***
Chapter 6 Part 2
Paul and Sorrel Bay drove to IKEA and searched for
Annie. When it became apparent that she
had not survived—that no one had survived but just the two of them—they went
home and stayed indoors and did their best to cope with the shock.
It was Sorrel who suggested after a couple of days that they
go back to IKEA and find what was left of her Mom. To gather her ashes and her
things and hold some kind of memorial for her. This is what they had been doing
the morning Panda and Dell had
arrived. Sorrel had found a nice
decorative jar with a screw lid in the ‘small storage’ department and together
she and her Daddy had scooped up the ashes and placed them inside. The keys and
purse, shoes, rings and earrings, Paul put in a wicker basket to take along
home. He used a thick permanent marker
to write on the concrete:
Annie Anderson.
Beloved Wife and
Mother
1982-2015.
He had almost added: X
marks the Spot but knew it would have irritated Annie.
They stood in silent vigil once they were
done, and then decided to start cleaning up the food court because that is
something that Annie would definitely
have approved. Paul worked in the
serving area dumping the dried, coagulated, nasty food from the steam table,
using the industrial dishwasher and sorting good food from bad for the
incinerator while Sorrel was bussing the dining tables and making the dining
room look clean and tidy. They were just finishing up when she had spotted the
girls’ truck rolling into the IKEA parking lot.
***
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