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The Edges of Heaven Leaves. I hadn't realized how beautiful the leaves were when they fell. The last time I saw leaves like this was at the funeral. It was someone unimportant and unloved. I remember this because I had not been invited to the funeral, and yet I was one of the only people there. I had been to visit my brothers' graves and I saw the hearse pull up, followed by only one car. The woman inside was pale. She was not normally this color. I recognized this because it was the color of my mother after she found out her sons had been killed. The family consisted of an older woman in a black veil, a small boy in a little black coat, and a young man whose face I never saw. His hands covered it for the small amount of the time that his head was not hung low. He wept throughout the ceremony. I assumed this was either the brother or lover of James I. Ralmond. The old woman, who in my mind was known as "mother", stood still. She never trembled; she never moved. The boy was obviously close enough to this man to be silent. His face showed that he had suffered a loss. His eyes were full of tears throughout the service, and yet he never allowed one to drop. "Hey man! For once in your life something good is happening and you want to sit and mope?" It was Carlos. He was my best man. I realized that there was a whole church full of people here just for me and Helene. She was the only woman I had ever loved. She was even there in my mind when I spent those years with Carla in France. Helene had never said she loved me, but when I got home from Nice she was there waiting for me at the station. It was her that bandaged me after I fought Nigel. Lord knows that man put more wounds on me the second time we fought. I think I defeated him simply because I knew how much work he was making for her. I looked down at my hand. There was a long scar across my palm. It was the only one visible when I wore the tuxedo. It was the only reminder to those distant relatives and long lost friends of what I had become. They knew nothing. I turned my gaze back to the window. The leaves were swirling up. Even they were happy today. For a moment it looked as though they were trying to lure my attention away from Nigel. If only they could have known. I had seen him at his first step. I only prayed he waited until after the ceremony. -Forthelove |