Second piece I've read from you. In all sincerity, I found this very moving. Really. The colors, the leitmotif of black, the juxtaposition with red eyes... I did get the feeling of loss and the feeling of funeral. The argument for or against God was not that poignant to me as was the descriptive angle, the letters on the bible, etc. There is an element of visual reality here, example: running into the cousin, and the story needs to remain posted. It is full of feeling, but it never gets sloppy. I like that.

I really liked the mood of this, how you put all the sadness and innocence into one simple conversation. "You don't see the beauty anymore" was truly tragic. And the end, the bible in the grass... well done.

As a person who's believed in God her entire life, I can tell you that Elizabeth's reactions to the narrator's words are very realistic. I almost laughed when I realized that my thoughts mirrored the little girl's questions!

One thing I might have done differently:
The narrator mentions that it is Elizabeth's mother that has died, and then that fact sort of takes a back seat. I felt like the story started out as a statement about the conflict of telling a little girl who's mother has just died that there is no God. I think it would be nice if you carried on that conflict through to the end. I sort of forgot it was her mother's funeral, and regarded it as just a philosophical conversation about God.

One more thing I just thought of:
I get the impression that the little girl is very young? Would she understand the words the narrator was using in some of her statements?

Again, excellent concept, and almost perfect execution. I love reading your work.