Emily's Requiem - Jen Appell (essential reading .TXT) 📗

suggested.
Olivia snorted. “Reconnect? That’ll never happen. I’m not going.”
Riley took her shoulders and forced her to turn and face him. “You are going to that funeral. She’s your sister! You never got a chance to talk to her after you left. Talk to your parents before its too late for them too.” He squeezed her shoulders and left her to decide.

The sky was ironically clear, the sun was deceivingly bright, and the gentle breeze had a calming pretense. The black-clad mourners migrated around the six-feet-deep hole set in the ground. The shiny headstone marked it as Emily Lawley’s. Olivia stared at the stone blankly. Even the funeral hadn’t made it sink in; it all seemed surreal still.
“Olivia?” a gruff voice boomed from beside her. She turned and stood face-to-face with her father, whose arm was securely holding her mother to his side. “Liv…” A tear fell down his face and swam through the deep etches time had marked his face with.
Her mother began to sob uncontrollably and flung her arms around Olivia. “I’m…so…sorry!” she cried. After the shock wore off, Olivia wrapped her arms around her mother and tears once more fell from her face. Her father joined the hug, too, and the three clung to each other for a long time.
When they let go, they talked about everything from Emily’s death to Olivia’s life. Her parents asked about her well-being, her job, her friends, and Olivia finally felt her broken heart begin to mend with each word her parents uttered. Despite her sister’s tragic death, Olivia felt her lips curl into a smile. She wouldn’t ever be complete again, but at least she had repaired the ties that had once been terribly broken and frayed, and Olivia liked to think that that was what Emily wanted all along, and so Emily could now rest in peace. Imprint

Publication Date: 10-02-2009

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