365 Ficlets - Day #282 ~ "The day before..."

The bed felt small beneath him as he sat there in the quiet. He passed the cricket ball from hand to hand, trying to focus on simple things; the smoothness of the leather, the fine work on the seam. He ran his thumb over it, trying to find the joins, trying to understand how it was made, to focus his mind on something mundane. Of course it was not working. How could he think of anything else in this room? He looked around at discarded toys, at posters and the models that Christian had made, never accepting any offers of help. All he could think about was the coffin in the study downstairs, smaller than any coffin should be.

It had been a glorious afternoon in the sun. There had been maybe thirty of their friends and all of their kids on the lakeshore, eating, playing, dancing and generally making a good time of the weekend. He had been running the grill, like any good host and father, and when Christian had come to ask if he and some friends could go swimming he had just said yes. Of course he had said yes.