“Still, I don’t know if I’d want to wear my grandmother on my finger,” Rachel shivered at the thought as she uttered it.
“Understandable. But wouldn’t you want to wear your grandmother’s memory on your finger?”
“Of course, if she gifted a ring to me, I’d wear it proudly.”
“But that’s exactly what she’d do in our community! She’d bequeath herself to you in the form of a crystal. You’ve seen Grace’s ceremony, right?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s what she did when she signed the big memorialization book. She specified how she would want her crystals to be distributed.”
“Crystals? How many can you make out of a small grandmother?”
“One medium-sized or several small ones. She had a big family, and they all wanted…”
“A piece of her gets quite a literal meaning here, doesn’t it?” Rachel said bitterly.
“Ok, I see you still need more time for processing this, Rachel. Why don’t we go to that store, to get the basics you need?”
When they walked into the store, Rachel was surprised to see that it had a limited selection of new items, mostly cosmetics and hygiene products. And some shoes. All clothing was used and arranged in neat rows by size and color, like in a well-maintained thrift store.
“I hope these are not the clothes of all the dead people you crystalize,” Rachel mumbled.
“Not that they died in them,” Linda the store manager, a plump woman in her mid-thirties with exceptional hearing, said. “Besides, we wash them thoroughly, mend them if necessary and iron them before displaying.” Linda said it with so much confidence and pride that Rachel felt bad and apologized.
She got herself a pair of jeans and a couple of shirts, new underwear and basic toiletry items and left, thanking Jon for his help.
About the Creator
Lana V Lynx
Avid reader and occasional writer of satire and short fiction. For my own sanity and security, I write under a pen name. My books: Moscow Calling - 2017 and President & Psychiatrist
@lanalynx.bsky.social
Keep reading
More stories from Lana V Lynx and writers in Chapters and other communities.
The Surprising Link Between Heritage Awareness and Civic Leadership
Communities often view cultural heritage and civic leadership as separate domains, yet they are deeply connected, shaping social cohesion and long-term community health. Heritage awareness helps individuals understand where they come from, what their community values, and how collective identity has formed over generations.
By Carmen Reid2 days ago in Chapters
Becca
"Everything is so... flat." Denille said stupidly as she looked around her new neighborhood. She looked around at the muted desert where even the smallest sign of life seemed to have given up. The plant life was shrubs that were half cooked by the heat and where there should have been a lawn, a mess of white rocks laid glistening in the sun. Even the sky looked stretched thin, like the sun had ironed it smooth. She’d moved from Riverside, where at least there were hills, but here in Barstow, everything felt baked and brittle.
By Sara Wilson7 days ago in Fiction
Comments (1)
I can see that Rachel is really trying. Let's see what happens next!