Miss, Aren’t You Afraid?
The body had been sent to the crematorium, and Leland went to see her one last time.
He used the money on him to buy a beautiful dress, personally dressed his mother in it, and braided a beautiful braid to lay on her chest.
For three days, the body was kept in the morgue with low temperature to prevent decay. When Leland changed the woman’s clothes, her body had completely stiffened and was ice cold.
Leland also bought a bouquet of chamomiles, which complemented the floral dress on his mother. He placed the flowers on her chest.
The language of chamomiles symbolizes growth in adversity, not bowing down to difficulties.
This was the message he wanted to convey to his mother.
Leland stood in front of the cremator, watching his mother’s body being pushed in. When the furnace door closed, after a while, there came the sound of crackling.
The ten-year-old child was not afraid at all, with eyes fixed on the inside, pupils deep black, darker than the night and thicker than ink. At that moment, Leland seemed to have grown up all of a sudden.
Leland did not shed tears, even if he could shed more tears, it would be meaningless. Moreover, his tears had dried up three days ago.
From now on, he would not shed tears again.
It felt like a century had passed in the long hour, but the sound inside the furnace grew fainter and eventually what was brought out were bone fragments mixed with ash. There were clear oil stains on the steel plate, and a strange smell wafted in the air.
Leland held the urn, carefully scooped the hot ashes into it by hand. The wind was strong today, and the fine bone ash in his hand blew onto Leland’s face with the wind, as if his mother was bidding him a final farewell, embracing him and kissing him.
Leland did not want to cry. He controlled himself, but he couldn’t control the physiological reddening of his eyes, and his heart ached fiercely.
After painstakingly filling the urn, Leland held the urn close, bending down to kiss it, “Mom, I’ll take you away.”
Leland gingerly carried the urn out, and when he exited the crematorium, he saw two cars parked outside, as if they were waiting for him.
Winifred rolled down the car window, chewing on a lollipop.
“Is it done?” she asked.
“Yes.”
As soon as Leland spoke, Winifred saw the urn in his hand. Once a person is cremated, their ashes should be buried.
Winifred hadn’t lied to Leland, she had indeed found a good burial plot. As for Leland’s father, he too had been reduced to bone fragments, but with different treatment from his mother. His ashes were not placed in a specially made urn like his mother’s, they were simply swept into a trash bag.
Feeling unlucky, Winifred tossed the bag into the trunk of the other car.
Now seeing Leland approaching with the urn, she also felt a bit unlucky. She wanted to feign concern and caring in front of Leland, but it wasn’t quite the right occasion, and seeing the urn had dampened her mood.
With a glance, Winifred gestured for Leland to sit in the back of the car with the urn.
The graveyard was very close by, and the urn was buried before the gravestone was even engraved.
Leland stood in front of the grave, his delicate and frail figure seemed like it could vanish with a gust of wind.
Winifred had considered paying for these arrangements for Leland, but he insisted on saving money to buy a tombstone and settle the costs of the burial plot.
“Miss, do you stand by your previous offer? Five hundred a day.”
“I do. Five hundred a day, but your living expenses will be deducted from this.”
Leland had no objections to this. He could eat less, save more money, and slowly pay off these “debts.”
“I will repay you for the burial plot in the future.”
“Aren’t you going to have a funeral?” Winifred asked.
“No, my mother liked peace, and besides, there are no relatives who would come to attend the funeral.”
From the information Winifred obtained from Mr. Hamilton, she knew what the situation was in Leland’s family. Indeed, there were no relatives. If there were any who cared about him, he wouldn’t have led such a miserable life all these years.
Winifred took out a grape-flavored lollipop from her pocket, “Do you want this?”
Leland shook his expressionless head, “I don’t like sweets.”
Someone who doesn’t like sweets? Winifred didn’t know that Leland used to enjoy eating sweets. Before his mother became paralyzed, she would buy him lollipops and ice cream, and he had even developed cavities from overeating sweets. Thankfully, that cavity was replaced.
Even after the pain in his teeth, he still couldn’t quit eating sweets. Until his mother became paralyzed, it was difficult for him to even have a full meal, let alone think about eating sweets.
Eating sweets brings happiness, and happiness was the most luxurious thing for Leland, something he couldn’t possess. If something cannot be possessed, why bother becoming addicted in the first place.
Winifred didn’t eat it either and placed the lollipop back in her pocket. Her childlike side only showed when she was eating sweets.
“What are you going to do with the bag of ash in the trunk, I find it unlucky just having it sitting in the car?”
That car was the one where Leland had vomited earlier. Winifred found it dirty, even if it was cleaned, she didn’t want to sit in it. Now, with millions of dollars, the car was used to transport goods and ashes.
That’s the life of the rich, if they don’t like a car, they can immediately get a better one.
Leland replied to Winifred, “Just like you said, throw it in the landfill to feed the dogs.”
Winifred imagined the scene and smiled, nodding in satisfaction, “Then let’s go to the largest landfill nearby.”
Winifred sat in the car and could already smell the stench even with the windows rolled up.
Flies were buzzing around, and there were many stray dogs scavenging for food, occasionally fast-moving wild cats could also be spotted.
The car stopped, and Mr. Hamilton sat in the passenger seat, “Miss, are you getting out of the car?”
Winifred shook her head, “It must be very smelly outside, I won’t get out.”
She sat in the car and watched as Leland got out of the car, opened the trunk, and took out the bag of bone fragments.
Wild dogs were scavenging on the landfill, some timidly ran away when they saw humans, while others either bared their teeth aggressively or wagged their tails in place.
Leland was not afraid of these dogs. He emptied the bag of bone fragments, some bones had not been fully burnt, they retained a somewhat intact piece, about as long as an adult’s finger, with black ash and red traces on them.
Leland picked up the longer bone and threw it towards the dogs. The wild dogs were scared and ran away, only one bold dog came forward to sniff it but turned away without catching any scent.
The dogs wouldn’t eat it.
Leland lowered his head, his gaze dark and gloomy, looking at the bone fragments at his feet, then kicked them aside as if venting his emotions.
Winifred leaned against the car window, watching with relish.
“Miss, aren’t you afraid?”