“Quincy And That Unusual Friend Of His”

  By Brian Roberson  

Epilogue

The car slowly rolled into the parking lot of the cemetery, and had found a spot near the gated entrance. Quincy got out of the drivers seat, grabbed a bouquet of flowers that were in the car, and shut the door. His wife Vanessa got out of the driver side passenger seat. They both opened the back seat doors and reached in. Quincy grabbed their six year old daughter Caitlinn out of the back seat and held her in his arms. Vanessa grabbed their two year old daughter Tamara out of the booster seat. Tamara had a pacifier in her mouth and a teddy bear in her hand. The family then headed into the cemetery. They went over to the small gravestone in the corner that Quincy had visited every August 31 for the past twenty years. Quincy and Vanessa put their arms around each others backs as they held their children and stared down at Erik's grave.

"Is this the boy that you talk about, Daddy?" Quincy's daughter asked as he held her.

"It sure is, Caitlinn."

Caitlinn then rubbed her eye and put her head down on Quincy's shoulder. "I feel sad." She said.

Quincy smiled. "Now how can that be, Caitlinn? You've never even met him."

"Because you talk about him a lot and I feel sorry for him for having to be in the ground like that."

"That's only part of him in the ground, Honey. The part that counts is up there." Vanessa said as she pointed up to the sky.

Caitlinn looked up into the sky and then looked back down at the grave.

"You miss him a lot, don't you Daddy?"

"Of course I miss him, but I know that he's happy where he is." Quincy answered. Caitlinn then put her arms around Quincy's neck and he held her tight with his eyes closed. "Oh I love you..." He whispered. He then got the bouquet of flowers ready to drop down onto the grave.

"Daddy, can I put the flowers there?" Caitlinn asked.

Quincy smiled. "Of course you can, Honey." He said as he gave her the bouquet. Caitlinn then dropped it down and it landed right in front of the gravestone. The family all looked down at the flowers on the grave in silence for several seconds.

Quincy then cleared his throat and smiled. "Well, enough of this!" He said as he wiped a small tear from the corner of his eye. "Who wants pizza?"

"Me! Me!" Vanessa and Caitlinn said at once. The family then returned to the car laughing and talking as the honey colored sunset splashed across the trees and the gravestones, and as the cicadas hummed all around.



The End