Once again the day started with the absolutely precious little voice of Sweetie Belle on one of her rants about cutie marks.  Or lack there of it seems anyway; the poor dear obsesses over it day and night but never actually recognizes that forcing it won't make it happen.  Lately she has been getting on my nerves a touch more than usual, though I couldn't bear to drop her off with Fluttershy any more.  Sapphire Shores seemed to do so well on her last tour that she needed even more dresses from me, and though the boost to my business is absolutely wonderful, (dears, don't get me wrong) the work that I've been stuck with is so dreadfully stressful that even the slightest thread out of place is liable to drive me insane!  

“Rarity! Can I go out to play today?” Sweetie Belle asks for what feels like the thousandth time that week.

I can only respond with a sigh, knowing the disappointment sure to follow “Sweetie Belle, I've told you a thousand times! I have far too much work to do right now so I simply just can't watch you.”

“You don't need to watch me Rarity, I can take care of myself! I'm not just a filly anymore” She retorts with her usual pouting attitude, what ever will I do about her?

“You're still too young, if anything were to happen to you I would never forgive myself; and I would be completely responsible for any... damages to life, limb, and living space that should so happen to fall into your path.”

“Aww that's not fair! You always treat me like a baby but I can take care of myself just fine!”

“Need I remind you what happened the last time you 'took care of yourself' just fine, Sweetie Belle?”  And of course I cringe to remember it myself, but a certain little group of ponies just had to find out if their true calling in life was to be firemares... let's just say that there weren't any fires around and they got impatient waiting for one.  Poor Lyra and Bonbon still get flowers from me every week as an apology to their once-beautiful tails.

“That wasn't my fault! Scootaloo found the magnifying glass,” Sweetie Belle nags, always nagging that one,  I just can't wait until she's really old enough to take care of herself.  All the while I try my best to thread a needle; the lack of sleep has been making my coordination simply awful.  Finally I get the darn thread to fit when I hear something break in the background.  

It's nothing, Rarity,  I tell myself, it just came from next door that's all.  Only to be proven wrong by that familiar voice again.  

“Uhm, sister?”  Nagging becomes pleading at the drop of a hat it seems, or at least the drop of a vase.

“What was that Sweetie Belle?” I ask, finishing with a sigh and laying my needle down on the table, hoping it won't come undone for some astronomically random reason while I clean up this new mess.

“No, no it's okay sis, I'll clean it up,”  Oh now that's worrying, she doesn't want me to see what she's broken now.

“No that's quite alright, I don't want you handling broken glass, but you can go get me the dustpan, if you would.”  I plaster a fake swathe of motivation on my face as I head out into the hallway, thinking to myself that once I get done with this order I'll actually have enough time and money to wile away at the spa or catching up on my reading.  Oh luxuries, glamor, what I wouldn't give for just one weekend without work or that little brat always by my side.  

I see as soon as I step into my living room that Sweetie Belle has accidentally knocked down one of the pictures of Fluttershy that I had kept after her modeling fiasco.  How I did envy her, and how I still do.  Such soft features, such natural beauty, such grace that some timid little pegasus from Ponyville could get a career with the Photo Finish without even trying, or wanting it for that matter.  All while I slave away making dresses only to go on unappreciated, overlooked by these... these denizens.  It would seem my only purpose in this world is to keep my sister from harming anybody or anything severely enough to sue me.  Life would be so much easier without her...

“I'm sorry Rarity... I just wanted to get that pen off of the table, you seemed to be looking for it these past few days,” Sweetie Belle says softly, pleading for forgiveness just with the low tone of her voice.  I really do forgive her too, I suppose things could be worse and at least she was trying to help; I really need to teach her how to levitate smaller objects when I get the free time.  “Oh... no problem Sweetie Belle.  I don't know why I hang onto this anyway, it only makes me... jealous of Fluttershy anyway.”

“Maybe you should take a break sis, you're starting to look like Berry Punch on a Friday night... all wobbly and shaky and like you just ran into a tree or somethin'”  She says with the perfectly placed emphasis on her own drunken gait to demonstrate what she's seen.  I can't help but crack a smile.

“I'd love to take a break but I really must get this outfit hemmed... tell you what Sweetie Belle. If you promise me to do exactly as I say I'll let you help me with the dresses.  Then when I'm all done the two of us can go out and have a day just to ourselves, whatever you want to do,”  I feel like I'm making a promise I'll soon regret, but I really don't spend enough time with my sister.  Mother and Father would really be disappointed in me if I put work before family every day of my life, regardless of how much of a pain family is.  Come to think of it why am I even considering their opinion? They were so quick to dump Sweetie Belle off on my hooves so they could pursue their dreams of becoming hermits in the woods.  Ugh, such disgusting people those two were! Never cleaning the house, never wearing nice clothing, never a single moment of sophistication in their entire lives!

“Do ya mean it Sis?!  Do ya do ya do ya?!” Sweetie Belle asks, breaking me from my little trance by the third 'do ya' and causing me to shake my head and smile a little.  

“Of course I do, but remember to do exactly as I say, and don't get too creative... even I have to be careful and exact with these ones or I might mess something up... and the client is very picky, understand?”

“Yeah I understand Rarity.  Exactly what you say, now what do you want me to do?!”  She's positively brimming with excitement.  

“Okay Sweetie Belle, I have a very important job for you, do you think you can handle it?”

“Of course I can! I can handle anything!”  Her enthusiasm is so adorable, yet oh so worrying.

“I uhm, I need you to go upstairs and keep Opalescence away from any loose threads hanging off of tables or dresses, and away from anything frilly.  That cat can ruin hours of work just by tugging on a string! Can you do that for me?”

“Sure I can, sis!”

“Good, I'll be right up as soon as I get this mess cleaned up and then you can help me even more, how does that sound?”

“Okay, Rarity! I won't touch anything else, promise!”

“Pinkie Pie swear?” I ask her with a grin, just trying to force my mood to get better, it's working.

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” we both say in unison, giggling like little fillies as we prod ourselves in the eye at the end.

“Good, now run along, I'll get this cleaned in two shakes of your tail,”  I say as I search for the dustpan that she was supposed to bring me.  Of course it's hanging on its designated hook in the closet, the one thing that's where it's supposed to be in this place.

Levitating the broken glass into the dustpan isn't too difficult, it's even somewhat pretty to watch the glittering little specks flutter away into their small cave, but once more I find myself staring at the picture of Fluttershy peering timidly into the camera's eye.  It seems to have fallen out of its frame and a few of the corners are folded and cut by the glass, but for the most part it appears to be intact.  I sigh and fold it up with my magic, simultaneously floating the dustpan away into a lonely corner as I place the photo on the table where its frame was.  

I leave my living room once that business is done and head once more toward the workspace I have set up for myself, sluggishly dragging my hooves up the stairs and almost dreading what I'm going to find on the other side of the door, but to my absolute surprise I find Sweetie Belle playing with Opalescence by dragging some string across the floor in her mouth, otherwise nothing knocked over, not a thing out of place in the entire room.  Wait... string?  I glance over to the table and find that the thread I had used to thread my needle is missing, though the needle itself is still on the table, only a few inches from where I left it, ugh that little...  Now now, Rarity, don't lose your cool, nothing's ruined and it's just a needle, I can thread it again.  With a sigh I snip a new length of thread off of the spool and painstakingly force it through the eye of the needle once more, finally able to hem the cuffs on Sapphire's new dress.  

“Oh Sweetie Belle, could you come over here for just a minute? Oh and do put Opalescence outside before you do, if you please,” I call out to her, thinking maybe she could help me gather the emeralds from my collection.  Sweetie Belle enthusiastically goes about her task of wrestling the poor cat out into the lobby and slamming the door shut with her hind legs, receiving a few swipes from those sharp little stilettos Opal calls claws before she manages it.  I continue to hold up the pure white fabric and stitch it together while listening intently for the sound of breaking glass or wood or bones, but I only hear the pleasant rattling sound of my box of gemstones being slowly pushed along the carpet toward me.  “Wonderful! Now could you pull out one of the bigger gems for me dear?”

“Of course I can sis!” She's so cute, saluting me right before flinging the chest open, unbeknownst to me the lid hits the stand that my mannequin is supported on, knocking the whole thing over.  Everything seems to be in slow motion, this outfit was almost finished but now it's falling away from me.  Instinctively I stomp on the stand to try and bring the mannequin back to me but I was just a little too firm in doing so; it quickly moves back and bashes me right in the muzzle.  My needle and thread get sent off into the furthest corner of the boutique but I never quite let go of them with my magic.  Their force is enough to tug on one of the weaker hems of the leg, ripping the fabric halfway up before sending the smaller gems that used to be fixed to the fine blue trim skittering across the ground like very expensive beetles.  My hair blocks the view out of my right eye, though I can still hear Sweetie Belle yelling “I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!” over the sound of air rushing past my ears.  I land with an audible thud, some of the emeralds and sapphires once fixed to the dress roll beneath me, causing the impact to be less than pleasant This was in no way aided by the mannequin pony landing straight on my ribcage.  I cough a few times and catch my bearings, ears ringing and eyes taking their sweet time focusing, only to see the perpetrator of my plight standing above me, tears in her eyes and clutching her mouth with her hooves like she always does when she's nervous.  I shake my head and glare up at the innocent little thing, knowing that this dress (after almost 6 hours of work) is probably ruined, and it's her fault.  

“Sweetie...” I say with an obvious tinge of anger behind my voice, unable to fight the underlying anger that she can bring out in almost every single situation.  Grinding my teeth just to drown out her little voice.

“Rarity I swear I didn't mean to!” she says through buried sobs, I know she's going to cry and that she really just wanted to help, but I just can't take it anymore, not today.

“Get out... NOW!” I yell, pointing my only free hoof toward the door, breathing heavily from the rising wealth of hatred for her.  She hesitates to move, only inching backward on her hooves.  She's shivering; I guess I've never really snapped at her like that before. “I... Said... NOW!”

That final emphasis lands home as she bolts out the door, once it closes I yell and toss the mannequin off of me, sending it a little further past its starting position.  Standing up and angrily stomping about my workspace, huffing and glaring around, trying to collect the Emeralds and Sapphires laying all over the floor.  Once I have most of them I simply drop them on my table and look at my damaged work; the entirety of the left front leg has been torn up the seam almost to the joint, every jewel around it was popped out and portions of the body panel had been scuffed and wrinkled from the fall.  They would have to be replaced, all because I thought my little sister could be competent enough to actually help me for once.

I try to catch my breath, tearing away the sleeve and seeing if I can work out the scuffing on the body but I only succeed to some avail.  I decide to hide it with a diamond pattern (repeated on the other side of course) and begin fashioning a new sleeve to sew onto the outfit.  As I sew the new sleeve onto the body, being extremely careful to sew exactly the same way as the other sleeves have been I hear the doorknob behind me turn.  Just that sound causes me to grind my teeth, knowing full well that it's just Sweetie Belle coming in to apologize for what she had done, even though I really don't have the time or the willpower to hear it right now.  

“Uhm... Sis?” The words eek in through the door, dragging with them a tone of despair and apology, almost pleading, almost crying, or having been crying.

“What?” I reply angrily, making it fully known that I am in no mood for a single other thing to go wrong.

“I know I messed up... and 'm sorry, I understand if you don't want my help anymore,”  

Her voice always has a habit of tugging on my heart strings, but for the time being my horrid temper fights against it, feeling almost as if I'm at war with my sister.  If she succeeds in making me feel bad for her then she wins, she'll screw more things up, I'll miss my deadline and be humiliated.  Mocked by the entire town, again... because of her.  That little... thing is like a solid gold doorstop; sure she may look pretty on the outside but all she's ever been good for is halting something that's supposed to move.  

I realize that everything I say in my mind takes time, that I've been standing there breathing deeply while Sweetie Belle waited for a reply.  

“Sweetie I–“ I'm interrupted by the familiar feeling of fur brushing against my leg. Oh no, oh please no!  I look down to see Opalescence with the thread attached to my needle sitting taut between her paws. She bites it and, giving it a firm tug, pulls it down against my magic and causes it to stick in my right ear.  I can actually hear the sharp piece of metal dig right into the middle of my ear, it sounds almost like a wet bail of hay being dragged across a muddy patch of ground.  I shriek both in pain and anger, looking over at Sweetie Belle with the most menacing scowl I can find in my repertoire of faces.  I can't handle myself anymore, blind rage takes over, stress wins the battle for my actions as I use magic to rip the needle out of my ear.  I can feel the blood trickle down over my face, watching it out of the corner of my eye as it stains my nose in a very thin stream of crimson from atop my head.  I step toward Sweetie Belle, not thinking like myself, only watching as the rampaging anger from deep within holds onto my body, and eventually my voice itself.

“You... You couldn't just leave the door closed? You couldn't just go play by yourself? You couldn't just leave like I told you? Oh no of course not because that would be far too much to ask wouldn't it? I can't just get my work done, I don't even need to get it done in peace and quiet, I just need to get it done!” I shout, the volume and power behind my voice gaining each second.  The poor little filly backs away slowly, leaving the door but never breaking eye contact.  Her eyes are so cute when she's scared.

“S-Sis I–” She stutters out, half sobbing, half scared out of her feeble little mind.

“Shut up!” I scream at her, feeling my vocal cords actually hurt from all the shouting.  “You don't get to talk right now, it's my turn to talk, every time you open your little mouth it's like Pandora's Box!”  She simply backs away down the hallway, whimpering and shivering, never running from me, never hiding, only frozen in fear save the instinctive reaction to stay just out of touching distance.  “You have cost me hundreds of bits just in business alone! I can't get anything done when you're here, I wish you would just... go away!” I start to feel like I actually mean all these horrible things I'm saying... looking back on every little idiotic problem I've had with Sweetie Belle; having to bail her out, having to pick her up and dust her off, having to start over on an order because she used the fabric from a dress to make something for her little friends.  I watch, that's all I can do is watch, my body moves out of pure aggression, Sweetie Belle's body only responds in fear.  I pick up my hoof to emphasize my point “I wish you would just go away... forever!” and I bring the hoof down.  The feeling of my arm colliding against her cheek is one I don't think I will ever forget, nor will I forget the sound.  She squeaks a little, not screaming, but releasing a kind of loud whimper as she stumbles away from the source of the pain.  I feel her tears on my wrist, and I watch her little body sidestep uncontrollably toward... oh no, the stairs!  Suddenly my rage disappears, I try to catch her but I'm too late, her hoof tries to step sideways and catch herself but ends up going down into nothingness.  Her balance gives way and the small unicorn... my sister... tumbles down the stairs sideways, hitting what seems to me like every single step before coming to an abrupt and violent impact at the bottom.  

I can't move, I can't even break my eyes away from my hoof, or from the rail on the staircase.  I shake my head just to force my own control back into my body as I run down to greet the sobbing pony, picking her head up in my hoof.  Her eyes are closed but she's conscious, sobbing quietly and shivering a little bit.

“Sweetie! Sweetie I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that I swear! Sweetie please say something!”

“S-S-Siss?” she manages to squeak out of a shaking and sobbing voice, tears streaming down her bruised cheek.

“Yes, Yes! Sweetie Belle I'm here, Rarity's here, everything's okay!”

“N-No it's n-no-not... I can't... I can't feel my legs...”  This rips my heart into pieces... what have I done? What in Equestria have I done?! I... I hurt her... I broke her... her life is ruined... I can't think, I can't move, I can only shiver and sit atop my haunches, almost falling backward from the very impact of her statement.  My vision blurs as tears well up in my eyes, my voice shudders as I try in vain to comfort the little pony whose life I've ruined, and for what? A stupid dress? For some spoiled self-proclaimed superstar who can't go anywhere unless she can see her own reflection in a massive diamond?

The little unicorn in my arms starts to panic a little, screaming both in agony and fear, the poor dear, oh Celestia what did I do? What do i do? What can I do? I can't bring her to nurse Redheart or I'll be thrown in a dungeon, but I can't just leave her here or she'll d... d-die.  It takes me a second just to say that word in my head.  I can't even think of life without Sweetie Belle, no matter how many times I've wished it... She's a part of my life, nuisance that she is... was... She'll never bother me again... Oh no, no no no, I can't, I couldn't think of it!

“R-Raaaarity!” She yells out, following her agonized plea with a loud wail.  Sobbing and barely moving her shoulders, it seems her front legs are paralyzed as well, oh no...

“Shhhh Sweetie Belle, shh, I'm right here... Rarity's going to make it all better, just... just close your eyes... please... just close your eyes,”  She obeys me, she trusts me, after all I've done she actually trusts me... I can't help her, I can't fix her... but I guess I can end it, she doesn't have to suffer... “Shhhhh, good job Sweetie, you're so brave, just stay right there, I'm going to get some...” I pause and gulp, trying to hide my own tears, “some medicine, just stay right there, I'll have you feeling better in no time at all!”

Forcing enthusiasm  never sounded quite so fake.  She continued her stifled sobbing as I ran to the closet with the dustpan sitting in the corner.  Out of the corner of my eye I kept getting a small twinkle from the glass.  The light caught it just right as the sun was going down out the window.  My sister, just like the broken picture frame, once housed something beautiful, but is now shattered and being thrown out with the trash...

I shook my head, cooing calmly to myself as tears streamed along my face, trying to catch my breath and hold onto it “Ohh Rarity you've done it now... she'll be fine, just fine... she can't go to the hospital like this... they'll only give her a small chance to live anyhow, and even if she does her neck is broken... her neck is broken, she can't move any of her legs, she won't be able to do anything at all for the rest of her life... she won't be able to run with her friends, enjoy a sunny day, she won't be able to live... it's best to put her out of her misery now than make her watch as the world passes her by... and it's all... my... fault,” I couldn't help but sob to myself as I reached into the back of the closet, pulling out the seldom-used bottle of rat poison from its hiding spot in the furthest corner of the highest shelf.  Opal kept the rats away well enough, and Fluttershy didn't approve of having this around at all when she found out, but somehow I couldn't bring myself to throw it away... I guess this is the only time I'll ever need to use it... unless... I shook my head “No Rarity you can't do that... your friends would notice you were gone, they'd find you and your sister dead... no you need to cover this up, you can hide it... she ran away, she's missing, that's all... she'll be just fine!” I tried to hide my true feelings behind a quivering and false smile, a fight that took all of my focus as I magically removed two tablets of the poison from their bottle.  

Immediately I have the idea to get Sweetie Belle a small glass of chocolate milk, she loves chocolate milk and it's only fitting that I give her... something that she likes to make up for this... The tablets disappear easily in the thick brown liquid, but I still make sure they're dissolved and crushed up so that it's easier for the poor thing to drink.  I hurry back to my sister only to find her wallowing on the ground in obvious pain, sobbing and whimpering, laying in a steadily growing puddle of her own tears, even gasping for air... it seems she can't even breathe, oh Celestia... help me.  

I walk slowly up to my sister, cringing at the sight of her horrified and miserable countenance, almost unable to take it in without my heart feeling like it's going to stop.

“There there Sweetie Belle, everything's going to be okay,” I say softly trying to calm her down.  I sit right next to her and levitate her into my lap very carefully, trying my best not to cause her anymore pain, keeping her upright so I can give her the glass of chocolate milk.  “Drink up, chocolate milk always cheers you up doesn't it?”  

Sweetie Belle looks up at me with a very gentile nod, straining her fractured neck just to get a glimpse of my face as I try to soften it up for her.  She seems to say “thank you” without even moving her mouth.  I can't help but shake, and fight back the upcoming torrent of tears, so I lower the glass to her lips; whereupon she lightly sips at it, unable to taste the vile poison inside.  

It takes her a few minutes, but after she has finished the glass she simply lays her head in my lap, sobbing quietly as I stroke her hair.  She's clearly losing herself now; looking sleepy and relaxed, almost like she just doesn't care anymore... I can see in her eyes that she's going to die soon.

“Sweetie Belle... you know I love you don't you?” I ask, barely choking back my emotions from this horrible day.

“I l-love you too R-Rar-Raahh,” She struggles to get the words out, twitching a little bit in my hooves.  I simply lean down to kiss her neck, trying to make the booboo all better... All I can do is nuzzle my sister as she dies slowly in my arms.

After a few final twitches I look into her face; apart from a tiny bit of foam at the mouth and the glassy pupils she just looks relaxed and sleepy.  I use my hooves to close her eyes for her and pick her up, no movement.  I rest my head against her side to see if I can hear a heartbeat; nothing.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sapphire Shores isn't going to get her dresses on time... at least not all of them... it has been three hours since I... killed my sister, and I haven't let her go since.  I can't even remember the passage of time very clearly.  I sit now with her lifeless body in my arms, holding her like a newborn foal like I used to when we were both younger, watching her life flash through my eyes... every single day I spent with her, every good time we shared together... until she moved in with me, and then nothing but my horrible treatment... my neglect, my denial to her.  At least she won't have to ever hurt again, but I will have to live with it for the rest of my life, and I deserve every second of it.

I force myself to get up, feeling almost like I've broken my own neck after having craned it to cry over her these past few hours.  I bring my lifeless sister along with me via my magic, keeping her curled up in her adorable position.  At this point I can only think of her like a doll, I know I've lost something dear to me, but she just looks like she's sleeping... just sleeping.  I look out the back door to the Carousel Boutique and see nobody approaching.  It's unlikely anyone will be out at this time of day, the sun is already just barely on the edge of the horizon, I can bury Sweetie Belle in a few hours, maybe I'll do it by the big oak tree just a little way out back that she always used to love to play around, or maybe in the garden.  Yeah, the garden, she loved flowers.  

I try to eat but I'm not hungry in the slightest.  As a matter of fact I've been feeling sick ever since I saw the life fade from Sweetie Belle's eyes; and around dinner time it finally gets to me, forcing me to run to the bathroom and empty my stomach.  I look in the mirror on my way out, unable to recognize the unicorn looking back at me.  All I can see is the wretched countenance of a murderer: a purple haired killer with blood stains on her face and a pair of bloodshot eyes like she's seen a thousand images of death and destruction burned into her mind.  Is this me? Is this my rage? What took over and killed Sweetie Belle?

“No... I killed her...” I find myself speaking out loud... great now I'm going crazy...  At least my hair looks like I've been going crazy, the curls have all flown out of it.  It's a disgusting rat's nest now, just a purple tornado flowing down over my head willy-nilly as it pleases.  

“Calm down Rarity, everything will be okay... she's fine now, she's just fine...” I say to myself as I try to brush my hair back into its usual form, twitching from time to time just out of habit from a forced back sob.  “Everything's just fine, everything's always just fine... you're a beautiful pony, you have a beautiful heart, a strong heart... Sweetie Belle wouldn't have been happy if she had to live like that... Sweetie Belle is in a better place...”  I don't even notice how my head had tilted from the brushing until I feel the muscles strain in place, realizing that I've brushed my hair so much that it's probably damaged.

I drop the brush right back where I found it, deciding on the spot to clean up the shop a little until midnight... well, maybe “a little” isn't doing justice to what I have in mind.  My clock strikes midnight almost before I even notice it; I've been in such a trance that I managed to clean, dust, organize, and put away every single little thing that seemed out of place in the Boutique, even Sweetie Belle is laying peacefully in her bed.  It's way past her bedtime anyway, but I figure since she's there I should at least read her a bedtime story to help her sleep, it sure seems to be a rather windy night... and she never did like the wind.

I read her favorite book for her, sitting in a small chair just inches from her bed.  She loves this part where the princess finds true love with the beggar, she loves everything about this story: the beautiful pictures, the inner perfection even for those with outer ugliness, and of course vice versa.  She loves the happy ending, she loves the imagery of the pretty wedding day... She loves the happy lives of the happy couple.  I look down at my placid sister, realizing that she'll never find love for herself now...

“Goodnight Sweetie Belle,” I say just before I kiss her forehead, brushing her hair out of her eyes and giving her a smile.  She doesn't respond, no matter how much I want her to, no matter how hard I hope, pray, wish, beg for her to respond she doesn't... Only looking back at me through her closed, dead eyes.

I sigh and start to well up a little, knowing all this crying couldn't be good for my complexion, but just letting the tears flow anyhow; this isn't about me anymore.  I wrap her up in the blanket from her bed and float her just ahead of me, stepping out back and glancing around for anypony else before I reach for the small gardening shovel I keep just inside the door.  She deserves a nice burial, perhaps I'll even plant some roses right on top of her grave, just so that she has a chance to grow into a beautiful flower even after her life is over.  As I dig, the only thing I can bring myself to do is to gently sing to her, knowing this is goodnight... forever.

“Hush now, quiet now it's time to lay your sleepy head... Hush now, quiet now it's time to go to bed. Drifting off to sleep, leave the exciting day behind you... Drifting off to sleep, let the joy of dream land find you..."

I match my digging to the rhythm, and after at least an hour and a half of solemn work, repeating the song over and over, the grave is finished.  I lift her up off the ground, still wrapped in her blanket and lower her into the hole.

"Looks like I'm the one who messed up and broke something this time... I just really wish..." my train of speaking is broken by a loud sniffle, followed by an inundation of tears, "I just wish it wasn't the most important thing in my whole world!"