The New Elemental God

They flew back keeping a safe distance from the city, gliding in complete silence—exactly what Adam needed.

There was so much going on through his head. Who would be there, how would they act knowing he was dead. All the questions were making him anxious.

Passing by his home Adam gave it one last look and turned his gaze away. Calder passed on the lead so the boy would take them to his destination. 

Not far from there, on the other side of the lake was the family's grave, where his body would be buried. 

Halfway across Adam stopped. 

At the top of a hill, on the other side, he could see people gathered around dressed in black. 

In solidarity, the Water God approached the young man.

"Do you need anything?"

Without even turning his head, Adam bluntly answered.

"Silence."

Then he returned to his path to get closer to the ceremony. It was obvious he was suffering but it seemed like something else was going on. Calder knew the Playboy didn't want to just say goodbye. 

From above Adam was able to count more than fifty people sitting in chairs facing a closed coffin. White flowers sat on everyone's lap and also framed a smiling picture of Adam that he took for the last family Christmas card. Over the black shining coffin decorated with golden handles, a bouquet of red and white roses was being unnecessarily fixed up by his mother. 

Calder stayed back at a respectable distance, allowing the grieving boy to descend and get closer to his family and friends.

On the first row sat his closest family. His father in one end and his uncle on the other, his two cousins were in the middle between their mother and their grandmother. Next to the family's matriarch was an empty seat that belonged to Adam's mom.

They all stood in somber silence, their heads bowed low.

With his feet on the ground, Adam walked to sit by his grandma's side. Pulling from his memory, the boy thought about the last time he was with her, during the new years holiday. On that occasion they talked about the future. 

Adam's father was the oldest son and always worked with his father on the family company, following the tradition that the son would inherit the CEO chair. The whole family knew Adam had no desire to succeed his father but still the tradition could not be broken. 

During Christmas morning, his grandma pulled him aside. Accompanied by cookies and hot coco she asked him what his biggest dream was. Adam didn't have an answer for her so she made him a proposition. He would take a year to find such answer and she would talk to his dad to ease the pressure of working at the company during that time. On the next Christmas Adam would tell her his dream and they would find a way to make it come true. However, if Adam had no good answer for her, he would have to start working at the office until he came up with a solid dream to pursue. 

She was the only person beside his mother to ever ask him what he wanted to do with his life. Not even a semester later, there they were. No Christmas, no dreams, no life. 

Sitting there by her side, like a ghost, Adam knew it was pointless to try to touch her but he missed her hand holding his face and pulling his ear. Letting go of expectations, he laid his head on her shoulder even if it offered no real support but pretending made him less angry. 

At peace with eyes closed, Adam felt his grandma move. Unmindful, he sat up to look at her. Staring directly into his eyes, the old lady reached to his face the same way she always did when she saw him. Paralyzed, the grandson waited for the warm wrinkled hand to touch his cheek but it didn't happen. Her hand went through his head driving one tear down the woman's face. 

She knew he was there, and the realization twisted Adam's insides. 

His eyes were flooded with water but before it spilled his mother called out the matriarchy's attention.

"Mother, are you okay?" 

The older woman held her hand aloft, her gaze fixed on nothing but overflowing with emotion. She pondered, glaring at Adam's invisible face before turning to her daughter-in-law.

"I thought I felt something…" 

Touched, his mother took the woman's hands in hers. She moved to sit in the empty seat, causing Adam to jump as if he was physically occupying the chair.

Standing there watching them comfort each other hurt Adam. He never wanted to make them suffer, he just wanted to get home that night but somehow they all ended up together in that sad place. 

"Excuse me." Behind him, his father was addressing the crowd. "I'd like to start by thanking everyone that came today. It means a lot to our family."

As Adam watched his dad start the ceremony, he realized that was the first time he attended a funeral. All the faces were familiar in the front rolls but further back he barely recognized anyone. 

"Adam…" Hearing his name made the son turn to his dad. The words were trapped in the father's throat. Powerless, Adam just wanted to hug him but instead he just stayed in front of his father watching him struggle to swallow.

"Was my favorite person." Standing up, his mother picked up where the father stopped. She took his hand and held it near her heart as she talked. "He was reckless but was never a bad person." 

Nature was quiet, listening to the heavy words of the grieving mother.

"I don't know what happened to him that night but I hope he is somewhere better now." 

Adam was watching every tear that fell off their eyes, he wished he could catch them all and put it somewhere safe. 

Somewhere off his sight, Adam heard whispers and hidden giggles. Looking around the cemetery he didn't see any kids that could have been playing nearby. 

"We will smile and laugh less now that he is not with us…" 

While hearing his mother, Adam walked down the carpet that divided the chairs in two sides, trying to find the source of the disrespectful whispers. He traced it to the last roll behind a few people that were standing up.