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Old John and Shelly had an extremely bad father-in-law–son-in-law relationship; they could be said to detest each other. After deciding to take Everly away, John spent that very afternoon packing, only bringing the essentials like bottles and diapers, then picked up his granddaughter and left Pukati.
Originally, he hadn’t even considered bringing Everly’s beloved plush toy. In Old John’s eyes, such crudely made industrial products were a dime a dozen; he could easily buy a new one for Everly once they reached their new home. But Everly, clinging to her toy crocodile, cried so bitterly before leaving that it was as if the sun and moon had gone dark. Even Shelly, watching from the side, couldn’t help but be overwhelmed with paternal love, tears streaming down his face, insisting that his daughter simply couldn’t bear to leave him.
Everly: ???
Was he being polite? Even a banshee couldn’t tie her down—why would she be stuck on him?!
Once Old John understood what she meant and put the crocodile toy in the luggage pile, Everly’s expression changed in an instant, and she stopped crying immediately.
As it turned out, the tears didn’t disappear—they had just shifted from Everly’s face to Shelly’s. At the moment of parting, Shelly finally felt reluctant to let go. However, as the saying goes, belated fatherly love is like cheap grass; his streaming tears and lingering gaze had no effect on Everly’s iron-hard heart. The little baby completely ignored her father, happily leaping into her grandfather’s arms, and was carried by Old John into the departing car.
It was a bright, sunny day, with no fog over the town.
As the car left Pukati and began descending the hill, Everly craned her neck for one last look at the town. Just as when she had first arrived, the ancient town stood quietly atop the towering sea cliff, like a silent monument, recording in its countless scars the weighty past buried in history.