Chapter 12
Francine left ashen–faced, laughing and crying in intervals like she’d lost her mind.
Samuel returned to the cottage and carefully wiped Lucas‘ urn and mine. I’d forgotten to mention that Samuel made a trip to the columbarium a few days ago to retrieve the urns.
The urns had gathered a thick layer of dust over the years. Samuel delicately cleaned them with a rag.
These days, it was becoming harder for me to hold on to Lucas. His tether to this world had snapped, and he was free to fly into the light. I, on the other hand, was still bound to Samuel and his general vicinity.
I knew that it was time for me to bid Lucas farewell.
At night, I pulled him into my arms after he’d played the whole day and told him a story about the next life. I told him that we’d no longer be lost souls wandering around in the next life. We’d try lots of yummy food, make friends and play games with other children, and go to school like normal people. Lucas‘ eyes lit up, and he said, “Okay, Mommy! I’ll wait for you in the next life, then!”
I hugged him tight. “Okay. I’ll look for you when I get there!”
The next day, I entrusted Lucas to the guardian angel destined to guide him into the light. Lucas held the angel’s hand and wouldn’t stop turning around to bid me goodbye.
I watched him leave, and eventually, he vanished from my sight. I suddenly felt hollow, and nothing could pique my interest.
I trailed after Samuel numbly and watched him carry out the same chores day after day. He swung by the graveyard and picked out three plots that lay side by side. The plots were positioned nicely on top of the hill, overlooking the entire city.
He buried Lucas‘ urn and mine, then muttered, “Calla, I still love you the most after all these years. I only brought all those women home to spite you. Nothing happened between me and Francine, either. I was just sick of the other manipulative women and figured that I might as well keep her around to piss you off.
“I hated you for betraying me all those years ago, so I hustled to make it big. I have money now, but why is it that I’ve lost you instead?” Tears streamed down his face.
Samuel sold his company to Bloomington Group. Kendall was in charge of the business deal and ruthlessly lowballed Samuel. However, Samuel did not bother bargaining with Kendall before directly transferring the company to him.
After that, Samuel donated his entire fortune to charity.
While he busied himself with disposing of his assets, Francine collapsed twice due to the severity of her leukemia. Up until that moment, she still could not find a matching donor for her bone marrow transplant. This time, her days were likely numbered.
Francine seemed to have seen this coming, and she’d let go of plenty of grudges. On the days she woke up in a good mood, she’d watch shows and talk to her friends. When she needed to undergo debridement—a side effect of her illness–she’d bite down on a towel and hold back her protests.
After Samue! had taken care of his affairs, he headed to the funeral parlor to make arrangements for his death in advance. He drafted a message scheduled to be sent at a certain time to inform the undertaker to take care of his corpse.
He then drew a silhouette of himself next to mine and Lucas‘, and lay down. He swallowed two whole bottles of sleeping pills he’d bought, then reached out his arm as if to hold me and Lucas in his final moments.
“Calla, Lucas, I’m coming. We’ll be a family again,” he murmured. The moment his soul left his body, I was seized with a weightlessness I’d never felt before.
So, this was what it felt like to be free after death.
I flew toward the light.
I heard Samuel cry out in delight behind me, “Calla, don’t go! Wait for me…”
But I continued flying toward the light. Never again would I turn back to look at Samuel.
