Michael was led to the empty plot beside the building. The land was covered with haphazardly grown grass and one mango tree that stood alone in the corner. 

“You can bury it here,” she said, pointing at the land around her. 

Michael stared into the grass, unsure of what he should do. It was clear to half of his brain that she was right. He had to get rid of the dead animal and there was no way he could carry it around. What if even his friend wasn't sure why he was walking around with a corpse? He could always come back and get it if he wanted to. Why would he want that though?

The other half of his brain knew he should have gotten rid of it the moment he found it even though he was certain that leaving it in the bathroom of an apartment full of people would have been a bad idea. 

“Ok,” he said. “Let’s get rid of it.”

“Wait just a minute,” she said and walked back into the parking lot. She opened the boot storage and pulled out a shovel. Michael watched her return, unable to comprehend how she had fit it in there. It also made him feel very uneasy that she had a shovel so readily available. 

“Start digging,” she said and handed the shovel over to him. 

He kept his bag on the muddy ground and started digging near the mango tree. There was some noise, momentarily, in the balcony opposite the plot and they both froze. Luckily, nothing came of it and Michael continued digging. Once he felt like he had made enough of a dent in the ground, he unzipped his bag and took out the rabbit. He placed it into the makeshift gravesite and hurried to put the soil back in place to cover it up. 

“Do you know your name at least?” she asked, as Michael stood over the burial ground, sweating.

“Michael,” he said. There was a slight pause before Michael conjured up the confidence to ask her the same question. “What’s yours?”

“Well, I’m popularly known as the Flower Smuggler,” she said, grinning, “You can call me Maya though”

She took the shovel from him and kicked off all the soil. “Let’s go in,” said Maya, “It’s been a long day.”

-END OF CHAPTER ONE-