Sad music came to life from the old speakers set up to their right and left giving it a surround sound. The sun drifted in and out of the darkening clouds threatening rain at any time. The family sat unfocused on anything but the dark rose wood coffin in front of them, it was closed casket seeing as how burned and messed up the body had gotten from the fire. Sniffling and cries of sadness spread thru the crowd as the preacher took his spot and recited passages from the bible or said some nice words about the man being laid to rest.

Spencer glanced down the line, first to her mother. She wore a long thick black dress, legs folded and a napkin placed firmly in her hand as it wiped away the tears on her cheeks. The blond realized her mother’s blue eyes, the one thing besides the hair color that they shared, were darker more distant. This bringing the fact to attention that maybe her mother still did love her father in some way, at this thought her heart swelled up a bit with joy, then died back down when Ben came up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Shaking her head she brought her eyes to Glen who sat next to their mother, his hair slicked down instead of its usual bounce, his black suit moving as he did for he was having a hard time sitting still as his eyes traveled the length of the coffin over and over again. Then to Clay who was sitting next to her, his body stiff and unmoving as if he did move the entire thing would fall apart, the family, his life, not one of her brother’s were crying. She chalked it up to the fact that they were boys but what about her, she wasn’t crying. All she was doing was staring at her family, then the casket, the preacher, the tree in the distance, the clouds above her than back to her family to start the whole process over again.

Finally the preacher stepped down to allow anyone who wanted to say a few words take his place. Several people, who Arthur helped by being the wonderful social worker he was, came up and retold their stories and how the man helped them out. Glen got up but by the middle of his speech couldn’t stop the choked sobs until Clay came up, said a little something than took his brother back to their seats. Spencer was here, but she wasn’t, each of the stories went in one ear and out the other until her mother got up to speak.