It was a beautiful autumn day in early November. The sky was a bright blue with a few clouds floating by. Leaves of all sorts of vibrant colors clung desperately to the trees as the wind fought hard to blow them away. Despite the cool breeze, the air was relatively warm as the sun shone down from behind the clouds. It was the perfect day for jumping in leaf piles or eating leftover Halloween candy, but Ib didn't think that she would be doing either of those things. Instead, she was in her brother's car with her siblings, traveling down the road towards the cemetery.
Today is November fifth, Ib thought to herself. Today's the day that Mom and Dad died a year ago.
Slowly, the car came to a stop on the side of the road, right in front of the cemetery. Garry put the car in park, pulled his keys out of the ignition, and then reached over towards the passenger's seat and grabbed the small bouquet of brightly colored red, yellow, and blue roses that they had picked up at a flower shop on the way to the cemetery. The three of them then all stepped out of the car and began walking, hand-in-hand. Ib walked in between her brother and sister, listening to the sound of the fallen leaves crunching beneath her feet. Turning to her left, Ib watched as Mary walked with her head low, staring at her feet. Her normally bright, blue eyes, which were usually filled with happiness and mischief, were now clouded over and hazy in appearance, as if she could cry at any moment. Turning towards her right, Ib looked up at Garry. His dark eyes seemed to be even darker now as he focused his gaze on the grave-spotted land in front of them. He wore a tight-lipped frown as he clutched the bouquet of roses in his left hand, slightly crumpling the white tissue paper that they were wrapped in. Ib frowned as she faced forward. She hated to see Mary and Garry like this.
Suddenly, Ib felt her body being pulled to a stop. Looking down, she could see a small, rectangular gravestone. On the front of it were two names: Jonathan and Emily Rose. Below that were the dates of birth and death, and there was a decorative border on edges of the stone.
Mom and Dad's grave, she thought. Bending over, Garry gently laid the bouquet of roses in front of the grave and then immediately straightened back up.
For a while, Ib, Garry, and Mary stood there in silence. Ib didn't like the silence. She wanted to speak, but she wasn't sure what to say.
Should I ask them how they're feeling? Should I ask if they're okay?
"I miss Mom and Dad." Mary's sudden words were so quiet, that for a moment, Ib thought that her sister hadn't spoken at all.
"What was that, Mary?" Garry asked as he and Ib turned towards her.
"I miss Mom and Dad," Mary repeated without looking up.
"I know you do. We all do," Garry said quietly. Ib frowned. Her siblings both sounded so upset. She couldn't really blame them though, but she still didn't like it.
Maybe instead of remembering that Mom and Dad died on this day last year, we should remember the good memories that we had with them, Ib thought.
"Hey, remember when we would have dinner together in the evenings?" Ib said as she smiled. "Mom's dinners were always really good, and we'd all get to eat and talk together."
"Yeah, I especially loved Mom's lasagna," Mary mumbled dreamily.
"But, don't forget her desserts," Garry added. "She made the best apple pie!"
"Mmm!" Mary exclaimed, smacking her lips. "Her apple pie was so good!"
"Oh, and do you remember that one time when Mom went away for a business trip, and Dad tried to make her lasagna?" Garry asked with a laugh.
"Yeah! He completely burned it!" Mary giggled.
"And then he set off the smoke detector," Ib added, "and we had to order pizza that night!" For a while, they all stood there laughing and reminiscing over the good times that they had with their parents. Ib wasn't sure how long they talked and laughed in the middle of the cemetery, but it felt like a pretty long time. Finally, Ib could hear her stomach grumbling, so she asked Garry if they could get something to eat.
"I guess it is around noon," he said as he looked at his watch. "Why don't we stop somewhere for lunch?" Ib and Mary nodded and then followed him as he began to walk towards the cemetery's front gate. Holding onto her siblings' hands, Ib took a moment to look back at her parents' grave. She smiled a little and then turned forward again, returning her focus to the path ahead of her.
Even if we miss Mom and Dad, we can always remember the good times that we had with them.
Well, here you go! I was really determined to get this out by today (since today is November 5th). I actually have other important dates planned out for this series, such as Ib and Mary's birthday as well as Garry's birthday. Anyways, I hope you liked this! And thanks for reading and comments are always appreciated!