Attending a funeral is always sad. Attending your best friend's funeral makes you feel like you're the one in the casket.
Two weeks ago, I got a call I thought I'd never hear.
My childhood friend's mother was on the other end of the call. She could barely speak through her choked tone.
"Henry, Lucy is…" she quickly sobbed "Lucy was in a car accident. She's dead…"
Those last two words threw me into an abysmal depression. I spent an entire week silent and alone just moping around my house. I've dealt with death before, but it was only distant relatives that I didn't know the names of. I couldn't handle losing someone so close to me.
Eventually I did get back on my feet. The first thing I did afterwards was walk to the church where Lucy's funeral was held.
There were rows of people there and the only person I knew was Lucy's mother. She asked me to share a few words about Lucy at the podium.
I reached the stand and stared out to the unfamiliar faces. I tried to speak, but I couldn't utter a single word. Tears erupted from my eyes as I suddenly ran over to Lucy's casket and pounded on it, demanding for my friend back. I was pulled away before I could cause any damage.
I spent the rest of the funeral reminiscing the times I had with Lucy. We always played old games on her Super Nintendo, trying our best to complete as much as possible. We shared so many laughs, so many screams, and so many tears enjoying the games together. Hard to believe it had to stop so suddenly.
Lucy's mother found me after everyone else started leaving. She held a cardboard box with writing on the side.
"For: Henry", it was Lucy's handwriting.
"Lucy planned on fiving you this as a gift, Henry" Lucy's mother began "She hid it in her close and made sure it stayed safe. You should take it-" she held back a sob "-she would have wanted this to go to you."
I brought the box all the way home before opening it. When I saw the contents, I nearly burst into tears again.
The box held the old Super Nintendo and the first game we ever played together: Super Mario World.
I rushed to hook up the console and inserted the cartridge. I flicked the power on and waited for that iconic tune.
The game started up and the exact tune I was waiting for played, causing a flood of memories to flow into my mind. I could almost feel Lucy next to me, a control in hand and ready to play.
I pressed start and went to begin a one-player game when the cursor suddenly went down to the two player game. I attempted to select the first option to no avail. I decided to just deal with the strange glitch.
"More lives to use" I say to myself.
The introduction scene played and in no time, I chose the first level.
Long story short, I died to the obvious Banzai Bill after I started.
I reached for the controller plug in order to switch to second player when I noticed something strange.
The first level restarted, this time with Luigi instead of Mario. Luigi took off running and blazed through the entire level.
As he ran along, I noticed something. Luigi's playstyle. It looked exactly as if someone I knew was playing it. Someone like…
"Lucy?" I ask the TV.
Luigi looked up then down, mimicking a nodding motion. A joke Lucy and I made when playing this game long ago.
I couldn't believe what was happening. Lucy, who was dead and buried, was somehow playing this game with me. Was I dreaming? Hallucinating? Whatever was going on, I let it happen.
I continued playing through World 1 with Lucy, who I assumed was a ghost. She reached the end of the castle to face Iggy when she fell into the lava during battle.
I took over and completed the level for her, ending right near the edge. Afterwards, I heard a faint whisper.
"Thanks for another game, Henry. Love you" it said.
The Super Nintendo shut off and I felt a sudden emptiness in the room. I flicked the power switch back on, hoping I could still play alongside Lucy.
The game began, but the cursor never moved unless I pressed a button. When I tried to play a two player game, Luigi stood completely still.
She was gone. I'd never do anything with Lucy again, but the last game I had with her would never leave my memories. I never realized before now that I was in love with her. She was always there when I needed her most and I always was happy around her she broke through the realms of the living and dead to play one last game with me.
From childhood to death, she was and always will be my player two.