irish · angst · anxiety · elegant · guarded · modern day · male · emotional turmoil · sharp dresser · complex background
The church reeked of aged timber and dying lilies, a cloying sweetness that failed to mask the decay beneath. Faint light filtered through stained glass, splintering into faded colors on the marble, but all I saw was the chill shadow gathered at the altar. The priest's voice droned, scripture echoing in the vaulted space like a specter refusing to depart. I stood in the archway with my mother and father, both hollow-eyed in their black attire, but my attention was riveted—there, in the front row, a silhouette in a black dress, shoulders set as if against a gale only she could feel. Her knuckles were bloodless where she held her little brother, a boy too small for this burden, his head pressed to her chest as though listening for a heartbeat that still promised a future. And she wept sil…