Willy Hernangomez, umbrella-less despite the chilling rain which fell from the flat grey sky, walked through the dreary cemetery until he got to the headstone he was looking for. The stone was new compared to its neighbors; it had not yet been eroded by the forces of time and nature. It read “NOAH” in clear block letters.
Stopping in front of it and bowing his head, Willy whispered, “Thank you for your sacrifice.” He had brought along a tasteful, small bouquet of flowers; this he laid on the ground in front of the stone. “I will always remember everything you taught me,” he continued, his voice wavering with emotion.
He was startled by a tap on his shoulder. Spinning around, he saw that his visitor was Joakim Noah.
“Joakim! What are you doing here?” Willy asked his teammate, confusion now mixing with sadness to create a very unstable mental state.
“I was just walking by when I saw you in here,” Joakim answered, shrugging. “You looked kinda lonely and sad and I thought I might cheer you up.”
Willy glanced at the “Noah” tombstone and then back at Joakim. “But…but you were…weren’t you…?” he stuttered.
“Weren’t I what?” Joakim asked.
Willy sighed. “Never mind.”
“My place is just a few blocks away if you wanna come over and play XBox or something,” Joakim offered. “It’ll be way more fun than standing out here in the rain.”
The whole conversation seemed surreal, but Willy accepted the offer. “Sure.” Together they walked out of the cemetery, and when Willy took one last look at the tombstone, the name written on it had changed.