Now or Never

funeral home. The last time she had been to a funeral home was at her grandmother’s wake. It was one of the saddest days of her life. Her grandmother had been like a second mom to her.
    It still seemed surreal to her that her father was gone—dead and never to return. She wondered if he passed on to another plane of existence. She hadn’t believed in life after death until her grams died, and then she desperately hoped that there was more. Grayson needed to believe there was, it was too hard to think of her Grams being gone; she occasionally still spoke to her as if she was in the same room or car as her.
    Luna grasped her arm tightly, and Grayson gave her hand a light squeeze. Having her twin nearby always gave her a sense of comfort. They’d been through everything together. Grayson glanced at her sister and was surprised to see tears running down her face. Her father leaving had always affected her more. She didn’t know what to say to comfort her sister, so she said nothing.
    Ethan’s face was stoic, but Grayson could see his eyelid twitching. She knew it was taking everything to keep his emotions in check. They were walking to see their father for the first time in nearly ten years. The man who abandoned them, causing their house to be repossessed. The man who left their mom a single parent, forcing her to go back to school to support them. The man that made her accept the reality that nothing was promised; life didn’t always have a happy ending, and not to take anything for granted. Grace should feel sorrow, but all she felt was empty. And that scared her.
    The place was eerily quiet, other than the four of them and her aunt, there was just the pastor. That alone spoke volumes. Imagine living a full life and no one showing up to show their respect at your funeral. Had her father not left them, the place would have been packed. Everyone had loved him. He was one of those rare story tellers that could keep people on the edge of their seat, the life of the party, much like Luna. But he had walked away from that life. He walked away from everyone that had loved him. She would never understand what would cause a father to do that to his children or his wife.
    The pastor stood up and said a few words, but Grayson didn’t hear a word he said. Her eyes were focused on the coffin. Her father was lying inside…dead. It just didn’t seem real. She felt like any minute her dad would jump out and say, “just kidding.” But, she knew that was not going to happen.
    Their father was a Marine. Ethan and their mom were presented with a folded flag, ironic in a way. The war was what put him in an early grave, and yet it was such a beautiful gesture. Their father was proud of serving his country. She knew the flag would mean a lot to Ethan.
    Her brother rose first and stood over their fathers casket he briefly leaned down and kissed him. Ethan didn’t stay long as if he couldn’t handle seeing their father that way. Their mom went next. She stood over him for several minutes her shoulders slumped. Grayson wondered what was going through her mind. She couldn’t imagine standing over the man she loved most her life…dead. Throw in the fact he left her high and dry, her mother’s emotions had to be all over the place. Grayson wished there was something she could do to ease her pain, but she knew it was something she would have to get through on her own.
    Grayson and Luna went next. They walked closely together, hand in hand. When Grayson looked down she gasped shocked by what she saw. It was not the man she remembered. He’d always been larger than life in her eyes. Now he looked like a shriveled old man. Whatever path he took after leaving them, had not been an easy one that much was clear. It looked like his life had literally been sucked out of him. For the first time in her life she felt sorry for him.
    Luna was sobbing next to her, but Grayson still had no tears for the man. Maybe something was really wrong with her, she felt nothing.
    When they left their aunt took them over to her car and opened the trunk. “Your father’s possessions,” she said as she stepped aside to give them a closer look, “I thought you’d like to go through them.”
    Curiosity pulled Grayson to the car. She wanted to know what was left of his life. Maybe she could find the answers they had all be asking. Why?
    There wasn’t much in the trunk; three boxes were all that was left of her father.
    She peeled open the first one and