world we created, paul lahote

ZERO

The morning was bleak and sombre with a heavy sky overhead and the air thick with a damp chill. Dark clouds loomed low in the sky, casting a pall over the small cemetery where the family gathered round to bury a loved one, to say their last goodbyes.

Drops of rain fell softly at first, landing on the black umbrellas with audible thuds, but soon turned into a steady downpour, drenching the mourners and turning the freshly dug dirt into mud.

Lucia Barone shivered in her black dress, feeling as though the weather was a cruel reflection of the grief and emptiness she felt inside. She stood alone by her mother's graveside who was now buried beside her father per her request all those years ago, watching as the rain turned the world into a grey blur, wondering if the sun would ever shine again.

She wanted to scream, she wanted to wail and she wanted to collapse to the ground, praying to God to bring her mother back. But, it felt as if it had all gotten lodged in her throat. She could barely feel the cold as it danced across her skin for the pain that had left her heart which had once been full of warmth a gaping pit of numbness and pain. She could barely focus on anything as she attempted not to shatter like a porcelain doll dropping to the floor.

She heard her family leave her to herself, gazing at the ground. She was so tired and she wanted the pain to stop. She wanted everything to stop.

A warm hand, a sharp contrast to the cold which she had become accustomed to, placed itself on her shoulder. Directing her gaze to the source she saw Charlie and her facade came crashing to the ground. Tears poured from her forest green eyes like waterfalls wetting her freckled cheeks as her lip quivered, creating a hauntingly beautiful image of the alluring girl.

Bringing her hand to her chest, she cried softly, "Please make it stop, Uncle Charlie. Please make the pain go away. It hurts, it hurts so much."

As he pulled her into his warm embrace, he held her tight as she sobbed. She felt like she was drowning, gasping for air as whatever was latched onto her foot continued to drag her far away from the surface. The lump in her throat made it hard to breathe and she was sure if Charlie hadn't held onto her she would've collapsed in utter agony. Everything that had built up from the time of her mother's passing was pushed to the surface, the floodgates of the dam opening as water rushed forward like an army of soldiers ready for battle.

"Shh," he cooed, not used to being the support beam to someone's grief. "Everything will be alright, Lucy. I'm right here. I've got you."

"She's gone, Uncle Charlie. She- she's gone," she cried as she gripped his jacket.

Charlie wanted to cry at that moment. He had attempted to stay strong for her but he had lost his little sister. He understood the pain and he wished he could take it away and carry it himself but he couldn't. Tucking her into his side, Charlie escorted the two of them out of the graveyard, knowing that they had a flight in less than an hour.

As they drove away from the cemetery, Lucia didn't know that this was the pivotal moment in her story that led her to her future. That led her to him.