#5 Daniel

by Engelia McCullough

The mounds of dirt hit the cherry coffin with a series of bangs reminding me of the sound the closing doors would make in our house as hiders ran excitedly from the seeker. The grievers long gone, I stayed as I’d always done.

“How are you holding up?” Not waiting for an answer Aunt Sylvia sits. “Your parents never understood him and I don’t think they really wanted to. Asperger’s isolated him and ultimately took his life but you never did. I know that sometimes he tested the very fiber of your being but he loved you. You taking custody of him was a good choice.”

I blankly stare forward wishing I could say something to make her and everyone else stop speaking to me as if I were on the verge of a breakdown. What did they know about him, my loss or us? To his own parents, Daniel was like an odd piece of art only to be showcased on special occasions. But I saw the uniqueness in him. That light that made him wake up with a smile on his face which he unselfishly shared with everyone. He was something that by society’s standards was irretrievably broken and gladly forgotten. But to me he was beautiful and he was my brother, not theirs.

Walking away from Aunt Sylvia, I leave the stark Memorial Park and Daniel behind. The only joy in death is that it truly allows you to lay your burden down.