Why did those distant sounds disturb me so much? The night, although mysterious and profound, was foreign to us. Our pressing concern was being able to escape, to go home. Nevertheless, every distant sound startled me, perhaps because it awakened my fears of the night, the eternal night, the one that would separate me forever from my family, from my home, from my loved ones. Forever, because I no longer believed in the joyful heavenly reunions I used to imagine when one of my grandparents died.
