John's Funeral: A Short Story

Bright pink flowers adorned the closed coffin. They were a fruity display of bubblegum hue, a cheap imitation of elegance unfit for the solemn occasion. They were ordered two days prior, yet they showed the crispness of newly plucked blooms. Carol, for some odd reason John would never understand, adored carnations. The least he could do for her now was honor her with her favorite flower.

She was holding a pink carnation when they first met. That day, in the year of our Lord 1946, John had just began his first ranch hand gig on a nice small fifteen acre farm. He had spent the last year scouting jobs in rural Midwest towns when he finally chanced upon this post. He thought the worst he’d have to do his first day was fix the fencing to the rugged property or pile up cow manure, yet he somehow ended up almost shoulder length inside a horse’s womb. The foal was …show more content…
His surname had formerly been O’Reid, yet his father wanted him to grow up blending in as a true citizen, so they ended up dropping the “O”. John’s father had died two years passed, leaving him as the only living relative to pass on his legacy. John had been approaching a food vendor when he saw her. Standing next to a flower stand, she was arranging together a bouquet of vibrant flowers for a customer. John knew he was on a tight schedule, but for some reason was transfixed on the small Native American girl. At hindsight, she was nothing special – her nose was a tad too long for her face, strong eyebrows curved over almond eyes, and skin the color of russet. Yet he found himself walking over to her stand, under the guise of buying flowers to mask his stench with the little money he had. She had looked up when he appeared, dark eyes full of mirth. After he introduced himself with a courtesy “good afternoon, ma’am,” she reeled him in by saying the