A Parting Gift

I examined Adriaen's ashes on the morrow – I could not say whether the flames had consumed him or whether he had simply vanished, for no bones or trace of him remained - only a strange shaping of wood, dyed red, that seemed untouched by the fire. A parting gift, I thought, something that sustained him and not even the fire could burn away. I did not speak of what I had found, merely buried the keepsake in the fields where Adriaen had labored for the harvest, and then I scattered Adriaen's ashes from the pyre atop it. Wherever Adriaen is now, I hope he is at peace. Kathrijn