13 Mink Street

A few days after the sky cleared up, the rain came up again in an annoying way.

The rainy days in deep winter can be regarded as a kind of punishment. When you are outside the house, the raindrops will penetrate into the gaps of your clothes; The illusion of living in a coffin.

Karen was sitting at the door of the living room, flipping through a book in his hand. This was a book that Eunice had given to him, and the title was "Diary of Rhapsody".

The author's name is "Robert", and the protagonist's name is also Robert.

Robert in the book is a guy with exhibitionism. He likes to run naked at night. He is the kind of naked, because the author mentioned several times in the book that the protagonist feels that his crotch swings his thighs. A feeling of being "whipped";

The story is divided into volumes in the form of a diary, recording the absurd and bizarre stories that the protagonist experienced while running at night for many days.

For example, one day when he ran past a night market stall at night, he saw an old couple boiling their heads in a pot. While the pot was bubbling, their voices came from the old couple, inviting him to have a taste. New flavors from their stall.

One day he ran across a small bridge at night, the west side of the bridge was rolling magma, and the east side was the frozen river;

One day, when he passed a post office while running at night, he saw a group of postmen stuffing piles of letters into their mouths like crazy, with their stomachs sticking out one by one, like a hill, and then the other staff of the post office nearby With great effort, the postmen who were fed up were forced into the mailbox.

...

The last entry in the book is,

When Robert was running at night, he met many pedestrians on the side of the road at night, and when those pedestrians saw him naked, they screamed and hurriedly took off their clothes in embarrassment, as if wearing clothes outside was only a matter of time. It's extremely immoral and uncivilized, and you only need to sneak around and hide in the dark when you are wearing clothes.

After this diary entry is the conclusion of the book:

After that day, I suddenly felt boring, and I don’t know if running at night has become boring, or being naked outdoors is boring.

When Karen read this book for the first time, it felt a bit like Dante's "Divine Comedy";

Because many scenes in the book are not like the scenes in the world.

However, many metaphors can indeed be seen in it, but whether this is really the author's deliberate insinuation or the reader's forced reading comprehension is not known.

Because the author Robert chose to hang himself a year after the book was released and when the sales started to hit, which added a lot of mystery to the book, and there are even many books about the analysis of "Diary of Rhapsody".

At this moment, Mina Lunte and Chris returned with three umbrellas.

They finished the final exam yesterday, and went to the school at noon today to get their report cards. I have to say that the teachers in their school graded the papers very quickly.

Judging from her expression, Mina looked calm. Her academic performance has always been very good, and the final exam was just a formality;

Chris is smiling, and her grades should be good;

Lunt seemed a little... depressed.

In this generation of Inmeles family's children, girls generally have better academic performance than boys, and the previous "Karen"'s academic performance is also very average.

It's just that Karen doesn't have to go to school now, and Lunt lost his comrades in the same trench, so he has to face the concentrated firepower alone.

"Not good?" Karen asked Lunt.

Rent nodded.

"Then hurry up and tell your mother the grades, and then promise your mother that you will work hard next semester, while your mother is in a good mood these days."

Hearing his brother's reminder, Lent's eyes lit up, and he immediately ran to the basement to find Aunt Mary.

Not long after, Lent walked back with a smile. Obviously, the final test scores had passed, and his mother didn't blame him, didn't hit him, and confiscated the cards he collected. , told him to work hard next semester.

"Hey, bro."

After completing the tribulation, Lent finally entered the happy state of winter vacation.

"Lent, come mop the floor!" Mina called to her younger brother on the second floor.

"Here we come, sister!"

Lunt trotted upstairs.

Karen knew that Aunt Mary was in a good mood these days, the day before yesterday was her birthday, and Karen prepared a sumptuous birthday dinner for her aunt, of course, these were not the most important;

Most importantly, at the dinner table, Diess personally raised a glass to Aunt Mary:

"You have worked hard because of the family business, because of Mason, and because of the children in the family."

Aunt Mary, who was affirmed by her father-in-law, drank the red wine in the glass, buried her head, and cried for a long time.

In fact, she wants to laugh, but sometimes the expression of being too happy is crying instead.

Diss' status in the hearts of the family is completely different, so Diss' personal affirmation is of great significance to Aunt Mary.

In the two days after the birthday dinner, Aunt Mary walked with the wind and hummed her favorite cheerful tune. When Mrs. Mark came to complain about her flowers being picked by condolence guests this morning as usual, Aunt Mary took the initiative to express to her Apologize and offer compensation at the same time;

This change made Mrs. Mark a little bit at a loss. Instead of asking Aunt Mary for compensation, she turned her head and pulled out a few flowers by herself in anger. Perhaps, she wanted to find fault with someone to quarrel with.

When the book was closed, a sentence was printed on the cover:

"You think you are running honestly, but you can't get real visibility."

Karen silently counted the days with his fingers. If today is not counted, there are only two days left to the 7th that Diess said.

Eunice also came on the night of my aunt's birthday; yesterday, Karen went to Eunice's house for afternoon tea.

Karen obviously noticed that Mrs. Jenny was preparing to move, and she also specifically asked Karen if she was seasick.

In short, the day is gradually approaching.

"Jingle Bell……"

The phone rang.

Karen walked over and answered the phone:

"Hello, this is the Funeral Society of Inmeles."

"Hello, I'm looking for Karen Inmeles."

There was a gentle male voice on the other end of the phone.

"May I ask what you want from him?" Karen asked.

"Can you please ask Karen to answer the phone? I have a gift of life that I want to give to him."

"Sorry, Karen isn't home right now."

Karen hung up the phone.

Is there already a phone scam?

At this time, Mina came over, took out a letter and handed it to Karen:

"Brother, I forgot when I just came back. This is a letter for you."

"Who gave it to me?" Karen took the envelope and found that the recipient was not written on the envelope.

"It was a priest named Simon who came to us on the tram and said that he and grandpa were good friends, and then asked us who was the smartest, and he would give the smartest of us a gift.

I wasn't going to answer because I thought this guy was weird.

But Lent said that brother Karen is the smartest in the family, and Chris immediately nodded in agreement.

The priest gave us this letter, let us come back and give it to you, brother.

Brother, that priest is not a liar, is he? "

"It's possible." Karen urged, "You should be more careful next time."

"Well, but he got out of the car after only giving a letter."

"Okay, I received the letter. By the way, there is yogurt I made in the refrigerator. You can share it with Chris Lunte and the others."

"Okay, brother."

Mina hugged Karen, kissed Karen on the face and ran away with a smile.

Mina, who had always been quiet and sensible, suddenly became willing to express her feelings. This was not because Mina had changed, but because she, who was delicate in her thoughts, might have noticed something.

Karen sat down again and opened the envelope:

"Hello, when you see this letter, congratulations, you are the lucky one chosen by fate.

I will lead you to step into the real ladder of this world and appreciate the real scenery of this world.

if you are willing to,

eight o'clock tonight,

You can go to the door of the church on Mink Street, and I will be waiting for you there.

Your guide - Simon. "

"hehe."

Karen laughed after reading the letter.

The format of this letter made him think of all kinds of lottery scam emails that were stuffed in his mailbox in his previous life.

but,

after laughing,

Karen's expression also became serious.

It’s a phone call and a letter, and the location is still the church where grandpa joined. It’s okay to joke, but it’s a bit self-deceiving to really treat it as a scam.

but,

"Hiss..."

Karen tore up the letter.

"Oh, only fools go."

Karen walked up to the second floor, and at this moment, he saw Diess coming down.

As soon as the eyes of the grandfather and grandson met,

Karen immediately said:

"Grandpa, a priest handed me a letter through Mina and the others. There was a phone call earlier, saying that I was the lucky one chosen by fate. In the letter, he invited me to meet at eight o'clock tonight. Meet him at the door of Mink Street Church. Signed by Simon."

The report is over.

Diss nodded, signaling that he understood.

Karen stretched lightly. It's time for him to prepare dinner.

"You don't need to prepare dinner."

"Um?"

"Come out with me."

"Okay, Grandpa, I'm going to get the car keys... Oh no, Grandpa, Uncle Mason has already driven the hearse out and has business today."

"Just walk."

"Okay, Grandpa."

Karen followed Diss to the first floor. There were several umbrellas placed inside the living room door, all of which were black.

After all, the umbrellas in the funeral club are not suitable for too many rich colors.

Diss walked in front holding an umbrella, Karen followed behind holding an umbrella, and the grandpa and grandson stepped into the rain curtain.

Karen didn't ask Diss where he was going, he just followed him anyway, but the direction he was going was not where the church was.

At the intersection, Diss stopped, and Karen also stopped.

A taxi passed by, Diess waved, and the car stopped in front of the grandpa and grandson.

Karen stepped forward to help grandpa open the rear door of the car and let grandpa get in the car first, and then sat in the passenger seat by himself.

It turned out that when grandpa said to walk, he meant to walk out and take a taxi.

Grandpa said the location, West Street Cemetery.

Twenty minutes later, the taxi stopped at the entrance of the cemetery. This is a small cemetery, and it has already been "full", and its location is not in the city center, but it is not in the suburbs either.

Unlike the people who are familiar with the cemetery next to the house in the previous life, the citizens of Luojia City do not have much resistance to having a cemetery near their residence. To a certain extent, houses closer to the cemetery are more popular Of course, the premise is that the cemetery is well-maintained, not the style of mass graves.

Standing at the entrance of the cemetery, you can see a wooden house inside, which should be the house of the keeper, but the door is closed now, and the keeper should not be at home.

Diss walked in along the gravel path, and then led Karen to a joint burial tombstone.

This should be a joint burial of a husband and wife, whose surname is Smith.

"Today is the memorial day for your father and mother."

Karen was silent.

It stands to reason that he should kneel down at this time and shout emotionally, "Father, mother, the child is here to see you."

But Karen can't do this kind of overly artificial emotional expression, and he still has to do it in front of Diess. First of all, this style of painting doesn't allow it.

but,

Karen still held the umbrella, took a step back, and bowed to the tombstone.

After bowing, Karen asked, "Is their remains buried here?"

Diss shook his head.

Oh, that's the tombstone.

Karen remembered that Pu'er said that the remains of the clergy would be recovered by the major churches, because it was one of the important materials. What Ms. Molly had requested from herself earlier was the purified flesh.

The surname on the tombstone is Smith instead of Inmeles. Is it to hide people's eyes and ears so as not to be disturbed?

Out of the corner of Karen's eyes, he glanced at Diss. "Karen"'s parents were killed by Diss himself, because they were severely polluted at that time, and they were no longer human, or even conscious existence;

So their memorial day was also a sad day for Diss. A person who cared so much about his family killed two of his family members with his own hands.

Diss stood there without saying a word for a long time.

Accompanied by Karen, he lowered his head and watched the puddle in front of him being beaten by the rain little by little.

finally,

Diss turned around and seemed to be planning to leave, but Karen hurriedly followed.

"Grandpa, do you come here every year today?" Karen asked.

In the memory of the last "Karen", there is no memory of accompanying grandpa to pay homage to his parents.

"Yes." Dees responded, "Every year, I will choose a tombstone, stop and stand for a while."

"Huh, huh?" Karen's eyes widened, "So, who is the owner of the tombstone just now?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Smith, isn't it written on the tombstone?" Dees asked back.

Therefore, it doesn't even count as a tomb, and any deceptive aliases are just my own imagination. The one buried under that tomb is really an unknown couple named Smith!

"Surprised?" Diess asked.

Karen pursed her lips and said, "It was a bit of an accident, but I can understand it. If you feel sad in your heart, even a photo, a flower, or a bunch of sunshine can be your sustenance and thoughts.

Grandpa deliberately found a cemetery, and then chose a tombstone, which is already very comprehensive in terms of form. "

"Sense of form, sense of ceremony." Diss chewed two words, "Yes, that's right."

"Then..." Karen asked, "Choose another tombstone?"

Diss shook his head and said:

"The rain is starting to get heavier, so let's go home. The sense of form is too heavy, and it's not good."

Karen and Dees walked out of the cemetery. Fortunately, the driver who had brought them here earlier seemed to have a beriberi, and was stopping there...picking his feet.

But it was inconvenient to take a taxi on a rainy day, so Karen helped Diss open the rear door. After Diss got in, Karen ran to the other side, opened the door and sat down next to Diss.

"13 Mink Street."

"Yes, gentlemen."

...

Back home, standing at the door of the house.

Diss reached out, put his hand on Karen's shoulder, patted it, and said:

"go home."

This scene happened once before, but at that time, Diss was full of killing intent, but now, he is full of kindness.

However, the moment Diss pushed open the door...

Karen stopped suddenly,

He suddenly thought of something, no!

The picture of that day reappeared in Karen's mind, he was holding the golden retriever, and Diss was standing beside him;

Then, Diss put his hand on his shoulder, and asked himself a question: What's ahead?

At that time, I took it for granted that it was Diss' test for me, and only by saying the answer of "home" could I touch the softness in Diss' heart so as to save my life;

But this was Mr. Hoffin's business first, so he gave himself a preconceived idea.

In fact, Diss never wanted to kill himself from the very beginning.

so……

The picture in Karen's mind began to move, and the perspective began to stretch, coming to the back.

ahead,

From left to right, also from front to back,

They are the golden retriever who is squatting on the far left and the front by the leash,

Standing behind the golden retriever holding the leash,

Diss standing diagonally behind him with his hands on his shoulders;

…

"Karen."

"grandfather……"

"Karen, where is this place?"

"Home!!!"

When I called out the answer in a hoarse voice,

screen,

Diss, with his hands on his shoulders, actually made a protective movement of placing himself under him. At the same time, Diss turned his head and looked behind him, with killing intent in his eyes.

That killing intent was not aimed at him,

Instead, he was facing the... fuzzy black shadow standing behind him or even across the road at that time!