"Cremation?! Dad, isn't that just a bit painful to think of?"

"Michella, you and I both know we don't have enough money for a proper funeral, unless we cremate. It's just cheaper."

"... I know... but how will Fany react when she finds out her mother has been reduced to a pile of ashes?"

Mr. Hwang threw a sharp look at his daughter. "Well, when you put it like that, it makes me sound like a Hitler. Do you think your mother would rather have you kids skip lunch for a month just to have a proper burial?"

"... I guess not..." Michella looked down, defeated.

"I don't mean to sound harsh, honey. We still have to talk to the guys at the funeral place."

"...Dad, why- why did this have to ha-happen t-to us?" She bit her trembling lips and looked up at her father, tears in her eyes.

"Michella..." his tone was kind, yet exasperated.

"NO! Don't just tell me that it was 'her time,' don't just excuse her death because it was 'God's Will'! I'm tired of hearing that! Why? What did we do to deserve this? What did she do?" Michella had tears rolling down her face, but she looked more angry than sad. Plain furious.

"Michella. Stop crying. You have to put Stephanie to bed, and if she sees you crying, she'll break down completely." his daughter opened to protest, but he cut across her. "Yah! I don't know the answer to everything. Stop acting like a kid and tuck your siblings in bed!"

Michella wiped her tears away and stood up angrily, ready to yell some more, but her harsh words died in when she saw the pain-- deep, raw, utter pain-- embedded in her father's eyes.

"I'm sad- no, devastated- too, Michella. But acting like this, being angry or blaming it on the world... nothing can bring her back. It's no use..."

"I'm sorry," she whispered. She reached out to give her dad a hug. They embraced for a while, communicating their hurt and sadness through their touch. Her father broke the hug.

"Now go get your brother and sister into bed," he said. She nodded and left her parents' dad's room and went upstairs to her room that she shared with Stephanie. She chose her sister's favorite book and approached Stephanie, who was already in bed, staring at a locket.

"I want Mom to tuck me in," Tiffany said when Michella knelt by her bed. Michella tensed.

"But I want to spend quality time with my sister tonight!" she said in a cheerful voice that even a fool could lable as forcefully fake.

Tiffany glared at her sister. "I. want. Mommy. to. say. good. night."

Michella swallowed nervously. What do I do now, Mom? Help me... She had never seen Stephanie like this. Even when Stephanie had been mad in the past, she had expressed it cutely. There was no trace of that aegyo now. "She c-can't. It's my turn to read to you."

"Fine." Tiffany said curtly. She stared straight ahead, face like stone.

Michella took a deep breath and placed the book on the bed. "The Dream Jar--"

"NO!" Tiffany yelled, grabbing the book and holding it tight. "That's Mommy's book." she whispered.

"Fany--"

"Don't call me that! Only Mommy calls me Fany or Tiffany. That's special to her." Tiffany's bottom lip started trembling. "Go away! I don't want a story."

"Fine! Be that way!" Michella slammed her hand on the bed and rose. Tiffany watched her leave and uncurled her hand, revealing the locket. She took a deep breath and changed her face to a determined one.

"When I wake up tomorrow, this will all be a nightmare. Mommy will be cooking my favorite meal in the kitchen, and she'll call me down for breakfast. Everything will be ok." She nodded to herself, convinced, hoping, that this was in fact all a nightmare. She opened to the last page of her book. "Go away, bad dream, go! Go away, bad dream, go! Away into the Dream Jar, and never come back!" It was a childish incantation, and she knew it, but it gave her comfort. Tiffany ran her hands over the smooth pages of the picture book and tucked it under her pillow. She kissed the locket goodnight and closed her eyes. The busy day's tiring events put her to sleep almost immediately.

Michella, who had been listening just outside the door, wept for her sister's ignorance of their mother's death. She didn't want to be the one who had to break it to Stephanie about... 

She heard her little sister's soft breathing, signaling she was asleep. Michella crept into the room and slid into her bed, which was on the far right side of the room, opposite of Stephanie's. After a moment, she slid out of her bed and tiptoed over to Stephanie's sleeping form. "Goodnight, sis. Sweet dreams..." Michella planted a soft kiss on Stephanie's forehead, then retreated to her own bed.