I awoke from the sounds of a rooster, not far from my window another rooster’s “cock-a-doodle-doo” cut through the quiet early morning. The scent of calm smoke filled my nose as I fully awoken from my sleep. I got off from my soft cushy bed with my small feet touching the abnormally cold tile floor as I went toward the dining table. The sounds of a wheezing tea kettle, pots and pans clattering each other, silverware and other plates and bowls clink onto each other as I enter the kitchen. I greeted Apo, my grandma and Mom that morning and ate my breakfast in the usual peaceful morning.

            After breakfast I went to the living room to sit on the couch that was across Grandpa’s bed. I said hi to Grandpa, and he nodded at me with a smile. I smiled back and played with my toys while watching the TV. It wasn’t until much later that I heard knocking on the door. So, I got up and went to open the door, but just before I opened the door Apo stopped me and went to the couch to hug me. The way Apo hugged on the couch was in a weird way, I was facing the couch that had pillows on it while Apo was looking at what was happening. 

Mom opened the door instead, I faced where the door was, and I saw men in black suits come inside our house. I wanted to see what was happening because curiosity got the better of me, but Apo hugged me tightly. So, I stopped trying to see what was happening, but the question still stands in my head. Why were these men in our house? Confusion filled my head with the question repeating in my head.

Apo let me go from the hug after the men in black suits carried Grandpa with a huge brown box. I got on top of the couch to look through the window, only to see the men in black suits going in their black car and driving away. I wanted to know where they were taking Grandpa.

“Xin lôi con, không gò cái nhìn này,” Apo said to me with pity in her voice.

“What did she say?” I looked up at Tracy, my sister who just arrived at the scene, and she looked back with the mixture of tiredness and confusion written on her face.

“I’m sorry you can’t see this,” Tracy said and paused to yawn before she continued, “is what she said, also what happened?”

“I don’t know, there were these men in fancy black suits,” I replied while looking back at Apo, “They carried Ugòm with this brown box, is he going to come back?” I looked back at her.

“I don’t know Emily, just because I have good grades doesn’t mean I know all the answers to the entire world,” Tracy said in a monotone voice.

Soon Mom came into the room we were in. Her face looks like she was disappointed in something but I’m not sure what though. Soon after, Apo told us we had to go to our rooms. Tracy and I went into our rooms so the adult can do their stuff. If there was one word that described how we were feeling right then and there it would be distraught. We really wanted to know what they were saying.

“Girls get ready” Mom said as she entered into the room we were in, “We got to go somewhere,” Mom left the room soon afterwards and we got ready to leave.We went to inside a huge building, which was a hospital. After Mom told the receptionist about all the information that I didn’t hear. A few minutes later we were following a lady which she was leading us towards a room. We entered into the room just to see Ugòm in the hospital bed. His eyes were closed, and he was just lying there peacefully.

“Tracy, why is Ugòm laying in here instead of the house?” I asked my sister.

“Sometimes people have to move out of the house,” Tracy replied, after a long paused she sighed. “I’m sorry,”

“No, you aren’t,” I told her, “Tell me Tracy when did you first found out about death?”, Tracy looked back at me with a surprised look.

“Not sure honestly,” Tracy replied to my question. After that, every event happen so fast it was just like a blur to me. We exit the hospital to go home, Mom was talking to someone, but it was muffled to me. After a few days later we went to a building where the funeral was held. Everyone was talking in Vietnamese, so I barely understood a single thing. After everyone said their things, my family members stood up because we were on the floor for the whole time and went towards the coffin which was in the front of the room. We all got pearly white flowers to place on my grandpa’s body.

After everyone placed their flower there were these other men who closed the coffin and carried the coffin inside this other room. My family and I went inside of a room with a window that showed what was happening in the room where the coffin was. We saw the same men who carried the coffin, placed the coffin in the machinery. I saw bright red inside of the machinery, that’s when I realized they were actually burning the body inside of the coffin. My face expression didn’t say much, it was pretty much emotionless. Afterall I’m just looking through a glass window.

After they burned the body, me and my family went to the temple where we gave the monks a photo of Grandpa. We stood in front of this table that held everyone else’s ancestor photos. We were given these red and golden sticks, and a different monk lit up a lighter to light up the match. The smoke smelled calm, even if the smell was unbearable it was calm. Mom and Apo started saying what I think is a prayer. My family and I bowed our heads at least three times and placed our matches in a small pot that was filled with other match ashes, and we left.