Kallen picked up the two shovels from the ground and put them back in the hearse. After sitting down in the driver's seat, he tilted the rearview mirror down to face himself.
"Decorous?"
He wiped the rearview mirror with a finger, then looked at himself in it again.
"Was this decorous too?"
Kallen looked out the window. He had to admit that a cemetery at night really was a place that could bring peace to the heart, because everyone lying here was at peace.
After sitting for a while longer and checking the time, Kallen started the hearse and drove toward the cemetery gates.
When he reached the entrance, he saw the old caretaker sitting there, cooking macaroni over a small stove.
"Not going back to sleep?" Kallen greeted him.
The old man glared at Kallen irritably. "Who'll close the gates if I sleep?"
"It'll be dawn soon."
Cemeteries opened during the day and closed at night.
"Heh, the dead are more punctual than the living."
"You're very responsible."
"If you come a few more times in the middle of the night like this, I reckon I'll be lying in there soon myself. Do you know how hard it is for an old man to finally get a good night's sleep?"
"I'm very sorry. It won't happen again."
"No, next time you have to pay extra!"
"All right."
The old man smiled. Stirring the macaroni in the pot with a spoon, he asked in a casual, perfunctory manner, "What a shame you have to hurry back, or I'd treat you to breakfast. Oh, no, I suppose this still counts as a late-night snack."
Kallen opened the door, got out, and walked over to the stove. "I'm really hungry."
"..." The old man was speechless.
Of the first pot of macaroni,