It was too cold for his light business suit. The constantly falling drops of rain were mixed with hail big enough to hurt a person. He didn’t feel it, though.
His task obsessed him. He had brought this task onto himself. When he killed his wife, that was.
The silver spade hit the earth once more. He heaved the earth upwards and let it fall on a wooden platform which levitated about four feet above the hole he was digging, already filled with a huge pile of earth. Beside it stood a closed coffin. He continued digging.
Heavy footsteps hit the softened earth, causing splashing sounds. Someone ran through this forest, and he or she was approaching.
His body tensed. He stopped digging and raised the spade. It was new and sharp, and if he could surprise him, he might have a chance.
But the stranger surprised him, as he suddenly passed by his back, still running from the rain, not stopping.
He relaxed. He lowered the spade to finish the hole when the splashing sounds ceased. After awhile, they came back, but slower, and approaching. Then, the stranger stood next to him. The man said something, but in the same moment, heaven’s protest rose to the next level and added thunder to the flood of rain.
He looked up and into the stranger’s innocent blue eyes looking out from a deep-cut hood. The stranger spoke up again, and this time, he could hear that he had asked for the time. He raised his right wrist wordlessly, indicating he had no watch. The stranger looked at him for a few more moments, puzzled, almost bewildered. Then, shrugging, he turned and resumed his run from the divine rage.
He wanted to restart his digging, but when his face turned down again, he saw he was finished. Well, not with the whole task, but this part was fulfilled.
He carelessly threw the spade away. Its blade ended stuck in a tree trunk. Now, he had to put the coffin into the hole.
It took all his strength, but finally, the heavy box lay in the fresh pit. Crouching down, he opened the coffin. Its pillows were not oppressed by some dead weight. He stood up again.
He took the tow which had hold the platform above the pit from a tree next to the one spiked by his spade. He almost lost his balance as the heavy weight pulled him toward the hole. He could not allow it to fall yet. There was something more to do.
He slowly approached the pit, the weight of the earth growing more and more unbearable. Then, he climbed down into the hole and lay down into the coffin. His right hand let loose off the rope and grabbed the coffin’s cover. His left hand, still holding the rope’s end, wandered onto the coffin’s side wall, and was squeezed down by the falling lid. Only a small gap remained and few light fell into the deadly box..
Then, with an abrupt movement, he let loose of the tow and pulled his hand into the coffin.
As the platform toppled over, the earth fell into the pit, hiding the coffin from human sight forever.