Midnight's Song Read Free Page A

funeral walk was in twenty minutes. As the only
child, I would have to lead it. I would have to lead them. Every person would
proceed behind me, including those rich women I hardly knew. I
couldn’t hide anymore, even if they did have intimidating wealth.
If I did, I’d never know who they were to me – good or bad. I found
the resolve to leave the room, telling myself
repeatedly:
    “I will be brave. I will
be brave.”
    My bravery quickly vanished when I
caught sight of the casket. When I approached it, a chill crept up
my spine. I became a helpless child at the sight, unable to decide
what to do or where to go at that moment. I searched the room for
my father, but he was nowhere to be found.
    “This isn’t right. It’s
simply not right,” an unexpected voice came from behind. It was
cold and stoic, but not at all unfeeling. “A mother should not
outlive her children.”
    I turned to see the same
old woman that I had been avoiding earlier. This time, she was clad
in a thick fur coat as she sat in a wheelchair directly beside me.
The woman was ancient, endowed with the fruits of her age. Wrinkles
covered her face and veins bulged underneath the black lace on her
forearms.
    “It’s no less difficult
when a child loses their mother.”
    The relic of a woman
looked up and examined my features. There wasn’t anything in them
that seemed to catch her by surprise. As she studied me, I got the
strange sense that this woman felt like she truly knew me. She
quickly ordered her servant to wheel her away from the dismal
coffin. For some reason, I followed.
    “Children are meant to
outlive their parents. Some unfortunately do so from an earlier
age.” She looked at the casket, then back at me. “You need not
fight, child. I know who you are.”
    “How would you know that?”
    “You favor your
mother.”
    I couldn’t see what on Earth she was
talking about. I wanted to shout that I was clearly smaller, had
dark hair and eyes that weren’t her wild bluish shade. What
resemblance did she see that was so stark? I wanted to say these
things but remained silent. Too much was happening around me to do
anything but keep to myself. Just then, a group of discourteous men
bombarded the room.
    “Has everyone finished with their
customary visit?” One of them asked.
    It was a
5 th caste officer. Without asking again, one of the men went to
the front of the room and began shutting the casket. As the top of
it began to fall shut, I suddenly remembered something that caused
me to halt it one last time.
    “Wait!”
    The man caught the top and
propped it back open for me. I had remembered something – something
that everyone in my village did. I came to the edge of the silken
bed where she eternally slept and placed a kiss on her forehead.
With tears in my eyes, I plucked a strand of my hair and wove it
into hers.
    When I was finished, I looked up and
gave a nod to the man standing beside me. He quickly took the top
and latched it shut. The group of men then proceeded to take the
coffin and carry it out the door.
    “She remembered,” I heard someone
whisper.
    When I turned, there was a
haggard woman standing directly in front of me. She grabbed my face
and touched her forehead to mine.
    “ Greater things than all
of the heavens and the earth await you. Remember our people,
Elissa.”
    The words of the old woman
caused no second thoughts, no ridicule. I simply took them and
walked. My friends and neighbors looked toward me in unanimity
after witnessing the tradition I had upheld. The women of my
mother’s family quickly grew weary of it all and called for their
carriage to take them to the gravesite ahead of the coming
crowd.
    “Lead the walk,” the old
woman whispered in my ear. I looked over my shoulder for
reassurance, but just like that – she was gone. I looked ahead and
took in a deep breath, knowing that these people had called me to
lead them. It was time to be brave. Someone gave me a light tap,
and I began