text: The Funeral This is a stupid story I came up with while watching the election coverage on ABC. My friend and I were texting about how one reporter we enjoyed was absent. Jon Karl. Then my friend was like “Jon must be dead to everyone. He’s not on TV. He’s a political correspondent isn’t he?” Then this idea popped in my head. I do NOT under any circumstances wish harm on Jon Karl. I like him actually. So I just wrote up the epilogue part to get me started. Please don’t hate me --- It was the day of Jon’s funeral. Everyone who knew him well wEre in a church, talking about him. Except his best friend, David. David sat on a pew, alone. He didn’t want to be here. But he had to be. He was delivering the eulogy. And it was the polite thing to do. He soon stood up, walking to the group. Mary quickly noticed him, hugging him. “David, I know how hard this is for you. You and Jon were pretty close. He and I rarely worked together. But we became good friends during the debates. Sit with me and Ali?” she looked at her watch. The service should begin any minute now. He reluctantly sat down beside Mary, trying to keep his emotions in check. But he knew that not crying would make him look weak. He snapped out of his daze when one of their other coworkers, Mike, tapped him on the shoulder and said “You’re on deck David. You’ve got this” David glared at Mike, then got up. He walked up to the lectern, adjusting the microphone. He knew this was also being broadcast to homes around the nation, too. He blinked back tears before speaking. “Good afternoon, everyone. I’m David Muir. We’re all here today to celebrate the like of Jon Karl. I was great friends with Jon for almost 15 years. I was extremely honored when his wife, Maria, asked me to deliver this speech. I’m nervous about finding the words to describe just how much Jon meant to me, his loved ones, and the public watching at home” He was extremely tense, but talking like he was reporting the news helped. “When I first met Jon 15 years ago, we didn’t quite hit it off. But he was my mentor, and I had to listen to him.” He laughed, remembering how rebellious and cocky he was. Jon was like a big brother to him. Suddenly, David dropped his pen. “Errr technical malfunctions.” He laughed, as he bent down to grab his pen and wipe his eyes. ‘Thanks, gravity’ he thought, before standing back up. Doodling helped him calm down. Since he was so tense and stressed, the doodle was pretty intricate. It was of him and Jon on one of their reports. “Jon was one of the bravest men I knew. One of our reports was in the midst of Hurricane Sandy in 2012. There had been a wave that almost killed me. The huge wave was carrying a lot of wood planks and nails. Jon had almost pulled me out of the way, but the wave nearly shattered my left leg, and part of my skull. I- I was unconscious for about a week. Jon saved my life...” Suddenly, he looked at everyone, weary. He was as pale as the sheet of paper he was reading off of. He wanted to run and scream. But he couldn’t, he wasn’t done yet. “I need a moment.” He sighed, sipping the water he had. Closing his eyes, he pictured Jon giving him the thumbs up. “Jon and I always goofed off while we weren’t working on anything. We used to sit and play video games on our laptops. I remember the last game we played. Among Us. You know, I still want a rematch.” He smirked as the crowd laughed. He was finally almost done with the speech. “As I mentioned earlier, Jon was an incredible man, mentor, friend, and my best friend. To his family, he was a son, a father, a husband, an uncle.” David finally finished, and decided to end the speech with his sign off. “This is David Muir for ABC News. We’ll see you right back here, tomorrow night” he winked, trying to keep the mood up.