The memories ease the pain inside
Now I know why
All of my memories keep you near
In silent moments imagine you here
All of my memories keep you near
Your silent whispers, silent tears
Meanwhile, Jade's parents are serving refreshments to the funeral guests, forced smiles on their deathly pale faces. Each time they give someone food, the recipient simply smiles and nods, not wishing to indulge in conversation with the grieving couple. Eventually, this stilted silence becomes too much for Jade's mother. Dropping her plate of cakes noisily on the tiled kitchen floor, she bursts into tears and flees to her bedroom. After staring open-mouthed for a few seconds, Jade's father hurries after his wife.
Jade's parents had never been a particularly close pair, let alone romantic. The strange rift between them had opened further in the last few months, when Jade's mother had an affair with a man at her work. Jade's father had been none the wiser.
"Don't cry, love," he sighs, putting his arm awkwardly around his wife. "We're all missing Jade. We just have to put on a brave face."
"Why should we?"
"Because Jade wouldn't want to see you like this," Jade's father says. He stares across the room. "I'm sure she can see us, you know. It feels like she's never left us."
"But she's gone, isn't she?" howls the pale woman. "She's not here, you know that! She's just… she's just… a memory. Nothing more, and I want her to be more! She's my daughter!"
"She's our daughter. And she is so much more. Maybe she's an angel, right up in heaven."
Jade's mother nods sadly, attempting to stop the flow of tears.
"In heaven. With us, she's gone. Like I said. Just a memory."
"She isn't gone. She's here as we remember her," whispers Jade's father, stroking his wife's hair comfortingly. "We know she's still here. Maybe, when everything is quiet, we could hear her talking to us."
"I do, sometimes."
"Well, then." Jade's father lets his arms drop to his sides. "We can go and be calm and happy, and remember that when everybody else has gone home, Jade will still be here with us."
Jade will still be here with them…
Here…
With them…
Jade waits at the doorway as her mother and father talk. She finds it disturbing that her mother has rendered her daughter nothing more than a memory, not even the ghost she is.
"I'll always be here with you," she says as her parents leave the room. "Don't worry. I'll always be here."
A/N: Ha! I defeated the evil writer's block fairy! Thanks to my brand new reviewer who goes by the name of hetty feather or booklover. All reviews are treasured. Seriously. I get hyper off these things.
SONG: Memories – Within Temptation
