A line of cars drove down the street; there were too many to count.
They followed a blue hearse as it drove to a cemetery.
There were no clouds in the sky and the sun beamed down.
Cars pulled over as a sign of respect and in admiration as they passed.
“Friends and family, we gather on this beautiful day to lay to rest and send off Zach.
He was a brother, an uncle, a friend, a husband, a son, and a father.
Zach was born without an immune system, which made being outside dangerous for him.
He didn’t let that stop him from spreading joy whenever he could.
You all are proof of this.
If anyone has last words, then please step up.”
Everyone was crying or trying not to cry.
A woman stood up and walked to the front; her belly was protruding a little.
“Hello everyone, first I want to thank Pastor George and thank all of you for showing up.
Some of you only knew Zach through social media or from playing games online with him.
I am Sonya, his wife and best friend.” She paused and wiped her eyes.
“Zach would’ve loved to have met all of you.
I told Zach that if I could sneak past the gates to vouch for me.” People laughed and sniffled.
“I told him if there weren’t any gates, then to find me again.
He told me that he would search the universe, even the multiverse, if that’s what it took.”
Sonya looked at the picture of Zach.
“I believe he is doing that even now, and I know he will be bringing joy to everyone he meets.
I say that to encourage ya’ll to smile and laugh.
All of his gaming buddies, if there are any stickers or objects you want to put on his bed, as he would call it, then do so.”
Sonya stepped aside and let them come up.
“Sonya, that was beautiful.
I still don’t know how my bubble brother got you, but I am happy he did.
Did ya’ll decide on any names for the baby?”
Sonya rubbed her belly and looked across to a middle-aged couple.
“Hey, they will come around eventually.
They don’t blame you for him dying; they’re just hurting right now.” Sonya nodded.
“Thanks, that means a lot coming from you, Kelly.
If it’s a boy, we settled on the name Henrick, and if it’s a girl, the name Eliza.”
They walked away together, leaving behind their husband and brother, Zach.
A ghostly figure watched them leave.
The figure was the dead guy, Zach.
Zach walked around the crowd and whistled.
“Man, I am happy so many people came to send me off, but traffic is going to suck.” He walked over to his parents.
He reached out and hugged them both; he didn’t know whether they could feel him.
He just wanted to hug his parents one final time.
“Ma, I love you so much.
Sonya isn’t the reason I died.
I made those choices, and I don’t regret a single one.
Pops, I guess you really did care.
I didn’t know you were my biggest subscriber, stoic to the end, eh.” He let them go and went around to his niece and nephews.
“You two will be sad for a while.
Brandon, I won’t be able to cover for you anymore, so be more clever, and Tatianna, keep your dad and brother out of jail for me.” He stood up and cracked his back.
“I suppose I should go ahead and walk into that beam of light next to my headstone.
I wonder what’s on the other side.”
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THANKS
This chapter was shorter than usual.
Most of my chapters average 1500 words or more, so plenty of content to come!
If any information about the characters from ANY show I mention is wrong, comment so I can fix it.
If possible, toss a few stones.