The Unanswered Call The Ignored Daughter’s Last Words Chapter 08

The Unanswered Call The Ignored Daughter’s Last Words Chapter 08

Three days later, it was time for my funeral. 

A light rain fell over the cemetery. 

Dad’s former colleagues came, along with Mom’s 

relatives and friends and some of the neighbors who knew our family. 

Everyone was dressed in black, speaking quietly 

with solemn faces. 

Mom looked hollowed out, as if she had aged 

twenty years overnight. 

Dad’s hair seemed to have gone white overnight. He stood staring blankly at my headstone. 

The funeral was long and heavy with grief. 

Mom could barely stand without leaning on Dad. 

She hardly had any tears left. Her eyes were 

swollen and red as she stared ahead without 

really seeing anything. 

Dad held her up with one arm while his other hand 

trembled constantly. 

Adrian and his parents came too. 

They looked toward my parents, who were holding. 

each other up a short distance away, and spoke 

gravely to Celine. 

“I heard what happened to Nell. I’m so sorry.” 

“Celine… what happened can’t be undone. Your 

parents only have you now. Take care of them. 

Don’t let the people who are still here suffer any 

more than they already have.” 

Then they turned and made their way through the 

rain and the mourners toward their car. 

Celine stood where she was, tears running down. 

her face with the rain. 

She wiped her face hard and took a deep breath. 

Then she turned around and straightened her 

shoulders. 

She went back to greeting the mourners and handling all the small, necessary things that still 

had to be done. 

Her face was blank, but there was a new resolve in 

everything she did. 

The service continued. 

A senior officer from Dad’s unit delivered the 

eulogy and called me the daughter of a hero. 

As the urn was slowly lowered into the grave, at 

broken sound escaped Mom. 

Her legs gave out, and Dad caught her. 

Before the grave was closed, Dad’s hands shook as he placed a few of my old clothes and my 

cream–colored teddy bear beside the urn. 

Mom looked down at the teddy bear and whispered, “Nell, take your teddy bear with you. In your next life, be healthy and smart.” 

“Be a girl who can go anywhere she wants.” 

Celine covered her mouth, unable to hold back a 

sob. 

After a moment, she walked over to Mom and Dad 

and took one of their hands in each of hers. 

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of this family.” 

“Nell, you’re watching us from heaven too, so don’t worry. I won’t let Mom and Dad suffer anymore.” 

Her voice was quiet but steady, carrying through the fine rain. 

Dad finally opened his eyes. 

He looked at the old picture of me smiling brightly by the grave, then at Celine, who seemed to have grown up all at once, and at Mom leaning against 

him. 

Slowly, he nodded. 

The grave was filled in, and the rain quickly darkened the freshly turned earth. 

One by one, the mourners began to leave. 

The rain eased, and pale daylight broke through. 

the clouds. 

Mom and Dad leaned on each other as Celine 

walked behind them. 

The three of them looked back at my headstone one last time, then slowly made their way toward 

the cemetery gates. 

I passed through the gates and followed them into. 

the car. 

The engine started, and we pulled away from the cemetery and merged into traffic. 

Traffic lights, crosswalks, people on bikes, people walking their dogs–everything looked exactly the 

way it had yesterday. 

The world hadn’t stopped just because one person. 

was gone. 

Wind swept in from every direction and lifted me 

higher. 

I floated farther and farther up, lighter with every 

second, like a loose feather drifting free. 

The people below grew smaller. The garden below 

shrank to a speck, and the highway became a thin 

line. 

The whole city spread out beneath me, packed rooftops and a river glittering in the light. 

The wind carried me higher. 

The sky grew brighter. 

I looked down one last time. 

“See you in the next life.”