• A girl walked swiftly home from school. The clouds were rolling and dark; she didn't want to be outside when they decided to open. That would be the cherry on top of the worst day ever. First thing in the morning, her sister faked sick so she had to go to school by herself. She hoped that she could just stay in the shadows.

    As soon as she arrived at school, her supposed best friend gained the title of left hand bee and dumped her as well as her school bag into a puddle. At lunch, the queen bee of Landside High decided to seduce the perfect man, more importantly her man. Why does the heart sway so easily? Just before the final bell rang indicating the end of the day, as she sat in the library reading about fate playing cruel tricks on four lovers, lightning struck the building causing a fire to spread out. Lets just pray it doesn't rain today.

    As she walked she passed by the welcome sign and a man in an oversize pair of overalls with a paint brush and two different paint cans in his hands. She watched him as he began to paint over the number right after the word population. There were only two hundred and sixteen people in Landside so if somebody was changing the numbers, a new person was either born, or somebody had just died. She watched as the man wrote in elegant style numbers. It amazed her how such a brawny man could write so neatly. She watched as he finished the last digit. It was a five. There were now 215 people in Landside. Somebody had just died.

    'Great' She thought, 'Another funeral to go to.'
    She arrived at home quickly and dropped her bag on to her bed. She quickly began showering knowing that the funeral must be soon. When she was scrubbed raw to her standard, she stood in front of her wardrobe. There were more than enough funeral clothes to choose from. She chose a simple yet elegant black dress with matching shoes. Of course, she didn't want to be the center of attention at a funeral for someone else. Just as she was combing her long black hair, her step-father came up to her room. He tried the doorknob but she was smart enough to lock it beforehand.

    "Ellie?" He called through the door, obviously irritated that he had been outsmarted yet again. "Are you in there?"
    "Yes, Greg." She called back innocently. She couldn't bear to call him anything other than his name. After all, he was just her mothers husband.
    "Well, we all have to go to a funeral today. Did you see the sign?" This man was quickly getting on her nerves.
    "Thank you for letting me know. Have you seen Allie?" She tried to change the topic.
    "Where ever she may be, she'll definitely be at the funeral." He said. Ellie heard the creaking of stair steps indicating that he had gone back downstairs. Ellie finished dressing herself and went downstairs to find her mother and stepfather walking out the door. "Come on, sweetie!" Her mother called to her. Ellie ran to the door and got in the back seat of the car. If it were up to her, she would walk to the funeral. Too bad it was a mile away. The car ride was awkward with her mother sitting in the passenger seat flipping through various radio stations. They quickly arrived at the cemetery. Her parents got out of the car and quickly started walking to the tented area where the body will be buried.

    "Greg, can you unlock the car? I left my purse." Ellie asked.
    "You wont need it." He said as he kept walking.
    "Just open the door." Ellie was quickly getting frustrated.
    Greg turned around quickly. He grabbed Ellie's wrist and jerked her forward.
    "You won't need it." He said harshly.
    Ellie could feel the angry purple bruise forming.
    "Fine. Lets go." She said ripping her arm from his grasp.

    Ellie walked towards the front where the open casket laid. She took her seat next to her mother. It seemed that they arrived early.
    "Ellie, why don't you go look and see who's in the coffin?" Her mother asked. She was obviously hiding tears that threatened to spill over. Ellie stood up and walked over to the coffin. She peered inside the casket to find it empty.
    "Why is it empty?" She asked.
    Greg stood up and walked over to it. He also looked inside and saw the empty casket.
    "What do you know? It is empty." He smiled to himself. "Maybe we should put something in it."

    Before she knew what was going on she was pushed into the casket. She screamed for her mother. She saw her mother gripping a folded cloth. "I'm sorry, baby." She said as she put the cloth on her daughters face. The cloth smelt vaguely of some chemical.
    "Why momma?" She managed to gasp before falling into a deep sleep. Funny, I never thought I would be invited to my own funeral.