Sleep Peacefully Read Online Free PDF Page A

through my mind. It’s been
almost a year since Jess’s death, yet still, even now, the dream feels as vivid
and real as ever.
     
    It
started on the night before Jess’s funeral. I had been to see her body that
day. I’d felt that it was something I had to do, that somehow seeing her would
make things seem realer, make me understand that my sister was truly never
coming back.
    Jess’s
coffin was laid out in a room at the funeral parlor. Mum had chosen one of the
top of the range caskets, and in my opinion, had also gone massively overboard
with the flower arrangements and the wake, too. I knew that all she wanted was
to send off her daughter in style. But I couldn’t help thinking Jess would have
been angry that Mum had wasted so much money on such an unnecessary and
flamboyant display. She had never been one for extravagance in any way, shape
or form.
    We
were told that the fall had caused internal injuries, but a fatal blow to the
back of Jess’s head, sustained from the impact of the rocks she had landed on,
is what had actually killed her. We were assured that her death would have been
instant, which in some morbid way was a blessing to us. Knowing that she hadn’t
suffered came as a sort of comfort.
    I
had been nervous about visiting her and didn’t know what to expect, given the
nature of how she died, but when I saw her the injuries didn’t even look like
they existed. I knew that this was mainly due to the fact they were cleverly
hidden from our view. She looked like she was asleep, as if I could just reach
out and shake her until she woke, like I used to do every morning when she was
little, when it was time to get up and get ready for school. I’d lean over her
and whisper quietly in her ear, so I didn’t startle her. Wakey, Wakey sleepy
head! Jess loved her sleep and had been a nightmare to wake up in the
mornings. She was much more of a night owl than a morning person, and had been
all of her life.
    She
was dressed in a navy blue pinstriped trouser suit which Mum had picked out for
her to wear; it looked brand new. I had never seen Jess in a suit before and
she looked a little odd wearing it. She was more of a jeans and trainers type
of girl, or maybe a loose fitting dress and flip flops during the summer
months. The outfit made her look too serious, older somehow. I wished I had
gone with Mum to the apartment to help her and Matt pick out something for her
to wear. It just wasn’t Jess’s style.
    I
don’t even know why she would have had that suit in her wardrobe in the first
place, other than maybe for an important meeting she had to attend when she
worked. Even then, her day to day attire was normally quite informal. I would
have picked out an entirely different outfit; maybe that peach chiffon blouse
that she liked so much. Her favourite pair of black skinny jeans, teamed with
the Christian Louboutin stilettos, which she managed to blag from the wardrobe
department at the magazine she had worked for. Jess’s powers of persuasion had
been incredible. She had the capability to wrap anyone around her little finger
without them even knowing it.
    Her
long blonde hair lay loose, hanging down past her shoulders as she had
regularly worn it, but it didn’t have the same golden sheen that it always used
to. Her skin was a horrible shade of white, pale and ashen, almost transparent.
I remember holding my finger to her cheek, it was cold, and her skin was dry.
She had way too much eye makeup on too, Jess would never wear that much makeup.
She could always get away with a simple dab of blusher and a lick of nude
coloured lipgloss. Maybe a little mascara if she was going out. Her natural
beauty had never required it.
    My
hand lingered on her cheek for a few minutes, before Dan put his hand on my
shoulder and led me out of the room. Silently knowing that it was time to
leave, I nodded. I took his hand and followed him, taking one final glance over
my shoulder before I left. I broke down once I was outside.