A very well written story. It took me a while and i kind of couldn't figure out the characters but i finally did with the help of the last line, and then i re-read it and all the pieces fell in place.
A rear view angle for looking at a funeral event and its actors. I am not yet sure which direction you could accelerate the story toward, but one thing is sure - this can build up to a really nail-biting story. I am gladly going to follow along.
Otherwise since this is technically a 'funeral event' scene, you could follow it up with the 'after the funeral' scene...and then drive the storyline along 'the after life' or something like that....Just thinking!
Thank you for your kind words @mirrors. It just so happens that I am thinking on similar lines regarding the future of the story, so let me share a few more details on that.
The inspiration for this piece came from a short story called The Last Answer by Isaac Asimov. In the story, a person dies of cardiac arrest and his soul meets the Creator, who explains that a soul is nothing but a nexus of electromagnetic waves, and that he (the Creator) picks certain individuals who continue to survive as souls for the purpose of discovering new knowledge, which the Creator admits he could himself do but is not interested in doing so. I won't reveal what follows, because it is an interesting conversation and I would recommend you to read it yourself.
I picked up the concept of a soul being constructed of electromagnetic waves, and since electromagnetic waves can travel at light-speed, I plan on my characters being capable of making interstellar and intergalactic journeys. The larger story is going to be a science fiction novel which would include alien creatures as well (I see the possibility of three volumes), but I'm taking it very slow right now. Hopefully I get the correct ideas to write it soon.