Okay, so this one isn't funny. Basically, it started out as a good idea and deteriorated to this. I couldn't figure out why I ended up not really liking it, so I decided to go ahead and add it on.
#4: The End (Graveyard)
I was always proud that my father ran the graveyard. Most people never understood that. In my view, it is an important job. One for the living as well as for the dead. When I was young I used to wonder about all the people buried there. Now that I'm a little older, I help out there often.
I have seen many people come and go, but one particular group touched me. I recognized the military officers , they came to visit fallen comrades from time to time. There was the one who would always stop and show me pictures of his family on the way out. He was the first one.
I was used to the funeral processions, and at first his did not attract much notice from me. But then I heard the little girl. How could I not recognize her? And her mother too.
I sat for hours watching the people stand by his grave. The major, the cornel cried. I saw them. It made me feel so hopeless. If even they could not stop themselves, who could. It was finally the blond Lt. who lead the Col. away.
That grave was visited often. I could not help but feel happy for Maes Hughes sometimes. So many graves are unkempt and flowerless always. I often guessed who I would see visit him nearly that day. I would wish for someone to come every day.
I got my wish. It made me believe the saying "be careful what you wish for". Things got pretty bad for everyone. The land was torn with war again. The graveyard was constantly busy. I was always surrounded with weeping friends and family of another fallen person.
Another member of the group fell. The younger one, with the glasses. His family, too, was enough to break one's heart. His mother, his nephews, his older brother, his teenaged sister….
And the blond haired captain lead the brigadier general away as he shead a single tear for another loyal follower. One who had believed in him.
Things got worse before they got better. Even the graveyard was not safe. It was often desecrated, and I found myself crying over the broken gravestone of Second Lt. Cain Fuery.
Something strange happened the next time I saw them. This time the dead are two. But the funeral procession misses many more. The two brothers, one the Fullmetal Alchemist, have seemingly disappeared. The wife and daughter of Brigadier General Hughes were evacuated for a safer place.
The names Sergeant Falman and First Lt. Breda take their places next to their friends. My father never allowed the adjacent plots to be used. Somehow, he just knew….
This time, the dark haired Major General lets two tears fall. This time the blond major leads him away. This time it is a little harder.
The city was going to pieces. Buildings were in ruins. Nothing was sacred. I saw many friends of my own fall prey to the mighty conflict. Sometimes I saw one of them on the streets, fighting for the people. For me. I felt helpless.
It seemed like no time passed at all until the tall muscular man was brought in in a coffin. Few members of his family were even able to make it to his funeral because of all the violence. So I marched with them. Nobody took much notice, but I felt it was right. I felt it my duty to Col. Louis Armstrong.
And the blond Lt. Col. Leads the Lt. General away from the five gravestones. And another tear fell. And I felt the hope waning. Why couldn't the military bring peace? wondered how long we could continue to live like we did. One could hardly venture outside. My father forbid me from leaving the house. I only disobeyed once.
It was the one who always smoked. It was his way of denying reality. I hid behind a tree, finding it hard to refrain from running to comfort a hysterical young women being held back by two others. The man's fiancé. The only time I put myself in danger was for the burial of Lt. Col. Jean Havoc.
Once again, the blond Col. took the General away. He could not hide his tear from her, but she helped him hide it from the world.
And then a miracle happened. Peace. Once again the people were free to go out on the streets without having to fear being shot. Children can play outside.
But there was one last headstone to be engraved: General Riza Hawkeye. Eight graves in a perfect line. And at the end there is one more empty plot: one that will someday contain a stone bearing the name Mustang.
This time, there is no one to console the black-haired man. The Fuehrer turns, slowly, and leaves on his own. And the people are free.
But does the end justify the means?
Yep. Yeah. That's it.
