Driving up, they knew what had happened. They all knew.
He pulled up to the side of the road but could not get out of the car. He just gripped the steering wheel and looked into nothing. They all felt an obvious emptiness. The one that sat next to him got out of the car slowly and tried to approach the two but ended up walking in a fickle circle and pulling his thick hair nervously. The girl sat on the curb burying her face in her knees and held her knees tightly with her arms. The other lied on his back and squeezed his two hands flat against his face.
Death.
All their faces were wet with tears. The one in the car closed his sleepy eyes slowly, bit his lip, and slightly shook his head. The one walking in circles stood still, looked into the sky, and cried silently. She pulled her hoody over her head to her chin and wept louder. Through her sobs they repeatedly heard the word why. The other took his hands from his face and squeezed the grass.
Disbelief.
They could all remember like it was yesterday. It was yesterday for some of them. It was so sudden and unexpected. They all could figure out ways to blame themselves, blame each other, and blame God. None of them could imagine living life with this loss. What a loss it was, an empty and unexplainable loss. Nothing one says can make it better. Words fail.
Change.
Nothing would be the same. Life would go on with an irrefutable and eternal void. Yet tomorrow would come nonetheless. They had to react. Their reaction to this loss is what would matter. The emptiness would not get filled but it can get reckoned with. What to do, where to go, when to start, many questions filled the individuals minds. He would not want them to cry, not for too long. That would be a waste of time. His death was something they had to deal with, they would deal with. His death was the signature at the end of his life-letter and they all had to send a reply.
Belief.
Now they had nothing except themselves and each other. No leader. No teacher. They could only imagine what he would do and attempt to do something close. His life was not coming back but they breathed daily. He was gone forever. Now they lived new lives, in a way. These individuals would always be themselves and always follow their own paths but now, half of their soul was committed to taking up the torch of a dead man. That half of their soul was a flaming half.
Truth.
Knowing what life really boils down to was a beautiful lesson that they learned from the wise man. Now silly little words would transform into frightening and bloody action. In an instant everything changed; entire lives, changed. They would now live life with a void caused by death and a commitment caused by one mere mans untainted character. The fact that one man could cause so much pain and loss only reaffirmed the significant mark he made on these four individuals. Never remaining the same, the four would fight for the tomorrow a dead man dreamed of. Now the man is asleep outside of time, outlived by his dedicated empty-filled children.
