Said
They told her he was old. They said his time was coming soon anyway, and that the disease would just kill him faster. Less suffering, the healer assured her, though she didn't know if he was referring to her or the dying man in her arms.
He may have been old, she told them, but he lived young. He may be sick, but he is also very stubborn. She said there would be no suffering, because he was not going to die.
They said it was denial, and she had to let go. He was going to die, and thinking he wasn't would only make things worse. Don't give yourself false hope, they would say, because the truth will reveal itself soon.
But through their lectures she refused to believe it was the end. He was the most stubborn thing on the planet, and when she had left for the South all those years ago he didn't give up on her, and there was no way she would give up on him.
At least, that's what she said.
Because sickness is a worthy opponent and as time wore on he lost his fighting spirit. This didn't bother her at all; she had never liked fighting anyway. Even when he began to grow paler and thin she did not acknowledge his disease, and she said he looked perfectly fine when he asked.
And when they told her he only had one day left she didn't reschedule her trip to the market or call her grandkids down to say good-bye. She simply stopped in at around 1:00 like she did every day and said hello, and that she would see him tomorrow.
That night of the new moon Pakku passed away.
The people in my village like to tell Kana's story as some sort of warning, but I don't see it that way. I think it's a beautiful story of unspoken love, and the things we never say.