“Because death is part of life.”
“Why can’t we live forever and ever?”
“Because everything has to die, then something else can live.”
“I don’t want to die.”
“When we die, there is part of us left behind.”
Hank squatted down until he was eye level with Theodore. “You know that word game we just played where we end up asking the same questions? It’s like a circle, right?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Life is like that, too.” Hank drew a circle in the sand. “The earth starts off as dust and then man is born, lives his life, then he dies and becomes dust, part of the earth again. You understand?”
“Sort of.”
Hank grabbed a handful of sand. “Hold out your hand.”
The kid did, and Hank poured the sand into his hand. “Feel the sand.”
Theodore rubbed it around in his hand, running his thumb over it and closing his palm tightly.
“Tell me what it feels like.”
“Little rocks.”
“That’s right. That handful of sand used to be rocks—big rocks. Like those over on the cliffs.”
“It did?”
Hank nodded. “But the sea and wind and time turned the rock into this sand. The sand you’re holding could have been rocks that were all the way across the world.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Like China?”
“Sure, kid. Remember what Smitty told you happens when you melt sand?”
“It becomes glass.”
“That’s right. And you can mix sand with special kinds of chemicals you get from other rocks and dirt and mountains. If you mix them all with water, you have cement or concrete. They use concrete for buildings—”
“And statues in parks and stuff like that.”
Hank nodded. “So life works the same way. Even though something is gone suddenly, like the big rock. It’s not really gone. The rock is always there as sand or glass or concrete. It never goes away completely.” Hank pointed at the circle in the sand. “Just like this. You understand?”
“Then part of Mama and Dad are still here?”
Hank nodded and pointed to the kid’s chest. “You were part of them; so were your sisters. And you’re still here.”
The kid nodded, then waited a second. “But what happens when we die?”
“Your children live on.”
“Do you have any children?”
