short so young, isn't it?," the Stranger says.

The Young Man doesn't reply, only continues to look on at the continuing service. 

"How did you know him?," the Stranger inquires. 

"I didn't really, I just came to pay my respects," the Young Man responds. 

The two sit in silence once again, far removed from the crowd in the front of the church. The priest reads from the bible, and offers words about the departed. As he is talking the stranger once again begins asking the Young Man questions. 

"Do you really think he is in a better place?" the Stranger asks. 

"I don't know, there was a time when I believed that, but I'm not sure anymore," the Young Man replies. 

"Why is that," the Stranger counters. 

Then the Young Man tells the Stranger all about his life. About the things that he's done, about the things he wish he had the courage to do, and about his dreams and fears. 

"Life is a truly a mystery, we never end up where we thought we would be, but in the end it all tends to make sense doesn't it?" the Stranger preaches.

The Young Man doesn't respond he just sits there in silence. As he sits there another man goes up to the lectern to read a passage from the bible. When the man finishes flipping the pages to find his passage he looks up to address the crowd, and the Young Man in the pew recognizes him. 

"Karl?," the Young Man says. 

"Who is he," the Stranger inquires. 

"He was my best friend in high school, but we had a falling out and lost touch," the Young Man states. 

"Maybe you should reconnect after the service," the Stranger chimed in. 

Again the two men sit in silence. The Young Man is taken back by the appearance of his one time friend, but sits quietly as to not cause a disturbance. As a young lady rises from the front row to take her turn addressing the crowd at the pulpit, her resemblance causes a reaction out of the Young Man. 

"AMY!," the Young Man shouts as he stands in his pew in the back of the church. 

The outburst goes unnoticed to those in attendance as the young lady continues her speech. The Stranger still sitting in the pew calmly ask the Young Man how he knows her. 

"That's my sister, what the hell is she doing here?," the Young Man says franticly. 

"I thought you said you didn't really know the man in the coffin?," the Stranger chirped. 

"I didn't...at least I thought I didn't," the Young Man says confusingly. 

"Well you seem to know everyone here," the Stranger quips. 

Suddenly the Young Man has a realization and begins franticly looking for his phone. 

"What are you doing?," the Stranger asks.

"Calling my Dad," the Young Man says. 

The Young Man pulls out his phone and begins to call his father. After multiple rings the call finally goes to voicemail. 

"No answer?," the Stranger asks. 

The man doesn't reply but instead tries the call again. However just like the previous attempt, the call goes unanswered. 

"I have to go," the Young Man says as he gets up to leave the Church. 

As he reaches the door and is about to leave, the stranger calls out to the Young Man.

"Who is that?," the Stranger asks. 

The Young Man turns around and his face forms an expression of disbelief. The Young Man's father goes up to place a rose on the closed casket. This revelation causes the Young Man to fall to the floor and break down, as he now knows where he is. The Stranger rushes over to the Young Man to comfort him. 

"Are you okay?," the Stranger asks.

"It's my mother, she's the one in the casket," the Young Man proclaimed. 

"But you said you didn't know the deceased well," the Stranger says. 

"I thought I didn't, I guess I just didn't want to believe" the Young Man sighed. 

Then the Young Man tells the Stranger everything. How he had a falling out with his best friend, because when his mother got sick he felt abandoned by his friend. How that the only way he knew how to deal with trauma was to push people away. That he tried to run from his problems instead of facing reality and taking them head on. How he wished he had been around more to support his father and comforted his sister when they needed him most. 

"I need to get out of here," the Young Man says. 

The young man rises to his feet and once again attempts to leave the church. But just like before the Stranger calls out to him. 

"You haven't learned and that's why you can't move on," the Stranger says with his back to the Young man. 

"Learned what and move on what are you talking about?" the Young Man asks. 

"Acceptance is they key Carson," the Stranger states 

"How do you know my name, who are you?" Carson says. 

Carson walks toward the man who is looking on as the funeral service begins to come to an end. As Carson stands next to the man, a woman in all black with a veil covering her face gets up and walks toward the coffin. Carson stops what he is doing and watches, as he feels compelled from an unknown force to do so. The woman lifts the veil from her face to kiss the coffin, before the procession leads the casket toward the door. 

"Mom?" Carson stutters in disbelief. 

The funeral procession begins to make their way toward Carson and the Stranger standing by the door. 

"Where am I?" Carson asks as he turns to the Stranger. 

"Your funeral," the Stranger says with a puzzled look as if the answer were obvious the entire time. 

As the crowd of people pass by, paying no attention to Carson and the Stranger, Carson notices all his friends and family that make up the procession. As the last attendee exits the church Carson goes to follow along, but as he reaches for the door he suddenly finds himself at the front of the church. Carson sprints down the isle to get out of the church, but as he reaches the door again he is inexplicably at the front of the church. 

Carson does this over and over again, until he is to tired to stand. As he gathers his breath on the floor of the Church he looks up to see the Stranger leaving. 

"Hey!" Carson shouts at the Stranger. 

"Hey, what's going on, how do I get out of here!" Carson booms through the empty church.

The Stranger turns around to address Carson before he departs.

"I told you son...acceptance" the Stranger says in a cryptic manner.

The Stranger opens the church doors to exit, as Carson rises to his feet to follow once again. As Carson is running down the isle the doors open and a blinding burst of light knocks Carson to the floor. The Stranger walks out to the shouts of Carson echoing through the church. The doors close behind him consuming the church and Carson in utter darkness.

THE END