Rose

She looked down at the ground. She couldn't do this. She couldn't. But she had to. For him. Taking a deep breath, she stepped out of the car, gently shut the door and headed towards him. Him? No. He wasn't there. Not now. He was gone. Forever. She concentrated on the clicking of her heels as she walked. Don't think about him, she told herself. She chanted it inside her head like a mantra. Over and over...

She stopped when she finally reached her destination. There they were his family, his friends. Who was she to be here? She didn't belong. She looked down, staring at the ground. She didn't belong. She never did.

When she saw the coffin, it was as if somebody had driven a dagger through her hurt. It hurt. It hurt like hell. She had wondered before it had perhaps all been a horrible nightmare that she would wake up from any moment now but when she saw the coffin the harsh reality of it all crashed down on her and she couldn't handle it. She couldn't take it anymore. Salty tears leaked from her eyes and rolled down her chin, her heart ached, her whole body shook but nobody took notice. Everybody was crying here.

By the time she got control of her tears, it was over. She had fulfilled her responsibility. She was free to leave, to do anything she wanted to do. She wiped away her tears with her hand and walked away. I won't cry anymore. Not for him. Never again, she thought to herself. Never again...

But as she headed for her car with a lump in her throat that she was determined to get rid of, she passed by his house. His house where they were: his family.

And she had to only hear a few words to burst into tears once again.

'To my Julia, I leave her my Rose.'