The last farewell is in order for a man who has found his peace. As his daughter walks down the aisle, the woman promised to love her digs into her skin, making a new promise. One of pain and anger. In response, the child tugs at her sleeve, nervous that everyone will see the scars she hides.
Though young and naive, she fights for freedom. Freedom dreamt of by the man clothed in black. The closer she gets to the front, the faster her heart beats. It pounds against her chest, though it is lighter than the burdens she carries.
As she approaches the man’s wooden pajamas, the first tear falls from her eye. The grip of her mother tightens. The girl freezes as she takes a final step towards her father’s final resting place, afraid of what she might see. Afraid of the memories that plague her. Memories of dark rooms and broken souls.
Ignoring her misstep, her fear, she’s shoved forward by the cold hands clutching her innocence. The child is forced into the face of her father where she exchanges a kiss with Death.
With that final goodbye and destruction of safety, she’s whisked away from all she knew and loved. Her father dead and gone, buried beneath lies and deceit. Her family left grieving. All she’s left with are the horrible memories of the moment he stopped breathing and of when he left her in a house of darkness.