Chapter 21 – The Funeral

It was a couple of days after the passing of Amber's mother that the funeral was taking place. All her classmates were there even James, all the people that knew her mother were there but yet one was missing. Everyone shook her hand and gave her their condolences. The whole time she had to plaster on a fake smile to keep herself from crying.

"Amber, I am so sorry," James said to her.

"I just thought I had more time," she started to cry.

"Please don't cry."

James wrapped his arms around her to comfort her as she cried. He had stayed with her through the whole week when he was not in school and it made her feel a bit better, knowing that she could count on someone being there for her in her time of need. It was also great to have company in her gloomy house. It brightened it up a little more than usual.

On the fourth day was when her mother was going to be buried, Amber stood along in the rain while the priest spoke and gave his blessings. Only a few people came and stood by her but their company only made it worse. The priest left with the others and Amber stood alone in the rain.

She wrapped her arms around herself and started to cry. Everything she ever had was now gone and she was left with nothing. She felt her body shaking with the cold and the rain falling onto her body. It suddenly stopped and she looked up. Willy was standing next to her with an umbrella. He looked down at the grave and said his final goodbyes to the one he loved most.

"Sorry I am late. I had to get her the right gift."

In his hand was a bouquet of her mother's favorite flowers. Amber knew they weren't real since they started to melt from the rain when he placed them down on the grave. They must have been made of some sort of candy from his factory. They stood in silence as they said their final goodbyes. They walked up the street together in silence and they didn't look at each other. Amber stopped in front of her house and looked up at it. There was nothing there for her anymore and she had to move on. She sighed and continued to walk up the street with Willy.

"Does this mean you are coming to live at the factory?" he finally said.

"There is nothing for me back at that house…" she sighed. "And you are the only family I have left."

"You will like it at the factory. The Oompa Loompas will love your company," he was all excited.

"I just hope I won't fall into a chocolate river or get attacked by squirrels," she glared at him.

"My dear girl, no, that only happens if you are a rotten child, who you are not… or I least I think you're not," he looked a little unsure.

"I am not."

"Than excellent!"

Willy pulled out his ring of keys and started to look through them for the right one to open the door to get into the factory. Amber was looking at the right key, she reached out and grabbed one. Willy looked at her then tried the key she found and it opened the factory.

"It looks like you're a pro at this," he giggled.

"You seriously need to organize your keys."

"What's the point in that? An organized life means a crazy mind," he said in a-matter-of-fact kind of voice.

"A crazy life means a disorganized mind," she snapped back.

His mouth dropped opened and he stopped walking. He only starred down at her in shock. Amber knew he wasn't expecting such a come back but she was quite pleased about his reaction. She knew that they were more alike than two people could be and she was going to use that to her advantage.

"We are more alike than you think Mr. Wonka. So get used to the come backs," she smiled.

Willy was still shocked and didn't know what to say. She sighed and continued to walk to the factory. Four Oompa Loompas greeted her as she entered, thinking she was Willy. They looked at each other and wondered where he was.

"He's a little busy at the moment with being shocked and all," she giggled.

The four Oompa Loompas looked at each other then out the door to see Willy was walking towards the door. Amber was half walk down the hallway when the doors closed. She wanted to explore the part of the factory she didn't see on the tour. She was walking around the whole factory for hours on end. She had almost visited all the rooms and she was amazed. From the outside it looked like an average size factory but inside it was enormous. She was looking through the buttons on the elevator wall and noticed one on the far bottom.

"Amber Room?"

Amber pressed the button and the elevator went in a different direction, like always. It seemed it was heading upward most of the time. The elevator stopped, the doors opened and Willy was standing with his back to her. He didn't seem to hear the elevator doors open since he didn't turn around. She stepped down and he jumped a mile away in shock.

"AH!"

"You're easily frightened, you do know that?"

"I just wasn't expecting you to be here," he smiled.

"Well you should expect the unexpected," she crossed her arms.

Willy opened his mouth to say something but closed it quickly. He wasn't going to keep arguing about nothing because that's she wanted and he didn't want to give her the satisfaction. Instead he turned to the Oompa Loompas at his side and waved them away. He wanted some time along with his own blood and flesh.

"Well my dear girl," he looked at her. "This will be your room. I ever so hope you like it. I tried matching the colors to the ones you like."

"You actually had a room made for me. I am very impressed."

Amber actually took the time to look around too see her surroundings. The walls were a nice peachy color, the carpet was a beige color, the furniture was white, all the fabrics were a pale orange and the room had a peachy smell to it. It was for sure brighter than her old room but it was nice. It was more than she could have asked for.

"It's really thoughtful of you," she turned to him.

"Well since you are going to be living here I took a lot of time to design it. I am glad you like it," he smiled.

"Does this mean I have to call you 'Dad' from now on?"

Willy smiled disappeared and it looked like he was thinking. The question would have popped up sooner or later. He was her biological father and it would make sense but it would also be weird calling him that. Willy didn't seem to be the father type. He never saw himself being a father until now.

"I don't know," he looked a little lost. "But I will think about it."

Amber nodded and he pointed to the door. He slowly walked out of the room and headed down the hallway. He seemed really troubled about that name thing but she knew he would figure it out and turned her thoughts onto other things. She started to look through the whole room. Everything was where it was supposed to be and it was perfect. She slowly pulled away the curtains to the window and gasped. It was nightfall and the whole town was lit up. She had never seen the town from this point of view before and it was breath taking.

"This is going to take a little getting used to," she said to herself.

Everything was going to get a little getting used to. She wouldn't be able to wake up to the street noises or sleep in her dark gloomy room anymore and getting used to that stupid elevator was going to be a challenge. She yawned as she looked through the drawers of her dresser for some other clothes to change into. Luckily she found peach colored pajamas in the bottom drawer and changed into them. She turned off the lights and climbed into the queen size bed. Amber lied under all the covers just thinking about everything that had happened and slowly but surely fell asleep.