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Klim’s people have different customs than my people. Here in this walled city, a body is cleaned, dressed, and placed in a box. With tolling church bells, the priest in a tall decorated hat leads the family and friends to a cemetery where the body is placed in the ground and covered with soil.
My people leave the body of their clan member in a high place to provide food for the lesser creatures. That way, in our religious tradition, the vessel that is no longer needed, provides life for the wolf, the vulture, and the beetles. Thinking about it makes me long for my clansmen and home. Perhaps now that the evil spirit has left me, although strange lands and people still fill my dreams, I can return home again. I miss the clean air and my mother’s cooking. There is nothing more to keep me
