“Wait!” With great effort, I finally snapped out of mind and hastened to catch up with them. “What did you say? W-what did my mother go up the mountain in the middle of the rain for?”
Hansen's eyes widened. The two rescue teams exchanged glances before turning back to me. He seemed hesitant before answering.
“She went to pick lingonberries. Did she want the berries so badly that she was willing to risk her life for them? Or did someone send her to do it? Was it you who wanted it? Do you regret it now that this has happened?”
When they told me the cause of her death, it felt as though a bolt of lightning had struck me. My mind went blank, and for a moment, I couldn't comprehend what I was hearing. The words echoed in my ears, heavy and suffocating. How could such a tragic fate befall her? She had gone out innocently, simply to gather wild vegetables. The realization hit me like a wave crashing over me, leaving me stunned and paralyzed. In that moment, the world around me seemed to fade into a blur, and the weight of grief settled upon me like a suffocating cloak.