SIM:Sinda: Coming Home
Lt Sinda Essen - Coming Home
Sinda Essen: oO It should be raining, it always rains at funerals, doesn’t it? Oo
:: It should have been raining, but it wasn’t. A thin mist hung in the early morning air, quickly burning off as the bright sun climbed higher in the sky. But it wasn’t raining.
Someone was sobbing loudly behind her, but she didn’t know if it was male or female and she couldn’t turn around to check, her eyes were fixed, unmoving, to the coffin that was slowly being lowered into the ground.
Essen unconsciously lifted a hand to her right ear again, feeling the unaccustomed weight of the elaborate Bajoran earring there. She’d debated wearing it, only deciding finally to put it on while they were travelling to the cemetery. Even now she wasn’t sure it was the right decision, she felt it made her even more conspicuous, as it that was possible given the surroundings. ::
Sinda Essen: oO It should be raining. Oo
:: Ess glanced to her left. Her brother, Sinda Tor, stood at arm’s length, his hands clenched tightly together as if he could keep his emotions trapped in his fists. Essen herself felt strangely numb; Sinda Lo had always been more of a mother to Tor than to her and the small crowd around them, friends and family, were mostly strangers. Hardly surprising as Ess had only ever spent a few years living with her mother, between the orphanage and Starfleet Academy.
The casket vanished below the ground as birds sang in the trees. The Vedek was speaking but Ess wasn’t listening, instead she was acutely aware that there were as many eyes on her as there were on the Vedek, staring at her grey skin, her neck ridges, her Cardassian eyes. Ironic, in a way; if this was Cardassia they’d only see her Bajoran features.
The coffin bearers stood back from the hole in the ground as new figures stepped forward and began to shovel the earth back in. As the dirt struck the coffin lid the Vedek offered a long prayer to the Prophets. Only once the hole was filled again and the Vedek had fallen silent did the crowd begin to break up. Ess waited alongside Tor until they were alone. ::
Sinda Tor: You shouldn’t come to the wake.
Sinda Essen: She was my mother, too.
:: They spoke without looking at each other. The pretence of family loyalty had been buried along with the body in the coffin. ::
Sinda Tor: I know she was, that’s why I contacted you to let you know about the funeral. She would have wanted that much.
Sinda Essen: But you didn’t want me here?
Sinda Tor: No.
:: Ess nodded to herself and swallowed hard. Tor was almost three years older than her. His father had died trying to escape from a labour camp during the Occupation. Essen’s father might have been the Cardassian who shot him for all anyone knew. They'd tolerated each other for their mother's sake, nothing more. ::
Sinda Tor: She was the only one who wanted you here, Ess. There’s nothing on Bajor for you now.
Sinda Essen: I… I left a bag, my uniform, in the house. Can you send it to my shuttle?
Sinda Tor: I’ll take care of it. Goodbye, Essen.
:: With that he was gone, turning to follow the crowd back to the transports. Ess remained beside the grave. Tor was right, there was nothing for her on this planet anymore. Angrily she tore the jewellery from her ear, heedless to the pain it caused, and threw it onto the freshly turned earth. ::
Sinda Essen: oO It should be raining... Oo
:: Then the tears began to flow. Slowly and silently at first, but soon she was on her knees with her face in her hands crying uncontrollably. And her tears fell to the ground like raindrops. ::