Thanks to another note from Mum, Aspen discovered that the freezer was full of individual portions of food locals had brought over after Aunt Marcy’s funeral. They were still trying to decide which of the leftovers they wanted to eat when another knock came at the front door.

“No rest for the wicked,” they sighed as they closed the freezer and went to open the door.

LC simply looked confused, but it was our son’s turn to help, Ish calling out, “When I was very little, I had a stuffed rabbit”

“What’s a rabbit?”

Moments like that cut me, for each was a reminder of how much of our child’s life had been stolen by those bastards, along with that of my wife. Ish was still on point, though.

“It’s a little animal, Carolyn. We’ll show you some real ones, but mine was a toy, like your bear, for cuddling. Another name for a rabbits is ‘Bunny,’ and because I was very little, I called mine Bunbun”

“Have you still got it?”