Faith
The next day Rick and Mari called everyone from the science lab to tell them what had happened. Needless to say, everyone was devastated and started crying right away when they heard the news. They all agreed to have a funeral for him the following Saturday at the Benjamin Franklin Mortuary and have him cremated so they could sprinkle his ashes over the ocean. At the funeral everyone got to talk about Joe and how much he meant to them. As Rick spoke about him, he choked back tears a lot of the time. "He was an inspiration to me, like a second father," he said. "He believed in me and my ability to invent the lemonade-making machines you all know I have made and to sell them. Before he died, he asked me if I would take over the lab. I am honored to be the new owner of the wonderful science lab we have all worked at, and I promise that I will do what I know would have made him proud to see that the lab continues to be the success that it has always been."
After the funeral, Rick and Mari took Ashlyn and Emmy back to their houses. Mari and Emmy changed their clothes when they got home. They decided to order spaghetti from Luciano's Italian Restaurant, since Mari was so upset she didn't really feel like cooking. Before the dinner arrived, Emmy asked, "Mommy, Joe was such a nice man. Why did they have to kill him?"
Mari sat down on the couch beside her and stroked her hair. "Sometimes people to mean things to nice people like Joe. It's because after Adam and Eve sinned, all kinds of sins entered the world. Do you remember how Adam and Eve's oldest son killed his younger brother?"
Emmy nodded. Mari put her arms around her daughter and went on. "But one day Jesus is going to come back, and He's going to put an end to all of the terrible things that happen and punish evil people so that there will never be evil again. He's going to make a whole new world where nobody hurts anyone ever again."
"I'm starting to feel better, Mommy," Emmy said. "I love you."
Mari kissed her daughter's forehead and said, "I love you, too, baby."
When their spaghetti dinner arrived, Emmy led the blessing and thanked Jesus for the day He will one day "come back and put bad guys away forever".
Meanwhile, at Rick and Ashlyn's house, both were quiet the whole time. Ashlyn felt like it wasn't right for a nice man like Joe to die, and she felt bad, because she was still alive after her accident and like it was wrong for her to still be alive and Joe to be dead. Rick was so depressed over losing the man who was like a second father to him that he didn't want to do anything except sleep, or at least stay in bed and not get up or do anything. Finally, Ashlyn felt lonely and decided to break the silence. She got a Scrabble game from the game closet in their hallway and went into her dad's room. "Daddy, do you want to play Scrabble?" she asked.
Rick shook his head. "No, honey. I just want to sleep."
Ashlyn didn't understand the concept of people wanting to sleep when they're depressed, so she went on. "But why do you want to sleep now? It's not that late yet, and you're not sick."
Without thinking, Rick let all of the anger he had inside come out in an explosive way. "Ashlyn, I just want to be left alone! Don't you understand? I just lost the man who was like a second father to me, and I don't want to play!"
Ashlyn started to cry. "I don't blame you for being mad at me, Daddy," she said. "I'm mad at myself, too. I'm mad at myself because I'm still alive and Joe is dead!" She ran out of the room.
Rick sighed, filled with regret. "Ashlyn, come back here," he called, but Ashlyn ran all the way to her room, slammed the door, and buried her face in her pillow and cried harder.
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