It was Klaus’s grandmothers’ funeral
She had been a wonderful woman
A beacon of light amongst the ‘shit’ of the world
Klaus’s dad once said
The funeral home was packed
Klaus and I sat side by side
Klaus had been close to her
But Klaus and I had made a pact last year
It was an oath that we swore on until our deaths
The deal was that whenever we were together
And we heard Michael Jackson’s song Thriller
We had do the dance from the video
No matter where we were
You know the one where they are all zombies
We practiced for days so that we knew it by heart
Everyone was quiet at the funeral
Staring at the open casket
Then someone’s cell phone went off
The ring tone was Thriller
Klaus looked at me
A look of panic in his eyes
Then his faced changed
It was the understanding of our oath and what it meant
We stood
And we danced the Thriller dance
We ‘do be doo be dooed’ the melody and zombie danced
No one knew what to do
The cell phone wasn’t even playing anymore
It was just us dancing beside the coffin
And everyone watching
We finished and sat down
We were both calm as it was something that had to done
I didn’t see Klaus for a few months after that
Some say he went away to camp
Some say he was sent to the army
Some say he went to a special hospital for ‘funky kids’
My guess was that Klaus must have fallen and bumped his head after the funeral
Because now he has a big scar that runs across his forehead
Now Klaus just stares at the trees in his back yard
And he drools a lot
Looks like I’m on my own next time I hear Thriller!