In Your Memory

After Billy's death, his boyfriend Steve writes Billy a letter detailing the first few weeks after his burial and Steve's mourning process and attempts to deal with grief."Dear Billy,It’s been three days since they put you in the ground. I’ve started to write this letter because I feel your loss like a physical ache that wants to rip me apart from the inside out...I took the lighter, your lighter, the one Max snuck out of your jacket pocket before it became evidence when they took your body away, and set the edge of the letter, sealed just for your, stamped with your name, on fire. I watch as the orange flames blacken and curl my words, warping them first out of recognition, then into nothing but ash. I watch as the pieces fall onto your grave and intermingle with the new, fresh shoots of grass just beginning to sprout amidst the flowers..."