The Light in the dark

The room was magnificent and it contained undeniable history; it held the laughter, tears and whispers of past events within its walls. There were three large windows on each side of the walls but the beauty of the room lay in the arched, stain-glassed window at the front. At that moment, the rays of the sun shone bright into the room casting a golden glow. The arched window, on the other hand, created a colourful halo around a marble casket laid majestically at the front.

The silence of the room was broken by the entrance of a brown-haired woman in a white dress. She stood for a while at the back taking in awe of the room. It was a sight to behold. The sombre situation was balanced by the radiance of the room. If it weren’t for the casket, one could misinterpret the ceremony for a wedding.

The woman walked slowly towards the casket; her black heels going click, clack, click, clack on the marble floor. When she reached her target, she gazed at the deceased with a strange smile. It wasn’t tinged with sympathy or pity at the loss of a middle-aged person that had yet to enjoy the fruits of their labour. No, it was a smile of glee. To add insult, she looked down at the deceased in disdain.

The unfortunate woman looked angelic as she laid in the silken enclosure of the casket. Her blond, short hair was arranged neatly around her face without a strand out of place. If it weren’t for the deep lines mapping her face, it would not have been strange to think she was 10 years her junior. The deceased’s pink, silk dress brought such a lustre to her skin that it almost fooled the brown-haired woman and the guests after her as to the deceased’s state of life.

Unbeknownst to the woman in the white dress, the deceased’s daughter stood in the shadows watching the woman curiously. Before the daughter could enter into the light and ask for the woman’s name, the woman walked to the back of the room and sat on the seat farthest to the casket.

The daughter wasn’t the only person that was entranced by the woman in the white dress. As the guests slowly arrived, they couldn’t help but stare at the woman. Even when they sat down, they continued to take small glances and whisper furiously to their neighbours. There wasn’t anything spectacular about the woman. It was simply the white dress that stood out. Whist they were all clad in black, she was the only one that stood out like a sore thumb in white.

Once all the seats were filled, the daughter stood tall in front of her mother’s casket dressed elegantly in a mid-length black dress with matching black stilettos. Her bright blue eyes surveyed the room once before she began her speech.

“Hello, everyone. For most of you that don’t know me, my name is Kathy Lorde and I am Hazel Mann’s daughter. Thank you all for attending. My mother is, without a doubt, smiling at the turnout. I always knew my mother was very much liked but I never expected a full house,” said Kathy with a small smile, her glance lingering on the woman in the white dress who was staring steadfastly at her. Whilst everyone else was reflecting her smile, the woman in the white dress glowered. Kathy hesitated slightly, pausing to collect her thoughts, before continuing her speech.

“My mother was a beautiful woman. Not just appearance wise but she had a beautiful heart. She was a kind soul. She helped everyone; friends, strangers and just about anyone that came into her presence. To this day, I have not met a person that had anything but kind words to say about Hazel.”

There was another woman in the room that did not share any love for the deceased and she was sat in the second row – too close for her comfort – with her husband, Jonathan Lorde. Marie was only attending the funeral as a courtesy to her husband and his daughter. If it were Marie’s choice, she would rather not hear the lies spouting out of Kathy about how such a gentle, kind and charitable person her mother was. The words Marie would have liked to use were ‘horrible, manipulative, and a downright disgrace to humanity’ but it wouldn’t make her good company. The last thing Marie wanted was for people to think that she was threatened of Hazel’s presence even in her death.

When the service ended, the guests slowly dispersed out of the room. Kathy waited until there was only her and the woman in the white dress remaining before walking towards her to initiate her questioning.

“Hello” said Kathy with a toothy smile.

“Hello.”

“Did you know my mother?”

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t,” she responded without reciprocating Kathy’s smile.

Kathy was slightly taken aback by this response but refused to back down without garnering further information. Before she could ask her question, the woman spoke again.

“It was a lovely speech.”

“Thank y-“

“It’s a shame that it was given for the wrong person. I wonder if everyone shares the same sentiment about your mother, but, then again, she was so good at keeping up a façade that it wouldn’t surprise me if they didn’t truly know her. It’s strange that we can know someone for so long but yet not know them.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t quite understand what you mean?” asked Kathy, hesitantly.

“Did you really know your mother?”

“Of course, I did! She was my mother!” replied Kathy, in hysterics. Kathy took slow deep breaths to calm herself. Her heart was beating rapidly, each beat echoing through her body. She wiped her sweaty palms on her dress and tried to stand tall to bring back the confidence that was slowly dissipating by every word attacking her.

“I doubt you do. Your mother was absolutely amazing at being someone that she wasn’t. I knew your mother and father. I was also not surprised to see your father and Marie – I assume your step-mother – holding hands. If it weren’t for your mother, those two would have never separated,” said the woman in the white dress calmly.

“W-what is this? Are you jealous? Is that it? Were you jealous of my mother? I agree – she was beautiful, intelligent and rich. She was perfect. But this is just petty! Speaking such nonsense in her funeral. I don’t know you but this is really really pathetic behaviour!” exclaimed Kathy. Her voice bounced off the walls, creating a slight echo in the room. Her cheeks were flushed pink in anger and her eyes were brimming with fresh tears. The response to her passionate speech was laughter.

“Jealous? Wow – I have no words. Darling, I am not jealous of your mother. With the personality she had, I wouldn’t have traded my life for hers. One the one hand, I do want to tell you more so that the memory of your mother can be tarnished by the truth. On the other hand, do I want to be that evil to ruin a child’s vision of their mother?”

It was a rhetorical question. The woman was thinking aloud but the enthusiasm in her tone suggested that she was playing with Kathy. They had a short stand-off whilst waiting for one another to make a move. Kathy couldn’t move, though. Her feet were stuck to the floor by a magnetic force and her brain was not sending the signals to her legs.

“Do you know why I wore white today?” she asked but Kathy shook her head meekly, “I could tell everyone found it odd but, as a matter of fact, some countries wear white to a funeral so it’s not really freakishly odd. Of course, I didn’t do it for that reason. I wanted to show your mother that she did not break me. The white dress is my way of showing your mother I am not mourning her death but rejoicing in her death like it was my wedding. This is the day that I am reborn. Reborn into a world where Hazel Mann doesn’t exist.”

With that speech, the woman in the white dress stood up with a sigh. She dusted the non-existence specks off her dress, grabbed her bag and made her way to the door. Kathy was still glued to the floor – shell-shocked by her comments. She swallowed hard and moved her mouth to ask the woman in white what her mother did.

“She killed my brother.”

The pain and grief in her voice attacked Kathy like a knife plunged into her stomach. She doubled over and collapsed on the floor, her legs finally losing their strength. The tears that were held in the corner of her eyes were finally set free and poured down her cheeks like rain.

“Who are you?” Kathy asked the woman in white as her hands turned the door handle.

“My being has no bearing on the truth. It doesn’t change or distort facts. I was simply a minor character in your mother’s life that was destroyed by her greed, arrogance and self-importance.”

With those final words, the unnamed woman left the beautiful funeral hall- taking all the lights with her.