Part III: Laid To Rest
"To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn..."
The sun glared painfully bright onto the funeral party. What happened to the stereotypical pounding rain and dark skies that usual accompany such depressing ceremonies? Adrian Abbott held his daughters, Hannah and Delia, close. Behind them stood various family members and family friends who came to pay their respects. Sobs and sniffs could be heard coming from the masses. The vicar finished his reading. A time to kill? A time to weep? A time to mourn? When is it ever a time to do those actions! There shouldn't. But unfortunately, it is; it was my mother's time to be killed and it is my time to weep and to mourn... Hannah was amazed how many tears her eyes produced; they have been a constant flow since Friday.
The last few days have been hard on Hannah. The death of her mother was unexpected. She wasn't ill; she didn't have job that required her to risk her life on a daily basis; she was by no means old. Their was no warning, no way to prepare herself for this moment.
Laying her mother to rest had to be the hardest task Hannah has and ever will do in her life.
She stepped forward to place a single white rose next to her sister's and her father's on her mother's black coffin and gently pressed her lips against it. It was her farewell kiss.
"Oh mother, I am so, so, sorry about all this. If I had only been a "normal" child and not born a witch, then maybe your life would have been spared," Hannah whispered. Then all of her pain and sorrow came out in a heart-wrenching wail. She slid down the side of the casket and collapsed on the ground, sobbing.
"Shh, Hannie, shh. It'll be all right. It's not your fault." Adrian comforted his youngest daughter, helping her up and leading her away. Delia hugged her sister close and Hannah wept silently in her arms.
"From ashes to ashes and from dust to dust." The two caretakers of the cemetery slowly lowered her mother into the ground.
"Amen."
The crowd dispersed, and the few who were not attending dinner at the Abbott residence, expressed their apologies and sympathies to the family one more time. All Hannah could do was nod her head in reply. As they made their way back to the limousine, Hannah took one last look at her mother. Or rather, her gravesite.
"I will love you always mummy." A sharp autumn breeze whipped up around her. Hannah shivered and pulled her mother's tan trench coat closer around her.
A/N: Well, that's it. I hope the story was a good read for you! And as always, be kind and review!