It was a weekend, Muriel was doing her pedicure and Charles was just across the room, reading his paper bulletin which usually was the easiest way on the island to get information on what was happening on the other side of the world, it was around mid morning and suddenly, a gardener, had brought deplorable news, Julie's mother had passed away late in the previous night. The mood changed all over, Charles was getting ready to go join the mourners but Muriel was sort of mute and deadpan, she refused to accompany him.
It was around evening and it had started getting dark, and the mourners were quite many, Mrs. Tolito had been a loved soul and even while she had been battling cancer, she had concealed her pain from everyone especially her family and when everyone had thought she was getting better, she lost the battle.
All the monks and elders of the island had gathered at the front as they prayed and sobs could be heard all over. Lance was next to Bruce and they too were in deep silent thoughts, Julie had been their childhood friend and this was a tough moment for her,
'where's Muriel, have you seen her yet ?' Bruce whispered to lance after seeing Charles
'She might be at the back' he replied as he searched around with his eyes, he couldn't see her
'I'll be back?' Lance whispered to Bruce after other few minutes of silence and walked to the back, he looked around slowly till he was sure Muriel wasn't around, After a short while of thought and hesitation, he decided to go to the Adams cottage, he wanted to make sure she was ok, he was her teacher afterall, and Julie was her friend, besides, father Patrick had entrusted her with him. He found her in the front yard, she was sitting on the double wooden swing bench, with her arms wrapped around her raised knees and her hair was loose over her shoulders covering the sides of her face completely. He moved close
'hey' his tone was low though gaze was fixed foward.
'Why are you here?'She asked instead, perhaps it had been a wrong idea, he thought,
'Everyone is worried about you, I'll let them know you're ok.' He replied and after a few seconds turned to walk away
'Julie,.. how is she, my insensate self is awful' she almost sounded pathetic, he thought, but he turned to her, perhaps it wasn't human to leave her in this distress, he moved and sat at the other end of the bench
'She's terrible' he said in a low tone
'i know....' she swept her hair backwards with her hand uncovering her face side...
'i wish i remember much, but the clearest memory of my mum is the iris...., it was our favourite flower,it was like her presence even in her absence,...it was special'
she said while she slowly brushed her hand over iris bushes that were right at the side of the bench.
'Every day, late after work, she brought me one... and even times when i barely saw her cause she was busy, she always took time and left notes with a flower on my desk, ....but when she left, everything else did.'
She took a deep breath silently and managed to forge a slight smile.
'You talk to God, why is he so unfair?,'..... she took another breath before she continued....
'Its so exhausting to conceal everything, my head hurts like it would burst, i want to cry my heart out so loud but its not going to change anything, it's just pathetic... i hate to sound desperate but i can't afford to lose anything else, ....it's a sad flower.'
She ended almost in a whisper. He looked at her, she was in despair and pitiable, so he drew her head gently onto his shoulder, atleast he wanted to offer her a shoulder to lean on whenever she felt heavy with such crisis, as though its what she needed, she moved a little closer and wrapped her arms around his left arm just beneath the shoulder on which her head lay then closed her eyes, thoughts swam into their minds furnished by the silence underneath the bright yard lamp .
Later on, he carried her inside the house as he didn't want to wake her up, and lay her down on the couch gently then got a blanket that was in one of the chairs and covered her. He first knelt beside her, staring in thought, perhaps he had misjudged her all this time, father Patrick had been right, she was a broken soul that needed the love of Jesus, he was glad she atleast was peaceful now and beneath her long lashes, were few tears that had made short streams down to her cheeks, he touched her forehead to check her temperature then walked out, satisfied with enough emotion for the day and filled with her lavender scent, he actually felt a slight headache,
he had been at the Adams for over 4hours and he couldn't even imagine how time flew so fast, he was sure the vigil was almost ending like in 30 minutes so he just proceeded to church to make a few preparations for the next day's mass which included a funeral service, he started to play his violin, he played 'S.O.S d'un terrien en détresse' a bitter sweet lyrics of his childhood favourite french songwriter and singer of the 80's, Daniel Balavoine, the instrumental version was sad too yet assuasive and was carried by the wind down past the escarpments.
The next day, the funeral service took place in the church and though many crowds were going to be present, Muriel made up her mind and decided to accompany Charles. She sat behind in her long black dress and a black scarf over her head, the mood was abit lighter than she expected or remembered years ago, it clearly wasn't a happy day but it was a tradition to celebrate the transition of someones life into the afterlife which was thought to be a better place, Muriel had the chance to get close to Julie and they hugged tightly without saying a word, the church hadn't been as sinister as she thought it was going to be, and once or twice her eyes met lance playing instruments at the front. For events that followed after, she was with her father, embraced by his arms.