"Do you believe in zombies, Willie?", Penny stood on the tip of her toes like a ballerina, except, in her current pose, she was too close for comfort for him.

"I'd like to put my faith in vampires, instead", Willie answered, manner of factly, as if only one of the two could be believed in at one time.

Penny heard his answer and breathed in an audible gush of air. The two stood side by side, at the foot of the bed in the master bedroom. Even as a kid, Penny always thought the bed was too huge for even two, let alone one person. Why her mother insisted on not getting rid of it, she couldn't understand.

"Mr. Lynch?", a voice broke in through the wooden door behind them. The room was dimly lit, solely by the distant rays of sun on a cloudy day.

It was exquisitely furnished. And though it was dusty and looked like everything had just been thrown together, no one could deny the intrinsic value every article in that room carried, even at first glance.

The least valued item, perhaps, was what lay in the left side of the huge bed. Hidden among the layers and the black hangings, the figure was almost indiscernible.

"Mr. Lynch?", the soft, feminine voice called again.

"Yes", Willie answered finally.

He turned around to find a small-faced woman calling him outside. Penny hated the idea of being alone in that haunting room with the lifeless figure but she didn't show it. It was perhaps the first time in her life, that she'd been afraid of her mother.

It was fitting for her to have died in secret, Penny thought, like all the secrets she wore every day before leaving that riddled room.

Locked doors, dark curtains barring every window, coverings for every single piece of furniture, no matter how big or small, piles upon piles of books in every room, ash trays filled with the remains of unopened letters, little chests in her drawers, keys, keys, and keys...

That was all that constituted her mother.

Willie entered the room again and closed the door behind him, joining Penny where she was standing.

"It wouldn't surprise me if Judith began walking again", he said after a grim pause.

"That'd be like her, indeed. You're right. Judy would be a vampire", Penny answered, resting her heels on the ground and standing straight now.

"Ms. Lynch", the small-face woman called for her this time.

"What does she want anyway?", Penny asked Willie.

"Our names."

"Well, couldn't you give mine?", Penny didn't want to leave that room anymore.

"I couldn't remember it for the life of me. Just go, Penny, for god's sake. And close the door", Willie answered.

Penny spared a look at her mother's face, hidden behind the hangings, covered by a linen sheet.

She trotted outside and closed the door behind her with a low bang.

The small-faced woman walked towards her. Dressed in all black, she looked like she might be the one whose mother had died.

"Ms. Lynch. I realize how hard it must be for you. I am really sorry for your loss. But we must all do our best for the sake of the one that's gone", the woman spoke in a soft voice.

"Oh, no. You don't have to do your best for Judy. She wouldn't care", Penny answered, finding the woman a tad bit annoying.

Confused, the woman went on.

"Could I get your name? Your Christian name, please."

"Penelope Mary Lynch", Penny answered and the woman began scribbling in her little notebook with a black leather cover.

"Actually, scratch that. It's not Penelope Mary Lynch. It's Penelope M. Lynch, but I don't know what the M. stands for. I just fancy it's Mary. But Judy never did tell me", Penny interrupted.

'William Albert Lynch', she managed to peek on the notebook and noticed the letters scratched and replaced with 'William A. Lynch'. The siblings were much more alike than they liked to admit.

The woman, looked at her face, suspiciously. Perhaps she thought the siblings had a scheme against her. Regardless she scratched the 'ary' of Mary and hurriedly went back to her companions on the other side of the hall who were waiting with their saxophones and all sorts of huge musical equipment.

The house was too huge, Penny thought, they would need a whole orchestra to make an effect for this funeral.

As Penny stood there wondering if she could go back in, the woman walked back to her with a brand new fountain pen.

"Pardon me, could I get the deceased's name?", the woman said in a low, sorrowful voice.

"Judith Lynch. And something in the middle."

"Oh, your brother said, it might have been a G", the woman said.

"Well, don't you trust him then?", Penny was on her case.

The woman was baffled, almost scared, "Well, I...I thought I might confirm. I realize you wouldn't want to have the wrong name on the-"

"Oh, you wanna know something better?", Penny cut her half way, "We're not Christian at all. I mean, I'm sure we were at some point. I mean Judy might have been. But us, me and Willie? God lost us along the way. I'm not Christian for sure. And Willie likes to say he is, for Judy's sake, but I tell you he's not. Yes, he most certainly isn't."

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Penny must have been loud enough for Willie to have heard her inside the room. He sighed. But he didn't want to leave the dead out of his sight, perhaps, in hopes that she might come back to life and he might miss the miracle. Deep down, Willie was convinced that Judy's faith wasn't bringing her back or anyone else, for that matter. Penny might have been right. None of the three were Christians.

The woman's face grew even smaller, she looked at Penny's face, perplexed. Penny was quite a towering girl for the small-statured woman. She felt like a rabbit, talking to a wolf.

"Uh, pardon me, Ms. Lynch. I'll be right back", the woman slipped back to her companions who were dressed in their Christian robes.

Penny thought, they could start a band with everything they seemed to be carrying.

She was a lover of music and knew in her heart that should the band in their church robes decide to run away with their tails between their legs, she wouldn't have second thoughts about playing every single one of their instruments. With some, she might even be good.

The thought of Willie waiting for her hit her almost too suddenly and she bolted back inside to recover her previous position at his side.

"You didn't have to go that far", Willie could have been smirking.

"I could say the same thing", Penny had forgotten all about the small-faced woman.

Willie knew that immediately.

"Why'd you leave, Willie?", Penny asked after a long pause.

Although, it didn't look it, the two hadn't seen each other in 7 years. No amount of age or time had made it hard for them to recognize each other the moment they laid eyes on each other. Not even Penny's bubblegum dyed hair got in the way. Then again, the Lynches never relied solely on their eyes to see things.

"I was sick of the world", Willie answered, honestly but briefly.

"Did you ever find a cure?", Penny asked.

"Not yet."

Not yet, thought Penny, so then he was still holding on to a hope. That wasn't like Willie. So then, he must have been lying.

The Lynches never had to doubt that the other might change over time. Change was a thing alien to them.

"Where've you been?", asked Willie after a pause.

"Following you. But I never caught up. So I figured you didn't want to be found. And then I settled in a remote village in Pennsylvania. With the Amish."

The air didn't stir anything. There was no sound. That's just how everyone who had lived in that house, breathed.

"Maybe we shouldn't have left", Penny almost took the words out of his mouth, her eyes glued to the bed.

"We chose the world over Judith."

"Even though we were sick of it."

And both wondered why the Lynches had to be like that. In the end, all they managed to do was justify the resentment of the world against their little family of three.

"I reckon it's something Russian. Not Mary at all. Marfa, perhaps. Or something of the sort", Willie said after a dreadful silence.

The middle name suddenly sounded like the right thing to talk about.

"Russian? Why would it be?", Penny asked.

"Poor Judith never did get to name us, Penny", Willie broke to her.

"She didn't get to? Why, she had all the time in the world, didn't she?", Penny's voice was a tad higher than Willie's but not quiet noticeable.

"That's all, Penny. She didn't get what she didn't get. That's just it, isn't it?", Willie knew his mother better than to opt for a logical road.

"I suppose", Penny agreed, seeing that Willie was so bent on it. He was never wrong.

The father they'd never met or seen had been a Russian that decided what they'd be named before he disappeared. Had he disappeared just a little earlier, the two might have had much freer English names.

"Judy must have wanted to name us", Penny said after a break.

"Some very orthodox English names then. You might have had a better name, Penny", Willie said.

How Judith settled for such American names, neither knew.

"Maybe we should talk about Judy instead", Penny said after a long pause.

"We are talking about her, aren't we?"

"Oh, are we?"

"Aren't we?"

"Alright, then."

Silence ensued. Both perhaps thought of the one and only pink lemonade their mother made for them that one hot summer. Judith was a terrible cook. Her taste buds had gone bad when she was very young and she lost all taste, so despite having cooked all her life, being self-learnt, and unafraid to try new things, she was about as bland a cook as they come. The pink lemonade that she only made once in her life for her children one hot, lonely summer was the only tasty food she ever whipped up, if it could even be called food.

She decided that day that there was nothing special about a lemonade being pink if it was as tasteless as water and never made it again. It was also the first time in their lives that the kids knew the happiness that comes with delicious food and drinks.

It was a long time ago. Back when summer used to visit the Lynch mansion. It had been fall for a long time now.

Lynch was Judith's maiden name. Any hint of their father, if such a person did indeed exist, had been removed from their lives.

"What'd you find out there, Willie?", Penny asked, soon forgetting what she'd proposed some moments ago.

"Nothing."

Penny knew he was lying.

He just hates admitting that he's disappointed, she thought.

And indeed, Willie was a walking talking contradiction. He said everything that would swerve from the Lynch way but his actions always spoke otherwise.

Penny didn't need to say that she found nothing either. She'd followed his footsteps, after all. Both stood before their lifeless mother with the same feeling of disappointment in their heart. The world they chose over her was terribly bleak.

They stood just like they used to, when they were getting yelled at. But Penny, always being restless, would start fidgeting before long and grab Willie's sleeve who'd stay standing like he was made of stone. And as soon as their mother was finished, Willie would turn and walk out of the door without making a sound or lifting his head. Penny would soon follow.

"Where are we going to bury her?", Penny asked, beginning to get restless.

Willie stayed silent for a moment.

"How about here?"

"Here?", Penny looked at his face that hadn't changed at all.

The Lynches were known for their mysterious, scary looks but Willie took the cake. What with his thin, towering posture and a perfectly balanced face that was almost too handsome but too scary at the same time-- Penny was the only one that had never been intimidated by him.

"Yes. I've been thinking, it would be what Judith wanted. After all, where else is there to go", he said, with unshifting emotions.

Penny agreed.

"Then let's bury her with Old Barb", Penny proposed.

"It might rain there, Penny", Willie replied.

Old Barb was the willow where they played as kids. Their once best friend and the venue where they'd drank the pink lemonade. Also the place where Judith buried all her ravens.

"But it rains everywhere", Penny calmed down and shifted her eyes back to the bed.

"Perhaps."

There was a tap on the door.

Willie went outside and Penny kept thinking of a better place to bury her mother. Old Barb sounded like the best place. As a child, she used to think that when she died, that's where Judith would bury her too, right alongside her ravens.

People feared the Lynches but the birds didn't. When the birds got old or were at the verge of dying, they'd fly to her mother. Ravens were a favorite. And it was always sad to see them go. Willie and Penny always waited on their mother as she dug a grave. Penny cried. Willie clutched her hand. Always.

There was a thud outside. The little faced woman might have passed out, Penny thought. Willie was often mistaken for a vampire.

Many people thought their mother was a witch. Penny and Willie were little monsters no school wanted to take in. They were taught by the seemingly infinite library in the estate. The one thing that library couldn't teach them was what face to make when meeting people.

Soon Willie walked in and stood back in his place.

"What was that about, Willie?"

"I've sent them away."

"Well, who's going to bury her now?"

"I know where to bury her, Penny", Willie answered.

"Some place it won't rain?"

"Some place it won't rain. We'll hold a funeral", Willie replied.

"Do you know how to hold a funeral, Willie?", Penny asked.

"Of course", he answered, before reaching out to a vase on a dresser.

He took out the lone dried Helenium* and went over to the bedside. He lifted the curtain as Penny watched him intently. His face shifted as he got a closer look at the lifeless, weakened composition buried under the layers. But he held back and placed the flowers on the chest of her mother.

He then walked back towards Penny.

"We don't need to call out to a god, do we Penny? We aren't Catholics."

"Well, Judy might have been."

"No, she wasn't", Willie answered, confidently but in a low voice.

"Would it save her?"

"No, Penny. God has never played his role for a Lynch. We're the ones that save our soul. Judith doesn't need his saving."

Willie sounded rebellious and angry but Penny knew that he wasn't lying anymore.

"So, what next, Willie? Where will we bury her?", she asked.

"Right here. Inside. Where it won't rain", Willie answered.

"In here?!", Penny looked at her brother, puzzled.

"Yes, Penny. She's right where she needs to be. Right where she felt safe, with all her secrets, and coverings. And we'll lock the door too. She'll always just be asleep here. And when we're done with the world, we can come back and keep her company. You in the tree house, me in the library."

Penny stared at him for a while, her shock had dissipated. Willie had chosen their resting places and there was no arguing over it. She wouldn't go against anything he said anyway. After all, Willie always knew better.

"Well, do you know how to hold a funeral, Willie?", she asked again after a long pause.

"Of course", Willie returned her gaze and almost smiled coyly, looking her straight in the eye.

Penny looked at him, taken aback, before he took her hand and clutched it.

He turned back towards the bed and so did Penny. And what she beheld wasn't the dimly lit room with her mother's dead body lost somewhere in the gloomy layers of the bed but Old Barb.

She stared with her eyes wide open as her mother dug a grave under the shade of Old Barb where all the other little graves were. And she watched her back, just as she used to do back when she was a child, with Willie clutching her hand.

She'd become a child once more. As the wind passed between them and the grey sky hung low, all the while Judith's voice rose over it to get to the kids. Her singing voice.

And Penny remembered that it was her mother's singing that always made her cry. And it wasn't that she was a great singer but it's because Penny understood what she said that made her cry.

"~Weep not for roads untraveled

Weep not for paths left alone

'Cause beyond every bend is a long blinding end

It's the worst kind of pain I've known

Give up your heart, left broken

And let that mistake pass on

'Cause the love that you lost wasn't worth what it cost

And in time, you'll be glad it's gone

Weep not for roads untraveled

Weep not for sights unseen

May your love never end, and if you need a friend

There's a seat here alongside me~"

Willie clutched her hand, tighter than ever. Penny was crying.