One less shadow

[Neela Garcia]

[html]

Late late late. Will do my best to keep on time from now on. This is getting mouldy, mind if we try and finish up somewhat soon?

Neela listened politely as Alyssum spoke to her, relaying a small part of her past. The actual events, an unknown war fought by unknown luperci, held little interest to the collie but she savoured them nonetheless, their worth more in that somebody was speaking to her at all than the information they actually imparted.

Neela's ears twitched in momentary confusion when she was asked what to do with the body. Back in her village the dead had either been buried in a place they particularly valued or put onto a boat and pushed out to sea, but neither option appealed to Neela. Putting her mother to rest on a boat would be an undeserved sign of respect and the thought of her mothers corpse lingering around the lands underground gave Neela chills down her spine.

"Burn it." she said abruptly. Burning was an almost insulting form of disposal in Neela's upbringing, used to cast away the spirit of an unliked person. Perfect for Neela's mother then. "Don’t want her lingering around here." she muttered. Neela started scanning around the clearing before finally her eyes picked out a patch of sandy ground, devoid of undergrowth for several metres. "Got some alcohol on me, shouldn't need much wood to burn. Here help me drag it over." Betetr to think of the body as It, a lump of flesh and bones, not the corpse of her mother. Despite their relationship Neela wasn't a person who hated easily except in the heat of the moment and if she truly stopped to think about what she had done she would break down. For now she had to detach herself, at least until she got back home, to the safety of her house and Tony, then she could let herself break down, process what she had done.

Word Count :: +301