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It was a week before the 42nd movie season started. The Conductor was brushing his teeth when his wife brushed her muzzle against his cheek and told him she had a surprise.
They kissed goodbye to their daughter, and off they went. He drove the train faster than usual under the encouragement of his wife, who let out cheers of excitement every time he raised the speed. She grabbed Conductor's shoulder with her scalding paw, but he didn't care. When they finally arrived, the fire spirit lost balance and fell on the floor sitting on her back. She did not complain – on the contrary, she laughed so hard her husband couldn't help but laugh with her.
He had no idea what they were doing, and why they were laughing.
Conductor gave a hand to his wife, who gracefully left the train with the tip of her foot. They glanced to the horizon – they were on Subcon.
Conductor's wife grabbed his hand and ran off somewhere, leading him. Despite his hand almost burning, he felt something warm flourishing on his chest. He couldn't help but draw the biggest smile in the world. In the little moments where she turned her head to check if he was still following her, he always tried to make sure she could see how happy he was. He resisted the urge to try to lean closer and give her a quick kiss. He couldn't wait until he saw the surprise – actually, he didn't care about the surprise. He couldn't wait until the moment they stood still and he would finally be able to shower his wife with love and affection, tell her how happy he is that she is with him, tell her how the world is brighter and a hundred times better with her by his side. Tell her anything, everything, he couldn't even really decipher what it was he wanted to do. She made him so happy, he wanted to explode.
When the fox finally stopped, she glanced at her husband, who was still trying to process what the surprise was. They were standing in front of a campfire surrounded by a circle of fire foxes. They were dancing elegantly, impressively regulating their evident ecstasy.
“Surprise, love!” She smiled and held both of the Conductor's hands on hers, forming a shell around them. He was almost getting used to the temperature he had to withstand with his wife.
“Ah. That's great!...” He paused. “Eh… What does that mean?”
She giggled. “Oh, silly. It's the ritual! Last night I had a premonition. There was something inside me that suddenly whispered, ‘It's tomorrow. Tomorrow's the date!’” Conductor tried to maintain his smile, despite still being confused.
“I already told our princess, she'll be completely fine. She's very mature, I know that when it comes to her time she will know exactly what to do. Isn't that lovely?” She stood in front of her husband, gave him a soft kiss, and then continued:
“We can finally die together.” Her smile was the biggest in the world. The Conductor finally put all the pieces together.
She was a fire spirit.
“Whoah whoah whoah… Hold on there, sweetie. Ye know I'm not actually one of ye, eh? Ah… Ah can't do these rituals…” He scratched his neck.
“Oh, really?” Conductor's wife seemed somewhat surprise, but she wasn't so shaken. “Oh. I always thought it was some sort of… I don't know.” She giggled. She was genuinely fine with it. There was no sight of any negative emotion in her expression or voice. “Oh well.” She shrugged. “I guess I'll do it alone then.”
“WAIT, WAIT, DON'T-” Before he could finish his protest, she kissed him one more time, tossed the painting nearest to her onto the fire and then vanished.
Vanished.
So fast.
So easily.
The Conductor stood there in shock. He would come home alone that night.
He would come home alone the following days.
He would come home alone the following years.
He left Subcon in slow, steady steps. He took his time. He kicked every rock he could find in his pathway. Was he supposed to be angry? Of course he was. His wife died before his eyes, and it was completely normal. It was the most normal thing in the world. He picked up one of the rocks and threw it on a tree. It made absolutely no difference.
His wife's death made absolutely no difference to anyone except him, too. His daughter was completely fine with it, no sobbing, no tantrum, and she even asked him when she could kill herself just like her mother! The rest of the day, she ran around the house yelping “I want ta die!” at the top of her lungs, eventually making the Conductor shush her desperately.
“Will ya please shut yer peck and stop yelling things like taese?!” He was in the verge of tears. His daughter didn't notice. “Ah know fire spirits say that back and forth like some bunch a’ loonoics, but yer prohibited from saying that in this household, ya hear me lassy?”
He gripped her shoulders so tightly that she felt the need to nod frantically. He didn't let go, still.
“It's a terrible, terrible thing ta say. Ya hear me? Never say that again.”
She shoved off her father's arms and ran away. He figured he must have scared her. He didn't regret it, however. He would go insane if she said those four words one more time, wearing the stupidest smile in the world.
Just like her mother.
Once the 42nd movie season finally began, it was no wonder the Conductor acted completely differently.
It was no wonder his rival finally won first place that year.