Disclaimer: It's an over used topic but will not be a cliche, I do not own anything MR. It's very sad and emotional so read at your own risk!
I stood there silently listening to the shovels breaking through the cold frozen ground. Watching as the four men lowered the casket into the hole by the two ropes underneath it, struggling with the weight of the wood and trying not to drop, then once more shoveling dirt, only this time… they were covering the person inside their tomb forever.
I stood back from the rest of the crowd. Leaning against a dead tree, watching as everyone in front of the now freshly buried grave stepped forward and placed a single white rose on top of the over turned dirt. People from school had showed up for the event, people that had contributed to her death and were now crying tears of guilt.
I waited till the ceremony was over, and everyone had driven away to walk through the lines of chairs and past the portrait of the girl that was placed on a stand to the left of the grave. She was smiling one of her rare true smiles, looking off in the distance clearly unaware of the camera, showing off her bright teeth as if she was laughing at something uncaptured by the lens.
I closed my eyes and turned away from the picture, turning my attention to the pile of dirt covered in white flowers. I walked closer and kneeled in front of it, twirling the rose with my fingers before placing it among the top of the freshly carved headstone. Noticing how the red rose contrasted with all the white, I stepped back and took in the scene before me once more.
From the intricate carving of the wings on either side of the headstone, with the elegantly carved words that didn't seem to do her justice. I backed up a few steps before turning completely, the image of her grave forever being burned in my mind, along with all the memories of her. The world had cheated her of her life, and I was to blame.
In loving memory of
Max Martinez
Loving daughter, friend, and savior
Gone, but never forgotten