I got a sudden bit of inspiration last night, and I must say, the product of my scattered mind actually impressed me to the point of changing the story to accomodate its needs.

The day of Bonnie's funeral arrived, and Phil still hadn't managed to think of anything to say. He wanted to say something deep and meaningful, but anything he thought of just didn't sound like the right thing to say.

Pacing back and forth in his room, he went over all the things he could possibly say.

"Honey?" his mother called, standing in the doorway. "It's time to go…"

"Okay, Mom," Phil said, and slowly left his room.

I backed my car into a cop car the other day
Well he just drove off, sometimes life's okay
I ran my mouth off a bit too much, oh what did I say?
Well you just laughed it off, it was all okay

As the Diffy family drove down to the church, Phil buried his head in his hands. There was no way he'd do this any justice, he knew it. He'd only end up making himself look like a fool, and, worse still, he'd disappoint Keely. But he had made her a promise… and he wasn't going to back out of it now.

Much sooner than Phil would have liked, they pulled into the parking lot.

And we'll all float on, okay
And we'll all float on, okay
And we'll all float on, okay
And we'll all float on, anyway

"Phil!" Keely gasped, as he walked in the front doors. "You're here…"

"Of course I'm here, Keels…" he said, smiling.

"Are you ready?" she asked. "Because you don't have do this if you don't want to…"

"No, I'm going to do it… I promised you I would…"

Phil took a seat in the room and gazed at the casket, waiting for the service to begin.

Well, a fake Jamaican took every last dime with that scam
It was worth it just to learn some sleight-of-hand
Bad news comes, don't you worry even when it lands
Good news will work its way to all them plans
We both got fired on exactly the same day
That we were gonna quit it anyways

"…and now, a close friend of the Teslow family, Phil Diffy, would like to say a few words." The clergy stepped down from the podium.

Phil slowly walked up, and looked out at the congregation. He took a deep, steadying breath, and started. "What… can be said… to honor the memory of Bonnie Teslow? Well…"

He paused, trying to remember what he had written down on his note cards. Turning his eyes to the ceiling, Keely looked up at him expectantly, while Ashley looked on in confusion mixed with a slight look of worry.

An idea struck Phil, and he took another breath. Using his further understanding of things in the future, he began. Speaking softly and slowly, he said, "Bonnie was controlled by the scientific laws… as are all living things. It's a proven fact that everything and anything begins to decelerate as it approaches the speed of light; the speed at which matter is converted into pure energy. Last Thursday night, young Bonnie approached that very speed… converting her matter into pure white light. No, Bonnie is no longer with us… but she is all around us."

And we'll all float on, okay
And we'll all float on, okay
And we'll all float on, okay
And we'll all float on, alright

Keely looked over at Phil with tears in her eyes as he sat down next to her. "That was so… amazing…" she said to him. She then got up and left the room, and Pim leaned forward to talk to Phil.

"Matter to energy?" she asked, stifling laughter. "Could you have been any more clichéd?"

"Hey," Phil hissed back. Unable to think of a witty retort, he simply replied, "Shut up."

"Honey," his mother said, as the parishioners stood up to get one last look at the decedent, "that was a very sweet thing you did for them…"

Yeah, how about we let them be the judge of that? Phil thought, dully.

As Ashley took one last look at her sister in the coffin, Keely confronted Phil. "Phil… thank you so much… for doing that for us."

"No need to thank me," Phil said, rubbing the back of his neck. "It was no problem…" Keely smiled and gave him a tight hug before getting in the car with her mother and sister to drive to the cemetery.

Already, we'll all float on
No don't you worry, we'll all float on
Alright, already we'll all float on
Alright, don't worry we'll all float on

Ashley pulled the black veil tighter over her face as Mandy sprinkled a bit of dirt onto the coffin resting in the grave. Keely went over to her distraught mother and gave her a comforting hug. "It's okay, Mom," Keely said. "She's in a better place now…" Mandy nodded, brushing away a tear.

"You're right… she's… she's in a better place…"

"We're always here for each other, right, Mom?"

"Of course, Keely… Of course we are…"

Over by the grave, Ashley stood alone. Staring down at the casket, she heaved a sigh.

Death. The big sleep. The ultimate escape from all the dissonance that existed in the world. For a brief, fleeting moment, Ashley pictured her own corpse inside of the coffin. But as suddenly as the vision came, it left.

A tear trickled down her cheek as she whispered to the wind, "I could have told you, Bonnie… I could've told you myself… this world was never meant for somebody as beautiful as yourself…"

Alright! Already! And we'll all float on
Alright, already we'll all float on
Alright, don't worry, even if things end up a bit too heavy
We'll all float on
Alright, already we'll all float on
Alright, already we'll all float on
Okay, don't worry we'll all float on
Even if things get heavy, we'll all float on
Alright, already we'll all float on
No, don't you worry, we'll all float on
We'll all float on…

And with that, Ashley turned and let her sister fly.

I'm not at all satisfied with this chapter, so don't feel bad if you feel like writing a review flaming me for what a bad job I did on it. I'll understand.

"Float On" - by Modest Mouse.