xi. heaven


Men in charcoal suits shovel dirt into the hole. Earth's mouth closing, filling up. The coffin disappears.

Someone sobs, someone says Why.

People clutching umbrellas over bowed heads, crying, dabbing at their eyes. The child and her grandfather stand apart, watching.

"Grandpa," the child says, "is heaven real?"

The grandfather sighs and his face wrinkles into a sad, sad smile. "It is if you believe it is."

"Pastor Carter did. Is he in heaven now?"

For a while the man stays quiet and there is only weeping to listen to.

Finally he says: "He is if you believe he is."