"Let us pray for him, for whether man or woman, we are like flowers in the valley, blooming today but possibly wilting tomorrow. A person's life is like a season, coming and going. Let us pray."

In the church, the pastor was solemnly delivering the prayer.

Peter, dressed in a black suit, sat in the middle seat, with Clark and Azou on either side of him.

The two boys, who had been at odds, had made up after Azou's formal apology.

Azou tilted his head and quietly asked Peter, "Dad, what happens to people after they die?"

"Some people believe we go to heaven or hell, while others think we will be reborn like children."

"Carnations? Like Rose in the movie 'Odette Rose'?"

"Not carnations, but rebirth."

Peter corrected his mispronunciation.

(Rebirth sounds similar to carnations in English.)

"Wait!"

Peter looked at Azou, "Isn't 'Odette Rose' a horror movie? I told you, John, you can't watch horror movies."

Seeing Peter's serious expression, Azou immediately shifted the blame to Clark.

"It was Clark who told me about it; I haven't seen it."

Clark's little face immediately looked even gloomier.

He didn't like the atmosphere of the church; attending a funeral for the first time made him feel a sense of awe, and he was a bit quiet and uneasy.

The pastor at the podium had finished his prayer.

Clark explained to Peter with a pained expression, "I saw it accidentally on TV, Dad."

"Uh-huh, next time you see something, you can ask an adult to change the channel."

Clark obediently nodded.

"Dad, is there more?"

Azou wanted to hear more about death.

Clark had a sense of reverence for death, but Azou did not seem to feel much about it.

"Catholics believe in heaven and hell, but they also believe in a place called the border of hell and another place called purgatory, while Hindus and Buddhists believe in nirvana—"

The two boys listened quietly.

Peter spoke more slowly, "There might be more beliefs, but the fact is, no one knows what happens after death. People say they know, and they say this because they believe in their faith. Do you know what faith is?"

Both shook their heads, "No."

Peter said to them, "It's like this: we are sitting in chairs now. Do you think my chair will still be here tomorrow?"

"It will be, of course."

"Then you have a kind of faith; you believe it will still be here. I believe it too. Faith is believing in what something will be like or believing it is like that. Do you understand?"

"Understood."

Clark nodded affirmatively.

Azou scratched his head and said, "But we don't know if it will still be here. Maybe a chair thief will break in and steal it, right?"

Clark said to Azou, "Then you have no faith."

"I believe in what Dad believes, right, Dad?"

Azou looked at Peter, "Dad, what do you believe in?"

"My faith?"

Peter paused for a moment.

What is his faith?

Money, power, or worldly authority?

It seemed like he wanted them all, but these didn't seem to matter much to him.

Just when he didn't know how to answer, the pastor's voice "rescued" him.

Hearing the pastor say, "Please, those who will carry the coffin, come forward," Peter instructed the two boys and then walked forward.

He greeted his cousin, Louis Wilson, who was in his thirties and wore glasses.

Though this not-so-familiar cousin had a pained look from losing a family member, he seemed strong.

After exchanging a few pleasantries with his cousin, he looked for Clark and Azou.

He found that the two had already run off.

Shaking his head, he focused his attention on the coffin in front of him.

In the afternoon.

After the funeral, Peter drove Clark and Azou back to the farm.

The car radio was playing "This Old House" by Stephens.

"Dad, you must not know what we saw."

Azou bragged to Peter, "We saw the dead person lying in the coffin."

Upon hearing Azou's words, Peter's brows immediately furrowed.

"That's very disrespectful, John."

Peter scolded Azou, the instigator, for a few moments.

No need to guess; it was clear that he had urged Clark to go with him.

"I know I was wrong, Dad."

Azou hung his head, admitting his mistake to Peter.

Seeing the other quickly admit his error, Peter didn't press further, and the car soon arrived at the farm.

......

Late at night.

"Ding ding ding!"

The phone at the farm suddenly rang.

Peter, who had already gone to bed, put on a coat and walked to the living room to answer the phone.

"This is Peter Patrick. Yes, yes, okay, I understand."

After hanging up, Peter's brows immediately furrowed.

He got dressed, went upstairs to check if Azou and Clark were sound asleep, then went downstairs to grab the car keys from the wall.

The outside was dark, with the sound of light rain pattering on the ground.

The car's headlights pierced through the dim night.

Peter drove quickly to the cemetery they had visited during the day.

Several police cars were parked around the cemetery, their glaring red lights flashing in the night.

After getting out of the car, Peter walked toward the place where the coffin had been buried during the day.

Many people were gathered around, whispering and discussing.

"Louis."

Peter walked up and greeted his cousin, who had a dazed expression.

Louis hurried over upon hearing the voice.

Two police officers followed him.

Peter asked his cousin, "Louis, what happened?"

"It's little Terry; his body is missing."

Louis said something that made Peter frown.

He held an umbrella and walked to the grave, discovering that it had been dug up and the body was gone!

"Was the body stolen?"

"We can't rule out that possibility."

A white police officer, whom Peter recognized, stepped forward.

The man was tall and had sharp eyes.

"It's good to see you again, Mr. Patrick. You seem to have changed little over the years."

"You are..."

Peter looked at him in surprise, "You are Officer Ryan?"

The man was Ryan Schneider, who had investigated the Walmart shooting incident six years ago and was also the officer who had interrogated him.

"Yes, I didn't expect Mr. Patrick to remember me."

Ryan came up and shook his hand, "Sorry to disturb you, but since you were one of the four people responsible for carrying the coffin during the burial, we wanted to ask you about the situation."