Invitation to a Funeral

[Cody Burune]

Cody stared at the room around him. Yes, it was pitch-black, but he had been writing nonsense, twisted words and thoughts and everything he could. He had run out of paper, but that was okay. The walls were his paper, the walls. Covered with scrawling script. His fingers felt raw with writing. Some were perhaps even bleeding, though from biting off his nails. His eyes were aching and there was too much, so much darkness now. He had lost track of where he was, exactly. Where he had been, and how long. How long it had been... Since he had seen Sammei. Seen her. Touched her. Told her she was loved. And he really did love her.

Glowing, tickle my sight
(never again, you grace)
My presence, alone without you
(r touch, my body aches)
My heart burns, and I know
(I know)
Never meant to say goodbye
(Not even a good, bye)

He hadn't realized that he had loved her. Stupid of him. Stupid Cody. Living, travelling, kissing, making sex and something like love. But blind. Not realizing that he loved that girl. That girl who had saved him, appeared like magic to steal him away when he needed it. And he had needed it. He had needed her, her and her pixie friend with the bright eyes. Monet... how was she feeling? She would blame herself, Cody knew. She would wither, and fade, if he wasn't careful. He couldn't lose her, too. He would... He just couldn't. His phone battery had actually died, after leaving message after message on her phone, pleading, begging, crying for her to call him. Now his phone was dead, and he was writing. Writing in silence, voice raw, eyes raw, words fucking raw. Terrible.

Sitting in that car
(so high and next to you)
laughing at the rain
(nothing but everything left to do)
and the people that cringe away
from being one with the sky's child.
(we danced in it)

He missed Monet.

He missed Sammei.

He missed-

No. No he didn't.

He didn't miss that boy. That boy was not important, not now. He missed the girl he loved. He wished he could have held her, kissed her once again. He wondered how she had done it, how she could have so selfishly taken herself away from him.

Dammit. He was crying again.

He sat on his bed, eyes open but not seeing. He sat, and tried to imagine how she had done it. Tried to picture her in his arms, so that he could hold her close, kiss her eyes as they closed. Had Monet cradled her, as she left this place? For some place better? She deserved it. She deserved something better.

Sammei had always deserved magic.

Sammei was magic. And now the magic was gone.

And... so was he. So Cody was gone.

In the dark, Cody could be dead. In he dark, he ceased to exist.

And he could be nothing.

And he could not be.

And I am gone
let's go
sdrawkcab.
Because this is so much easier
than looking in the
rorrimirror
and seeing me.
(not seeing you)


I don't care for you
'Cause it is so much harder
to care in past tense


When the clock stops
(tick, tock, tick)
Shivers roll though
(breath in, breath out)
And fingers grasp
(twitch at the stress)
Wondering what today's curse will bring.

(rest, and hold)


You're losing it, Cody.
writing to yourself on your own skin
This isn't a poem, it's a suicide note
snap out of it
You fucker.

Cody screamed.

[Joshua Akero]

It hadn't been months. It hadn't even been weeks. But it had been too long since Josh had seen Cody. Give him a few hours and he wouldn't worry. A day or two and he still wouldn't mind much. But Josh had been rather busy the past four days. He hadn't seen Cody in quite awhile. He hadn't even heard from the boy. It worried him just a bit though Joshua was blaming himself for having been distracted by art and being out busking on the streets. That along with the security job he had come to Spain to do. It's not like he'd be fired if he didn't do his job. No one ever payed any attention to him much anyways. But he still put effort into it.

Joshua had tucked his art away for the day to get on his motorcycle and drive to the school. Cody was much more important than his art, that was for sure. Thankfully, for him, it wasn't long at all to reach the school and he took his time on the way to the boy's dorm. He was worried, but he didn't rush. Josh never assumed the worst in the past and he didn't want to start now. So he just hummed a tune to himself, hands in his pockets, as he headed to Cody's dorm. No one stopped him on the way to chat. No one ever did.

Standing in front of the door, he waited a few moments. What if Cody wasn't even there? Well, there was no harm in trying. So he lifted a hand to knock at the door before reaching down for the handle and opening the door just a bit. "Hey, Cody? I really hope you're here. I mean... I've been missing you..." Joshua admitted as he squinted into the darkness. It was pitch black. There was no way he could see anything. So he opened the door a bit more and slipped into the dark, closing the door right behind him. "Cody?" he called again before his hand ran over the wall until it hit the light switch and he flipped it on.

Maybe, just maybe, Joshua had wished just then that Cody hadn't been in the room. That he would be somewhere else being happy doing whatever. But Josh stood where he was, looking over the boy and his condition. It wasn't hard to see that something was wrong. Even if he hadn't been able to see Cody's hands, he'd have been able to see that something was terribly wrong. "Cody, what's..." but he trailed off and shook his head, bringing his hand back up to the light switch. "Do you want me to turn the light off?" His gaze was looking anywhere but Cody. In fact, it was fixed on his own feet. Josh had this sudden feeling that he shouldn't be here. But he couldn't just leave Cody in this state. But he also couldn't just go grab Cody and hug him. What if he didn't like that? Josh shut his eyes and slipped the hand that wasn't at the switch over his face as he tried to regain his thoughts so that he just might be able to figure out what he's supposed to do in this position.