The somber night enveloped the small clearing, lit only by the flickering flames that danced in a careful choreography with the gentle whispers of the wind. The fire, an unwanted witness to their sorrow, feasted on the wooden pyre where their mother laid, the last link to their past. The crackling wood echoed the rhythm of their breaking hearts, a cacophonous melody accompanying their grief.
Lee Min clung to her elder brother, her small fists clenched into the fabric of his coat. Her tears fell freely, seeping into the ground beneath her feet as though it could quench the thirst of the earth. Her sobs were punctuated by questions, her young, innocent mind unable to fully grasp the finality of death.
"But why did she have to go, Haejin? Will she come back? Does it hurt to be burned?" Her voice was filled with heart-wrenching innocence.
