Flag

Text Prompt: Flag

There was something about a flag blowing in the breeze that always brought her back to that cold December day, years ago. The air was frigid enough that it felt like needles of ice through your nose and throat when you inhaled, which didn’t do a thing to warm her already frosty heart.

She caught herself attempting to check her watch at least three times, during the short service, finally relenting when they draped the flag across his casket. She heaved a giant sigh, shivering to herself as the family started to file past the casket for the last time. Could this take any longer?

She had forced a smile as his wife walked in front of her. Enough already.Then his children, wiping their tears. Oh please, you ignored him when he was alive.

She jumped, noticeably as her boyfriend had placed his arm around her. “Don’t you want to pay your respects?”

“Isn’t that what I’m doing?” She shifted nervously on her heels.

“He was your best friend, you know.”

Show’s what you know.

She cleared her mind as best she could, bringing herself to the present day quickly. She watched the dark-haired little boy running through the park, bundled up in his hat and scarf, without a care and felt herself smile a half-hearted smile. It had been years since she’d lost everything and gained it all back in a matter of months.  She averted her eyes from the flag blowing in the breeze, but couldn’t completely block out the clank of metal with each swoosh of the material. Cling. Clank. She found herself shivering, again, despite the warmth of her jacket.