She Didn’t Know What She Lost

Abigail pulled an urn from the car and held it up in front of me.

It was my grandmother's.

Everything inside me went cold.

"What…"

Abigail smiled, the same gentle smile she used to wear in the early days of our marriage.

"Didn't you always say your grandma loved you most? What do you think she'd say if she knew her ashes were about to be scattered across the highway? You really want that on your conscience?"

Mason stood beside her, his tone casual. "Abby, maybe don't. She's still family."

Abigail ignored him. She lifted the urn higher and turned it toward the camera.

"What do you guys think? Should I dump the ashes?" she said with a smile. "Let's make it interesting. If donations hit a thousand bucks, I'll do it."

The chat exploded again.

[Holy crap, she's really serious!]

[A thousand dollars? I'll throw in five hundred!]

[Do it!]

[This is absolutely insane!]

[Just sent fifty. Let's go!]

The chat was moving so fast that the app started lagging.

Mason smirked and spoke just loudly enough for everyone to hear. "Carter's always talked about how much he loved his grandma. He won't hold out for long."

Abigail glanced at him, then nodded.

She turned back to me, her hand already inside the urn.

"You've still got time to apologize."

My voice came out hoarse, my whole body shaking. "That's my grandmother. You can't do this!"

"Why not?" She tilted her head, her tone almost playful. "You won't even say you're sorry. I'm just giving you a little extra motivation. What’s wrong with that?"

I clenched my fists, my eyes burning as I stared at the urn.

"Don't you dare!"

Mason crouched down in front of me, his head tilted, that same sympathetic look on his face.

"Carter, stop being stubborn. It's just an apology. Your grandma's right there watching. You don't want her seeing this, do you?"

He leaned in closer, lowering his voice. "Go ahead and apologize, and this will all be over."

I kept staring at the urn in Abigail's hand. My lips trembled, but no words came out.

Abigail raised the urn higher and reached inside, already gathering a handful of ashes.

"Three… two… one…"

She flung her hand outward.

The ashes scattered into the air, but before they could drift away, a hand shot out and caught them. Even most of the fine ash slipping through Abigail's fingers was caught before it could scatter.

The smile froze on Abigail's face.

Mason instinctively took a step back.

Before either of them could react, the thunder of rotors swept across the highway as three helicopters descended overhead.