The bitterness of loss has reached its peak. He felt every drop of rain running down his skin as his hands reluctantly leveled the sodden soil over the grave of a very young wife and two children. The plague irrevocably claimed their lives, as did the lives of thousands of other residents of nearby settlements in eastern France.
Thirty-three-year-old Louis Morel was left alone. Everything he once had now lay in the ground before his bowed knees. Continuous tears fell to the ground and were lost in the rain puddles. His callus-covered hands of an artisan were hidden under a thick layer of black earth that had penetrated under his nails and covered his fingers and palms.
Heartbroken, Louis ignored the heavy rain and continued to kneel in front of the graves of Mona, Antoine and Mathilde. His soiled shirt and trousers were soaked to the skin, and drops hitting his body flew off with spray.
It seemed that just recently he lulled his beloved son and daughter, telling them fairy tales before going to bed. There were still memories of how Antoine and Mathilde tried to help their mother make pies, getting dirty in flour so much that their faces were completely covered with it. He returned after work and was warmly greeted by Mona. Every morning he woke up and the first thing he saw in front of him was Mona. He fell asleep late at night and the last thing he saw before closing his eyes was Mona. She has always been an exemplary housewife and caring mother. But the main thing is that he saw in her what he did not find in any other woman – a mutual attraction that was so strong that two hearts and two souls always seemed to be something indivisible. He and his wife were like two magnets that are constantly attracted, regardless of distance and time. But now the attraction is broken. All that is left of him is the second magnet, which can no longer attract anything as strongly as those three lost magnets.
Louis spent almost two hours at the grave before his glands stopped producing tears. The rain had already stopped by then. The sky still retained its gloomy appearance, which was given to it by thick gray clouds.
He got up from his knees, turned around and, barely moving his legs, began to move away from the grave, leaving a shovel lying nearby, with which he forcefully forced himself to dig a hole. He will never forget these terrible moments. Every shovel of the earth that had to be thrown aside, he will remember forever.
Not noticing the deep puddles on the path, Louis walked straight through them. In the same way, he did not notice the carriages passing by. All the skin on his face was pretty reddened from prolonged crying. He walked along the edge of the road like a zombie. Zombie thoughts of sorrow. And so he moved for more than an hour. He made his way to the denouement before the edge of the forest. His village was located behind the forest, which went around the right path and led to the village, and the left, which led to the city. The route did not occupy his head. Louis did not ask questions about which way was more convenient, faster or safer. Beyond the forest was a village. He did not turn off, but continued to move straight through the forest. The last time he walked this route was when he was twelve and he and his friends played hide-and-seek after going either for berries or mushrooms. Since then, he returned to these places only for firewood, not crossing the forest up and down, but reaching only its central part, where there were the most mature and even tree trunks.
He passed by an old elm and, gradually crossing the edge of the forest, plunged into its very thick, where the sunlight was hardly noticeable even on the clearest days. The ground in the forest was littered with fallen leaves, which would soon disappear altogether, after which the trees would bare their cold autumn trunks and branches.
Louis walked forward without moving his eyes. Soon, a strange light caught his attention. The glow grew brighter as Louis moved deeper into the forest. After a while, more lights appeared.
What could shine so brightly in a dense forest? This question, although not immediately, but still got to the surface of Louis’s half-dead consciousness. His legs remained as sluggish, but moved a little faster, and his arms hung motionless.
Soon, an open and rather spacious place appeared in front of Louis. As if someone cut down the trees on purpose to clear the area.
It was full of giant pine trees last week, Louis thought. For the first time in a whole week, he thought of something else besides his wife and children who were very ill.
There was a building in the middle. It was built of wood and had two floors. The walls were hidden under a dull woody hue. The open shutters were red. The first floor was surrounded by a spacious terrace from the outside, which was filled with chairs and tables. Empty glass bottles lay on some tables, and next to them, the muzzles of snoring patrons lay back.
