ASHES FOR ASHES

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      AT THE GRAVESITE

        “We thank God today for the lives of these saints sleeping in the Lord; I pray the Lord grant them a good rest,” the Catholic priest, Grayson, said.

        “Amen!!” the witnesses said.

        “There is time for everything under the sun. There is time for planting and there is time for harvesting. There is also a time for birthing and a time for dying. I pray we shall sow good seeds with good rewards in Jesus’ name,” priest Grayson said.

        “Amen!!” the witnesses chorused.

        “Now, let’s sing the first hymn; my hope is built on nothing more than Jesus’ love and righteousness,” priest Grayson said.

            However, the witnesses sang the hymn, sang elegy songs and more words of enjoinment and exhortations followed afterwards.

        “When a man dies, his soul goes up to be judged. I beseech you, brethren, to make Christ the mainstay of your life. God is a never failing kind of Lord. Now, the undertakers can put the remains in their respective graves,” priest Grayson said.

           The undertakers, in fours, put the embalmed corpses of Mosley, MC and Gilbert into their respective graves.

        “Oh my God!! Daddy is gone just like that!” Liam screamed with tears on his face.

        “Liam, daddy is not dead, he is asleep; so, cheer up and clean these tears,” priest Grayson said in euphemism, moving closer to Liam.

        “I know the Lord will give work to those that killed my husband,” Sarah said and tears ran down her face.

        “You need to be strong for your children, Sarah. Please, take heart. My husband and I will see you all smile again,” Helena said, and hugged Sarah.

        “Yeah, Sarah; we will be your backbones. C’mon Liam, be a man that your dad loved you become,” Alfred said, and carried Liam up.

            After the caskets have been lowered into the ground, the priest tells the relatives of the fallen heroes to give ashes for ashes and sand for sand.

        “Now that the caskets have been lowered into the ground, the relatives of the demise will give ashes for ashes and sands for sands,” priest Grayson said.

            As Sarah put sand on her late husband’s coffin, she cried bitterly that Alfred had to take her away from the scene. What a love Sarah had for Gilbert!

        “Now that the rites have been done, the coffins can now be interred. Before you leave this scene, I want to give you food for the thought: where will you spend your eternity? You should be able to proffer an answer to this question,” priest Grayson said.

            The coffins were interred and the bereaved families and others left the cemetery for their homes. After Gilbert’s grave had been concreted, Sarah went to the cemetery alone one morning. Sarah held a perfumed flower and some beautiful whitish pebbles.

        “I came here this quiet morning standing beside your grave to give you another last honor. Gilbert, you were a great man and brave in your lifetime. You were the father of your children. I didn’t know death would snatch you away from me this soon. I thought we would spend the rest of our lives together; alas! The reverse is the case. Gilbert, you were a man of your stand that didn’t compromise. I hope you receive my heartiest tribute. Rest on…, hubby,” Sarah said. She placed the flowers and pebbles on the grave and started bawling.

            One of the guards of the gravesite saw Sarah bawling, he walked towards her and consoled her.

        “Young lady, what’s wrong?” the gravesite guard said.

        “I lost my husband,” Sarah said sadly.

        “I am sorry, madam; you don’t have to cry, because your tears cannot bring back your husband. All you need to do now is to take good care of your children. They are your future,” the gravesite guard said.

        “My husband must come and take me too, life without him is boring,” Sarah said and continued sobbing.

        “Life is beautiful! Please, go home and do as I said hitherto,” the gravesite guard said.

            After a series of persuasions from the gravesite guard, Sarah acceded to going home. However, Louise wrote a tribute in honor of Gilbert. The tribute reads:

I was imagining why the day had become still, why the moon refused to show up, why the birds sang songs of elegy, why the rivers, the seas and the oceans refused to flow, why the trees refused to shake their branches and leaves. I eavesdropped on people saying the death of an A****n and rare gem caused this. I have been on this planet Earth and I have never seen a person that is as bold as you were. You were a wit and clever in your lifetime.

                Gilbert, you were the true definition of a friend. What a friend you were! With tears running down from my eyes and sweat coming out of my skin, I am writing this to you. Your death pains me from my bone marrows and caused a pang in my heart.

               However, I want your spirit to give baseless works to those that killed you. Gilbert, my amiable and compatible friend, I want your soul to rest in the bosom of your maker. I will miss your sense of humor; I will miss your chucklesome nature too, the gist and guests will also be missed.

             Gilbert, I want you to pardon the United States of America. I want you to pardon the government and I want you to pardon the monarchs because they have all admitted to causing your death. I have this auspicious feeling in me that if there is anything like reincarnation, you will meet a new-birthed United States of America, you will see the light at the end of the tunnel. Gilbert, I want you to know that you haven’t lost anything because you have children, a wife and relatives. That makes you live on. Rest in perfect peace, accomplished!

        From your best man, Louise.