I'll Miss You Forever | Rachel's Funeral {Gaby & Fuzzy}

Marco Violette

Death. Funerals. Watching your loved ones die on national television. Marco hated all of those things, as he'd had to witness them all within the past little while. His sister had volunteered for the Games, and got killed on the first day while mourning the death of one of her allies. Marco wished she'd just stayed home. She didn't deserve to die. She volunteered to impress their father, and Marco knew she shouldn't have. Rachel's act of volunteering was not one of bravery. If anything, she was making a death wish just to make their father happy. That wasn't something that Marco agreed with. Even if he was just ten years old, he promised himself that no matter how much he was pushed to volunteer when he was old enough, he'd never do it.

His cousin Julianna, or as everyone seemed to call her, Juli, spoke a surprisingly significant amount for someone as young as she was. She was only thirteen, and Marco had never realized that Juli and Rachel had known each other so well. Marco was only ten years old, yes, but he was very close with his sister, despite their age difference of a whole seven years. He was scared to find out what was to come in the future. Would he lose another loved one, or perhaps a friend? Would he lose a cousin that he barely knew? Would he still mourn said cousin like he mourned his sister if they were to die in the same, terrible way? He wasn't one hundred percent sure, but he felt in his heart, that no matter who they were, if it was someone he knew, he would mourn their death, even if it wasn't as heavily as he did that of his sister.

Marco approached the casket after everyone had said their final words to Rachel, and looked at her cold, lifeless body. Somehow, she still looked like the beautiful older sister he had grown to love. She was even wearing the same necklace that she'd worn almost every day of her life for years on end. It was a music note on a silver chain that she rarely ever removed. She had taken it with her as her token for the Games, and Marco could see why. It was special to her. Although, the boy wasn't sure where she'd ever gotten it.

Juli saw Marco gazing at Rachel's body with tears in his eyes, and she approached him. Making the connection of where his gaze was focused, she could see that he was looking at the necklace she was wearing.

"A friend gave her that necklace, years ago." Juli explained. Marco looked at her with the tears still in his eyes. He wondered who that friend was, and why that friend wasn't at Rachel's funeral. Marco nodded, and after another moment of looking at Rachel's lifeless form, he walked away, only to wrap his arms around his mother's torso for comfort. She ran her fingers through the boy's hair and rubbed his back gently trying to calm him down and stop the tears that had begun to pour out in a never-ending stream.

522 words