Interment

            The weather today is cloudy like yesterday. Only this time it is darker. Darker like the days I've gone through. Non-stop sadness. Cried every night, that I can't even rest myself. Even if I can't sleep, I'm still wishing this is just a dream. I keep telling to pinch myself so I would wake up from this horrible dream. A dream where there is no joy at all. No matter how hard I try, I just can't.
            Will it rain today? I hope not. That'll make today even sadder.

            "I hope I'm not late." I said to myself as I was about to reach the door. "That would be rude."

            I opened the door.

            "We gather here today, to endure the pain of the person who passed away, David. David knew many people in his life. He made a lot of friends. But sadly, he died alone in his home, with no one to say goodbye to him. All of us here, wish we did say goodbye to him. But right now, he's not alone. He's with his family and friends." said the priest.

            Oh, it just started. Glad I wasn't late. I tried to find a place for me seat, but the church is fully packed. I can't believe David knew all these people. I thought he was the type of person that prefers fewer friends by his side. The friends that are close, the best of best friends. I don't really know him to be honest, but the sad thing is that he's my first cousin and I barely know him. Mom told me right after I woke up that today was his funeral. I only slept a total of 2 hours last night because I'm still sad after what happened 2 days ago and I kept waking up in the middle of the night. I hope the people here won't notice my eye bags. I covered it with makeup just so people won't see them. Oh look, there's a seat there beside the couples. I went there and sat down.

            "Now, Kathy, a friend of David, since they were children, will give a eulogy." the priest told everyone in the church.

            Oh, Kathy! I’ve heard of her before. There was a family reunion few years back, and I eavesdropped, not on purpose though (well, it was because I was sitting alone that time and I was bored) a conversation my mom and David's mom were having. They were talking about David and Kathy and how cute they are if together. David's mom told that David had a crush on her ever since they were 11 or 12. They kept talking about Kathy for like an hour and I got annoyed with it. I kept rolling my eyes because they kept saying that how awesome she is and such, her makeup, how beautiful she is. Then they babbled about other things which made me lost interested.
            And there's Kathy, going up to the podium, about to give the eulogy. Oh, now that I see her for the first time, she is beautiful. The conversation my mom and David's mom had was right. I understand why David liked her.

            "Hi everyone." Kathy greeted.

            No one responded. Not even a single word, only sniffs. They were in grieve I guess.

            Kathy cleared her throat and continued, "Um, okay. David. David was a friend of mine back when we were 7 years old. I was bullied by these popular girls back in school when we little. They would pick on me, call me names, pull my hair and more. And then, there was David. David used to eat chewing gums a lot back then, so he told the popular girls to stay away from me, or else would place his chewing gum he chew and place it in their hairs. The girls were scared because one of their reasons that they're popular was because of their hair. They would talk how soft they are, how curly and how beautiful they are with their hair. Anyways. David was my hero. He saved me from the girls that always bullied me. He was there for me. Ever since then, David and I are best friend. In fact, forever. But sadly, David died alone. I know I can't blame myself for this, but I wasn't there for him. If David knew I was hurt, he would come straight away to see me. That's what I like most about him. A friend who will always be there for you. A friend who will give his shoulders for you to cry on. A friend who would listen to your every problems and would support you in any situation. A friend that never gave up on your hopes and dreams. He will always have faith in you. I wasn't there for you, but I'm here now. We all are. Your friends. Your families. We all wish we could say goodbye. The very last goodbye. Rest in peace David."

            After Kathy delivered that eulogy, everyone burst into tears. Kathy was sobbing while she going down the podium. I teared up a little, but mom and David's mom. Wow. They cried so much, they needed another box of tissues. Few more eulogies were delivered from friends and families of David, then it started to rain outside. The church got darker. Someone stood up, and switched on the light. The church is much more beautiful with the lights inside and with the color-stained windows.
            It’s time for the burial. Everyone stood up and went outside. They all had their umbrellas with them. The burial is just outside the church, down the hill. The people who are going to carry the coffin will have a difficult time, especially with this weather. The soil could be slippery too! I didn’t bring my umbrella by the way, so I had to deal with the rain. I was going to ask if the people here want to share, but they already left the church and right now they’re going downhill. My jacket doesn’t have a hoodie, so I had to cover my head with the back of my jacket, took a deep breath, and ran outside.

            Here I am standing in the rain, with no umbrella, alone. I’m soaking wet, from head to toe, and no one wants to share their umbrella.

            “Excuse me. Would you like to be under my umbrella?” a man asked.

            “Yeah! Sure! Please.” I said.

            God it’s cold. I’m shivering. I will probably have a fever tomorrow.

            “How did you know David?” the man questioned me out of the blue.

            “Oh. Um. David is my cousin.”

            “Oh okay. Sorry. I’m Tommy.”

            “Um. Hi Tommy. I’m Sam.”

            It’s weird how he apologized and gave me his name. I had to give mine away because I don’t know why. It felt rude if I didn’t give mine. I think he is trying to flirt me.

            “You seem familiar. Have I seen you before?”

            “Huh? I don’t think so?”

            “Have you been to the local café in this town before? Because I think I’ve seen you there.”

            “Oh yeah. I’ve been there. Actually, I was there two days ago.”

            “Hm. Two days ago. Oh? Oh. Now I remember! You are the girl who fought with the other two teenage boys. I was there. I was the barista. You had a difficult time to choose which pie you wanted.”

            “Oh my god. I was embarrassed after I left the café. It was just a silly argument. Oh and yeah. The pies there, are to die for!”

The girl in bloody white dress

Beep. 
Beep.
Beep.
*Coughing*

"Hello? Hello? Testing. Is this recording? Ugh! I don't know how to use this device! Let me try to-" I was wondering.

Beep.
Beep.

*Coughing in the background*
"Hello? Hello? Testing. Is this recording? Ugh! I don't know how to use this device! Let me try to-"  the record played back.

"Oh good, it was recording." I said in relief. "Okay. Let's see if I can do it again."

Beep.
Beep.

"Hello. Okay. Ugh. I hope this is recording, if not, then I will be talking to myself. Oh this is recording! I see the green light on the device thing! Okay. Okay. This is good. Oh, should I make a new record? This one isn't perfect. I hope people understand my Russian accent too. Well, too late now. Let's proceed."

*Inhaling deeply and loudly. Exhaling*

"Okay. Let's do this. Okay. Heard it! I said too many 'okay' in this record. I will make a new one."

Beep.
Beep.
Beep.

"In this record, I'll be talking about the girl in bloody white dress." I said in deep voice.

*Coughing*

"Fuck. I ruined it." I yelled.

"Fuck it! I'm going to continue. Where was I? Ah. Yes. Yes. The girl in the bloody white dress. The topic people always talk about. Well, not really. Not many people know about this. Even if they did, they will say it's just a myth. I don't think so. They don't know everything about it. They only know little. Guess who knows everything? Yeah. That's right. The guy who you are listening to right now, Fat geek Russian dude who does a lot of research on the things he is interested in! Me. Fuck. That was lame.

Anyways. Back on the road. Okay. Um. Yeah. It's not a myth. It never was! This girl, in the bloody white dress, has been around in this world for years! And I'm talking about this right now, because the girl visited again! The girl didn't visit me by the way. She visited some guy and the guy died. There's news about it yesterday. The news about a guy died in a heart attack. Yeah. That's right. The guy died because the girl visited his house!

The guy died at midnight, or also known as 'the witching hour', in his home, alone, with no electricity. Basically there was no lights, and it was dark. Those are the things. The exact same things that happened years back! The years during there was no electricity, so no lights, but for the people to see things in the dark, they have to make lanterns and candles.

Here are the same things. There were reports about people died alone at home, and witnesses said everything happened during midnight. Let me just get one case out of this file.

Here's one. A police report made during the morning after a person died the night before, which was at midnight. 'Victim died in his home, alone. Lanterns and candles were smashed.' The recent visit news also said that the electricity cable box was smashed too! Basically, when the lanterns and candles were smashed, there will be no light. So the person will be in the dark! That's when the girl will visit!

Here's another one, a week after the first one, same case. Another one 2 months after. Another, another and another. Again, oh, but this one is woman, same case too! Same case. Same case.

Aha! This one. This is the interesting part. This case I have on my hand, right now, is about the kid. The kid who encountered the same situation, but survived. He didn't die. He escaped the visit from the girl in the bloody white dress. This case with the kid happened 6 years before the recent one which was in yesterday's morning news. 6 years, and the girl is back!

Anyways, the very interesting part is that, the kid who survived, described everything. What he saw. What he experience. What he heard. Every single thing! He was alone at home. His parents left to watch a movie. What a dick move though made by the parents. The kid was 7 years old, and when he got out of his house, the police came and he told the policeman everything. The parents were called and they're back together. God, I hope the parents will not leave him ever again! Ever! Here's what the policeman wrote about the story he was told by the kid.

' I was watching TV in the living room alone. The channel was about my favourite cartoon. I was enjoying it until the TV was losing signal. Then, the lights switched off itself! I screamed because I was scared, but then I remembered my dad told me where he place his torchlight. I went for the torchlight and switch it on so I can see. I heard noises after that. I think it was some kind of scratching and footsteps, like someone was running around. I use my light to see where it was coming from. It was in the corner. The corner of the living room. First I saw hair, a long hair. I followed it with the light from my torchlight and it lead to the corner. Then I saw a girl, in a dress with blood, on the floor, sitting down, hugging her legs. I showed the light at her, and she started to cry for a while. Then she moaned. It was deep moan for few seconds. Then it got silent. The girl in the corner laughed! Then she looked at me very fast! Her eyes were white. She had sharp teeth. Long hair. Wearing white dress with blood. She stood up. No. She floated. She floated and slowly coming to me. I shouted at her and ran. I hid for while in the closet. I heard the same scratching, but this time it was on the closet door where I was in. Then a knock. I think the girl kept knocking the closet door, but it was getting louder and louder. I was so scared. So I opened the closet door, closed my eyes and ran outside! And then I found you guys!'

That's what the kid said. The police wrote it all down. The police also stated in the bottom of the file after the kid's sayings, that the neighbor was the one who called the police after they heard a scream from the house where the boy was in.

These are murders now that I think of it! The recent one died in a heart attack. The girl didn't have the time to kill him, but she had time to kill the others back then! I believe the girl will attack once they see her. I think the guy in the yesterday's news saw the girl, but got scared and died by heart attack.

Oh man! People will believe me this time! They are so going to believe me this time! I'm going to show this to-"

Beep.
Beep.

"What the fuck? It stopped recording?"

*Unknown noises made*

"Hello? Hello?! Who's there?"

*Scratch noises*

"WHO ARE YOU?!"

*Footsteps running around noise*

"OH MY FUCKING GOD! Please don't! Don't! Please! Someone! Help-"

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Beep.
Beep.
Beep.

Mama's boy

"A man died in his home, alone. Police stated that it might happened just after the blackout last night because he had a torchlight in his hands. The bizzare thing is that, only his house had the blackout. Police also mentioned that the electric cable box was smashed. It is possible that last night there was a home invasion, but autopsy said that he died from a heart attack. They also said that he had alcohol in him when he died. They believed that the man saw something that made him got the heart attack. In other news.."

I turned off television.

"More of the same news. As usual, but it could've been me. Thank god it wasn't." I said.
"Honey! Breakfast is ready!" My mom shouted.

I was starving. Last night I didn't eat anything. Only got drunk with my friend at a party. Got a hangover for an hour. After a shower, I was fine. Thank god it wasn't long. I have work today.
I couldn't wait any longer. So I went downstairs for breakfast. The scent from upstairs was already delicious. I'm thinking bacons, side with siausages, omelete, and red bean. An English breakfast! Lovely meal to start my day!

"Did you sleep well last night?" My mom asked.

She doesn't know that I went out with my friend last night. I partied with girls, had booze and had my first marijuana joint. Last night was awesome, and I went home late. Probably around 11:00 pm. Well, it's not that late, but to me it is.

"Yeah mom, I did" I lied. What kind of child lies to his own mother? What's wrong with me?
"Good to hear that. Here I made you your favourite, English breakfast."
"Thank you so much!"

Grabbed the fork, and started eating the breakfast like it was my last meal ever in a prison, life setenced, like today was my deathrow.

"Slowly dear. You don't want to get a stomach ache."
"Sorry."

I guess you can call me 'Mama's boy'.

"So, how's your dad sweetie? Did he call you last night?" Mom asked, looking worried.

"I don't know. He didn't call."

Mom started to worry even more. So I reassured her by telling her that dad will be fine on his own. Mom smiled and rubbed my hair. Great. My hair ruined. Thanks mom.

It was almost time for work. I finished my breakfast. Drank 1 glass of orange juice. Too sweet for me though. Filled my water bottle with water, duh, and grabbed my phone and my bag and off to work I go.

"Have a nice day sweetie!"
"Thanks mom! You too!"

The place where I work isn't that far from where I live. So I don't need to use my car. I have to wear a jacket every time I go to work on foot because it's really cold, but sadly I forgot my jacket.

Just as I was about to arrive, my phone buzzed and rang. My ringtone started to play outloud. I have to answer it before it draws attention to me. So I reached into my pocket, grab the phone and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Tommy?"

"Dad?"

"Tommy!"

"Dad!"

"It's so good to listen to your voice again!"

"Yours too, dad! When are you coming back?"

"I don't know yet. Probably in 3 weeks."

As soon as I heard that, I was disappointed. But I didn't want my dad to know so I covered it by using another tone when talking to him.

"So Tommy, I heard you got a new job. What's the job?"

"Yeah I did. I am a barista at the coffee shop where you usually go for lunch with your colleagues at work."

"Does it pay much?"

"Not really, but it's enough for me."

Then I realised I was going to be late at work, and I'm still outside the café. So I told my dad that I have to go. Dad said he'll call again soon. I entered the café through the back door.

"Wow you're almost late." Josh said.

"Yeah, no shit, Josh."

"It's your shift now being the cashier."

"What? I thought it was Ronald's turn."

"Well yeah, but he got sick."

"Damn it. Why now? Fuck. Fine."

I put on my apron with my name on it, and went to the cashier. I was annoyed though. Ronald is always sick and I have to do his part of the job everytime. I'm annoyed because I don't get paid for this. Ronald still receives his wages because of his work that I've done for him. So unfair.

These teenage couples are having a difficult time to order, especially the girl. God, she doesn't know what kind of pies to order. Ofcourse I can't show that kind of body language towards customers. So I have to pretend that I'm patient, or else my wages will be cut off. Finally she chose a pie.

"Hey, Josh. One black coffee, two vanilla shakes and one chicken pie. The name for the order is Sam."

"Alright, Tommy."

"Next!" I shouted, but not too loud and not the rude kind either. "Hi welcome! How may I help you?"

"Hi, we would like to order-"

Before I could listen to the next order, I heard someone yelling. It was those teenage couples. They were fighting. The other teenager tried to stop them, but got into the fight as well. I got distracted by them.

"Excuse me."

"Oh sorry sir, I was distracted by those teenagers there."

"It's alright. We want two caramel coffees and one blueberry pie, please. Thank you."

Told Josh what was the next order. Josh said okay.

God, the teenagers are still fighting. They are so loud! Everyone in the café stopped what they were doing and watched the teenagers fighting. They were shouting at each other. 

"Hey, Josh, can you tell those teenagers to stop fighting? They are disturbing the others and if they won't stop fighting, ask them to leave."

Josh nodded and will stop them. But before he could, one of the teen shouted, and stormed off. The teenager girl too. Josh continued from where he left off. Then the other teenager left the café. Back to peace and quiet. 

"Order for Sam!" Josh called. No one came. "Order for Sam?" Josh tried again.

"Josh, that order was for the teenagers who just left."

"What am I suppose to do with these then?"

"I don't know."

My phone buzzed and rang again. Probably dad again.

"Hey Josh, do you mind taking my place for a while? Just for few minutes."

"Yeah, sure. I don't mind."

I took the phone out and answered it.

"Tommy, David died last night. I'm so sorry."

"Mom? Wait, what?" I didn't catch it at first. Then I recalled what she said and try to rephrase it.

"David died last night?"

"Yeah. Did you hear the news this morning?"

Holy shit. The news from this morning was about David?! What the fuck! I went out with David last night for the party, and now he's dead? Fuck.

Social news

          I’m on every social media I have an account for. Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, Ask.fm, and Instagram. I’m checking all of them; the tweets, posts, statuses, pictures and questions in my timeline, and I wondered, without social media, how can people all around the world know what’s going on around the world? Like let’s say if there’s a war for example, between country A and country Z. The other countries, such as B, C, D, X, Y and more alphabet countries, would know if there’s that war A and Z are having. The news will spread so slowly until one of the countries accidently dropped a bomb in an innocent alphabet country. With social media, anyone in the world can know what’s going on with the world within a blink of an eye. Just search it in search engines like Google and bam! Billion results found less than 1 second, that is related with what people wanted to search on. Thank you technology!

          Just received a notification in Ask.fm.

“Kathy, what colour do you like the most?” A friend of mine asked in Ask.fm.

I answered, “I like the colour pink. No, wait. I don’t like pink. I love them. I even make my MacBook pink.”

          I’m at my favourite café, where I usually spend my afternoons here, drinking coffees, eating the best pies in the world, and listening to the jazz music. Oh my god, the jazz music here is so relaxing. The way the piano and trumpet combine. I’m in love!

          Just received another notification, but this time it’s from Facebook.

“How are you holding up, Kathy?” My mum asked.

          My mum just joined Facebook few weeks ago, and requested me to be her friend. Obviously I have to accept it or else my mum would think I have something that I would hide from her. I let my mum know every single thing. My problems, where I go, what I want to do, because I know she cares about me. That’s why I love her and tell her everything. Even if I have a boyfriend, I would tell her straight away.

“I’m fine, mum.” I replied.

“Haven’t you heard?”

“About what?”

“About your best friend, David.”

          David is a best friend of mine. We met when we were 7. I was being made fun of by the other girls at my school. They would call me names, insult me, and they make me sad. One time, they made fun of me so hard, I cried, and that’s where David came and rescued me. He told the girls to stay away from me or else he will put his chewing gum on their hair. David back then used to have a chewing gum. He said he chews gum because he’s embarrassed if people think his breath stinks. Since then, the girls stopped bullying me. They’re afraid that the gum would stuck on their hair and the only way to get it out is to cut their hair short.

“No, mum. Why?”

“Your best friend since you were 7.”

“Yeah mum, I know. What happened?”

“He died last night at midnight. It was a heart attack.”

          My heart dropped as soon as I read that text. I couldn’t believe it. I even thought this might be a prank that my friends would do to me, but none of my friends like to my death pranks, and this is from my own mum. I cried a little.

          After all of that, I couldn’t wait in the café any longer. So I decided to pack my things. I have to visit David’s parents, because I want to be there with them for him, like David was there for me when we were 7. So I pack my things as fast as I could.

          While I was packing my stuffs, there were these teenagers in the café, 2 of them were fighting and the other tried to stop, but somehow joined in the fight. They were arguing with each other, proving each other’s point, saying that they’re right and their friends are wrong. Everyone in the café got distracted by them. I admit it they were loud, but I wasn’t distracted by them. I was distracted because of what my mum told me. There were also these couples, who couldn’t find any seat at all. So I better just go and give this table to them.

          Got out of the café, and went to my car. Threw my bag on the passenger seat and off I go to David’s house. I’m on my way to your parents David, so I can be there for them, like you’ve been there for me.