Chapter 12

• Shadows of goodbye.
• The day of the funeral came to a close and it was a rainy day. It was as if the heavens themselves mourned the loss of Daniela's mother. The rain began to fall heavily as mourners gathered at the small church on the outskirts of town. Daniela sat in the front row, her hands holding tightly around a tissue. Her eyes were swollen and red from days of crying, but no tears fell now the day of the burial. She felt emotionally drained within her, as though her grief had hollowed her out and left her with nothing but the ache in her chest. Alexander sat beside her,his expression a mixture of fake sympathy . He hadn't said much since her mother's death, but his presence dominated, a shield that both steadied and suffocated her. She didn't see him as someone she could lean unto and tell her problems because he was extremely angry with her.
• The priest's voice was heard through the church, calm and steady, as he delivered the eulogy to mourn her. “ Magaret taylor was a woman of grace and resilience”, he said, his words carrying over the rest of the congregation. “ She loved her family so much and was very generous to orphans and little kids. Though her time with us was not long spent , her legacy of love and kindness will live on those she left behind.We pray God grant her a safe place in heaven”.Daniela burst into tears as she listened,the guilt and regret piling up inside her mind. She looked at her father, seated on the other side. His face was worn with tears and a mixture of pain, his hands joined together in his lap. He hadn't spoken a word to her since the night her mother passed and the breach between them felt inseparable.