2167. Her husband’s ashes

When her husband passed away, Lavinia requested that he be cremated and his ashes be placed in an elegant but simple sealed ceramic container. She had kept the container on her mantelpiece for two years now. Occasionally she talked to it, but in the end she knew she didn’t need to keep his ashes forever. She thought and thought and decided she would scatter his ashes in a nearby forest. He loved hiking and would often walk through that very forest.

One fine sunny day she took the container. She would go for a leisurely and reflective stroll to the forest. She had just left the house and was walking along her concrete path to the gate when she accidentally dropped the ceramic container. It shattered.

There was nothing in it.