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         “Leopold!”

         A woman with blonde wavy hair opened an oak door and walked into the room. The room smelled a little… sweet – must be coming from that pack of chocolate cookies on the table – and a little bit… awful, must be from the clothes lying on the floor. She sighed silently and picked up a few clothes as she kept calling.

         “Leo, dear, where are you?”

         There was still no answer. But the woman didn’t seem to mind, though – she was walking out – who knows where she went – and came back into the room in less than a minute. She then started picking up toys from the floor as she looked around.

         “Come on, don’t play hide and seek now, dear.”

         There was still no answer. Whoever is hiding must be so good in the game. She sighed as he put them into a basket, then she walked to the door.

         “Too bad, I just made some gingerbread men and nobody can help me bake it… Maybe I should bake it myself and give it to that boy…”

         “Don’t!!!” A boy shouted as he crawled out from under the bed. The woman smiled playfully xas he ran to her and grabbed her long black skirt.

         “You won’t, maiiks, you won’t, will you?”

         “No, no,” the woman said as she messed the boy’s hair with a big smile. “Come on, help me bake the cookies.”

         Smile formed on the boy’s lips as he followed his mother out of the room. They then walked to another room, where a few pans of goodies were on the table, waiting to be baked. He took a pan as his mother took another, and they walked to the oven.

         “The gingerbread man won’t run away from the oven, will he?”

         “No,” she said with a smile. “But, if you don’t keep him in a box after he’s baked, he might run out and get eaten by a wolf…”

         Ah, folk tales. Kids used to fall for that.

         DING

         “Oh,” the woman quickly turned to the voice. “There’s a guest. Watch the cookies for me, Leo.”

         “Yes…”

         She walked out of the kitchen and arrived at a wooden door. Half of the door was not wooden, but glass, giving a view of the outside. For a while, she could only see the view of a familiar Moscow cold autumn, before then a man in military clothes appeared. He was wearing a thick shapka, but his brown hair could still be seen. She sighed silently and opened the door.

         “Felix.” There was a tone of dislike in that single word, but… who likes soldiers?

         “I’ve got some news, Georgia,” he said as he stepped in and took off his hat. “And I want to talk to you as…”

         “Georgia.”

         “Good,” he said with a smile. “If you don’t mind, maybe you can tell that agent will-be to keep watching whatever it is you’re cooking.”

         She quickly turned back, only to notice that the boy was looking at them. Of course kids get curious about everything – and they call it a ‘phase in growth’. What a disturbing phase.

         “Leo,” she said with a smile. “If you don’t watch the gingerbread men, they might run…”

         “Ah!” As said, kids fall for that. “Yes, I’ll watch them!”

         The boy disappeared back into the kitchen as he closed the door with a slam. To prevent the men from running, perhaps…

         “Fine.” No more curious ears means safety, no? “What news?”

         The man looked at her for a while, then he sighed loudly, exhaling white breaths, as he took out somethin from his thick jacket. A phone. He tapped the screen for a few times, then he showed it to her.

         “We’re also… feeling sorry, Georgia.”

         She took the phone and looked at whatever was on screen for a while. She then turned to the man again, her eyes as huge as a marble.

         “…”

         “Tomorrow,” the man said as he took his phone. “If you want to come. If you can’t stand it, don’t.”

~•~

         The next day…

         “Why?”

         A square faced robot covered the coffin with its black, heavy cover, then it rolled away. A man with black long hair was trying desperately to reach forward as the coffin was being lowered into the earth by two other robots, as if he wasn’t going to let it happen. Luckily two other men in black were holding him. Three other visitors were standing before the hole – a woman with short black hair, a man with chestnut hair, and a blonde woman. All of them were wearing black, and the two women were wearing a black dress. A typical scene at the graveyard.

         “Why?” he shouted again. “I haven’t beaten you, Jos!”

         “Dimitri!” the black haired woman shouted, unable to contain her wrath. “Stop that! You don’t have the right to stop the prossesion!”

         “But why?” The black haired man pushed away the two men and walked to the red haired woman. “Why? Tell me, Merlin! Tell me!”

         “Dimitri!”

         “That man!” the man pointed at the coffin. “Why? Why must he die? All because of Sergei! Sergei! I told the boss he shouldn’t have been in the mission…”

         “Shut up Dimitri!”

         He turned to the voice, that came from the young man with chestnut hair. A sad expression was worn on his face, however, no tears were shed on his face.

         “You think it’s only hard for you?” the man shouted. “It’s hard for everyone! At least…”

         He looked at the blonde woman standing next to him. She was looking down while holding a bouquet of white flowers – she looked so gloomy and a bit creepy. Dimitri looked at her, as well, and suddenly he could feel all the guilt coming back to him. He sighed loudly and kicked a small stone lying on the ground in anger. The red haired woman looked at the blonde woman, too, then she sighed and looked down as the coffin was being lowered down to the ground.

         Dust to dust, ashes to ashes, they say. Humans that were made of dust and ashes, will one day return back to the earth and return to their true form – dust and ashes.

         How frail, how frail humans are…

         “So don’t wait for me.”

         Is it wrong… to wait for you?
         The two robots who were just done lowering the coffin covered the coffin with the long white cloth they used to lower the coffin, then they took a shovel that was resting on the gravestone and started to close the hole.

         And along, open the door of sadness in everyone’s hearts…

         ‘Why? I haven’t beaten you yet, Joseph… why now?’

         ‘Did you even think about Leo back then, when the boss gave you the mission?’

         ‘Joseph, do you know how hard this must’ve been for Georgia…’

         ‘…’