//------------------------------// // In Memoriam // Story: Dusk // by PeryFire //------------------------------// Sonata waited at the kitchen table. She stared at the wooden surface, absentmindedly tracing the grain of the wood with her fingertip. The faucet was dripping slowly, the kitchen clock was ticking. In a silent house, these two things were deafening. There was a light knock on the door. Sonata rose from the table and answered the door. "Ready to go?" Adagio asked. Go where? Sonata thought. She noticed Adagio's uncharacteristic all-black attire. Then she looked down at herself, and saw she was dressed the same. Right. The funeral. "Yeah." She said. The two got into Adagio's car, and Aria and Sonata greeted each other. As they drove to the funeral home, Sonata looked out the window, trying to clear her head. When the incident regarding Orange Slice's death showed up in the newspaper, Sonata and her friends had read it together, wondering what happened, and what was known about the suspect. Sonata had eagerly awaited that article, but after she had read it, she wished she hadn't. Orange Slice was murdered in an alley in a part of town she and her friends liked to hang out in. It was a nice, friendly, and safe place to be, even in the evenings. Until now, of course. Sonata couldn't help but think that it could have been her. The deceased had her throat cut. It was likely that she never knew what was happening to her. Worst of all, the police had no suspects. Whoever killed this innocent girl was still out there. "Sonata? You okay?" Sonata's head jerked up. Adagio and Aria were standing outside the car, peering in at her through the open driver's door. "You were zoned out for quite a while," Adagio said. "We're here." "Oh." Sonata said. "Sorry, I was just thinking." "You alright?" "I'm fine. Don't worry about me." Sonata smiled weakly and got out of the car, following her friends into the funeral home. They found themselves seats at the back beside Twilight Sparkle. "Why are you sitting back here by yourself?" Adagio asked Twilight, leaning forward to look past Sonata. Twilight adjusted her glasses awkwardly. "Well, my friends are up front with the family and close friends of Slice. I didn't know her very well, I only moved schools a month ago, so I guess I just didn't really feel comfortable being up there." She explained. "Did you girls know her?" "No." Sonata whispered. "None of us have ever even talked to her I don't think. But we still wanted to come and pay our respects to the family." "It's a horrible thing to have happened to them." Aria said solemnly. "And it could have happened to anybody." The room's whispers died out and the service began. The service was over, and the three friends plus Twilight stood off to the side in the reception hall. The hall was filled with people. "It looks like the entire school came." Twilight observed. "I think it's nice that so many of the students came. We need to be together to support each other in times like this." "People are starting to leave. I think we should head out and give those closest to Slice some space." Adagio said. "Yeah. We're going to have a gathering at school on Monday for all of the students to talk about Slice." Twilight said. "That'll be a better place for us to be, when we don't really know her." "I agree." Adagio said. "Want a ride home, Twilight?" "That would be great, thanks!" Twilight said, giving a small smile. The car pulled up to Sonata's front gate. She said her farewells to her friends and got out of the car. Twilight soon followed, saying she only lived around the corner and didn't mind walking the rest of the way. However, not long after Sonata hung up her jacket and took off her shoes, there was a hesitant knock on the door. "Hey Sonata," Twilight said shyly when the door opened. "I couldn't help but notice... You seemed..." She thought for a moment, trying to find the right words. "Are you okay? You just seemed kind of out of it today. I thought maybe you'd want to talk to someone about it." Sonata stared at Twilight. "I-I'm sorry." Twilight said, backing away from the door. "We barely know each other, of course you don't want to talk to me, this is none of my business, I'll just be-" "Would you like to come in for tea?" Sonata interrupted, in a soft voice. "What?" "Tea. Would you like to have some tea?" Sonata repeated, stepping aside to invite Twilight in. "Oh." Twilight said. "Sure." She awkwardly stepped through the door past Sonata, quickly removing her shoes. Sonata shut the door and lead Twilight into her kitchen, flicking on her electric kettle after checking if it needed a refill. The two sat down in silence listening to the kettle start to boil. Twilight fidgeted awkwardly. The kettle clicked off, and finally the silence was broken. "What kind of tea would you like?" Sonata asked, holding out a basket of assorted teas. Twilight picked one, and Sonata took it from her and placed it into a mug, pouring hot water over it. She made one for herself and brought the two mugs over to the table. "Thank you." Twilight said, accepting the hot beverage. Unfortunately that was the last thing said for another few moments. Twilight was beginning to think she shouldn't have come, when Sonata spoke up, her eyes trained on her hands. "Slice's death shook me up." Sonata said. "A life was extinguished, just like that. One moment there, the next, gone. The paper said that it probably happened so quickly that she didn't know it was happening. It's just..." She trailed off. "You're becoming overly aware of your own mortality and the fragility of life?" Twilight offered. Sonata smiled weakly at the accuracy of her guess. "Yeah. It could have been me, it could have been you. It could have been any of my friends, or family... It's just scary how life can just end so unexpectedly and fast." Twilight nodded in agreement. Silence fell once again, but it wasn't uncomfortable this time. After a few moments, Sonata started talking again. "My mom died a few years ago. She was very sick for a long, long time. I spent every day for months waiting for the call. Every time the phone rang, I was scared that she had died. When she finally did it hurt, but... I was waiting for it. I knew it was going to happen. This is different." "I'm so sorry." Twilight said softly. "It's okay, it was a long time ago. She's in a better place now. But... that's the only time I've really had to deal with death. I just kind of always thought it was this slow thing that you knew was going to happen. With Orange Slice... nobody knew it was going to happen until after it happened. It's... Terrifying." "I know exactly what you mean." Twilight said. "I'm even afraid to leave my house sometimes. I could go outside and get hit by a car and it would be over. Anything could happen. Nowhere is safe." Twilight reached out and put a hand over one of Sonata's. For the first time during the conversation, Sonata looked Twilight in the eyes. "Sonata, I know that this can be really scary, and thinking about it makes it even worse. But you can't let yourself be afraid of living your day to day life. You might be safe, but you'd be wasting your life. And if something does happen to you... well, I guess you won't have to think about it because you'll be dead, but..." Twilight shook her head, trying to find better words. "At least you'll have lived up until that point. Like, actually lived. You know?" "Yeah." Sonata replied, smiling softly. "I know. Thank you Twilight."