Fiction Friday: The Memorial

Fiction Friday is back!

***
"Thank you," Jaden mumbled as he greeted another relative, neighbor or friend.

He knew them all, but today the faces were a blur. The conversations a fog. He said the same words over and over, but...it was as if he were far away. As though someone else spoke for him while he hid under the blankets. But every conversation brought him a little closer to the truth.

Someone brought him food. Was he hungry? He didn't know.

"Your brother was..." a caller choked up, "a truly remarkable young man. I'm so sorry for your loss."

They stood in silence a moment.

"Sure did know how to cause trouble, though. Heh, I remember this one time..." the visitor launched into a somewhat scandalous tale of a particularly raucous Friday night.

That was the brother Jaden remembered. "Truly remarkable," sure, the man was brilliant, but "troublemaker"...that was more his style. And, no doubt, he thought, how Mitch would want to be remembered.

Jaden couldn't help but laugh, tears in his eyes.

For a moment he felt okay. And that was okay. This was his time to feel however he felt.

"Thank you," Jaden mumbled before greeting the next guest. "Thank you."