"It was Father Norma from the church; he told me about the magical properties of that land."
Old Bill's face showed a look of pain, "I know it's not normal, but I always think of Caesar, bouncing around beside me."
"You said Father Norma?"
Peter frowned.
Wasn't this the Father who officiated at Louis's funeral?
"As a clergyman, doesn't he know that this is a blasphemy against the God he believes in?"
Peter couldn't help but wonder if this Father was a fake Father, or if he had no faith at all?
"I don't know."
Old Bill shook his head, "Father Norma is usually a devout believer; perhaps he just didn't want to see me tormented by pain."
"Pain and Death are part of life; abandoning them is abandoning life itself."
Peter said, standing up and casually putting away the photo.
Seeing Peter prepare to leave, Old Bill let out a long sigh of relief and stood up to see him to the door.
He was really afraid Peter would keep pestering him.
"If I think of any more questions later,"
Peter said to him, "I will visit again."
Old Bill nodded helplessly, "Of course."
Patrick Farm.
After dinner, Peter looked at Clark in surprise.
"You said you want me to read you a story, Clark?"
He hadn't expected Clark to ask him to read him a story.
Mark usually asked him to read to him before bed.
However, as Mark got older, he rarely made such requests recently.
"Yes, I want to hear a story, Godfather."
Clark looked at him eagerly.
Peter originally wanted to investigate Father Norma tonight, but seeing Clark's eager anticipation, he finally compromised.
Father Norma wouldn't run away; the investigation could wait for another day.
Mark, who was watching TV nearby, pouted when he heard Clark ask Peter to tell him a story.
In Clark's room, Peter held a book.
(Since Clark liked to play with Mark at the farm, he also had a room at Patrick Farm.)
—
"She said hysterically, 'I just thought of this, why didn't I think of it before? Why didn't you think of it?'
'Thought of what?' he asked.
'There are two more wishes,' she answered hurriedly, 'we've only made one wish.'
'Isn't one enough?' he asked sharply.
'No,' she cried ecstatically, 'we can make another wish, quickly kneel down, and wish our son can be reborn.'"
—
Peter was reading "The Monkey's Paw" by Jacobs to Clark.
The story generally tells of a retired British soldier who accidentally obtains a magical monkey's paw from an ancient Indian high monk, which can grant three wishes.
When he got to the part where the couple's resurrected son knocked heavily on the door, Clark was so scared that he curled up in his quilt.
"Cough cough…"
Peter coughed and said to Clark, "Maybe I can tell you another story, like the story of the Three Little Pigs, or Cinderella, Clark."
This kind of dark story was not originally for Clark's bedtime stories.
But for some reason, Clark suddenly asked him to read this story.
Although he also felt that "The Monkey's Paw" had some similarities to the stories experienced in Smallville.
"Godfather."
Clark poked his head out from under the covers, "Do the wishes from the monkey's paw really have a price?"
"No, Clark, wishes have no price, but greed has its price."
Clark asked doubtfully, "Is Old White greedy? But they were clearly very scared, so why did they continue to make wishes?"
Peter put down the storybook, "Clark, fear is one of the emotions that humans can never truly control. People internally try to avoid this emotion, yet at the same time, they allow themselves to peek at the loathsome pleasure that this emotion brings."
"The Old White family was the same; although they harbored aversion and fear of the evil represented by 'The Monkey's Paw' in their hearts, what was more difficult to conceal was the deep-seated greed for money."
Clark poked his head out and snuggled up to Peter, sighing like Peter and saying, "Humans are so complicated!"
"You're right, humans are a contradiction."
Peter asked Clark, "Can you tell me why you wanted me to tell this story today, Clark?"
"I…"
Clark hesitated for a moment, then leaned closer to Peter, "Dad, I can tell you a secret."
"What secret?"
"I was dragged by Mark to see the boy lying in the coffin at the church before."
A confused and frightened look appeared on his face, "In the evening, I think I saw him again."
"You mean little Terry?"
"I don't know his name, but I did see him. His face was very White, and his eyes were very strange."
Clark described what he saw at the time.
"Mom took Mark and me to Aunt Nier's house, and when we passed Louis's house, I saw it, right behind the curtain. My eyes and ears have been able to see things very far away recently."
"So… I thought of the story of 'The Monkey's Paw' that Mark told me. Mark said this story was about the dead coming back to life."
He regretted it a little.
It turns out this story is so terrifying!
Peter listened to Clark's words and nodded slightly, "So Clark, the matter of watching horror movies before wasn't something you told Mark, but he secretly watched it himself, right?"
Clark looked at Peter's serious face and subconsciously nodded, "Yes."
Peter was a little annoyed.
That kid Mark really needs a good spanking.
It seems he needs to teach him a good lesson.
Shaking his head and temporarily blocking the thoughts in his mind, he said to Clark, "You might have seen wrong, Clark. The dead cannot be resurrected, because Death is a sacred thing; it is irreversible."
"I understand."
Clark immediately said, drawing inferences from one example, "Just like Old White, their son died and he is dead, he can't come back, otherwise something very terrible will happen, right?"
"Right, reversing Death will incur punishment, just like the Old White family."
Peter ruffled Clark's dark hair, "Go to bed early, we still have to go horseback riding tomorrow."
At the mention of horseback riding, Clark immediately perked up, "Thank you, Dad!"
"Creak!"
Gently closing the door, Peter walked down the hallway towards his room.
Has little Terry been reborn already?
This speed was beyond his expectation.
The next morning, Peter was making scrambled eggs.
Aside from this simple dish, his other breakfast cooking was at the level of dark cuisine.
Just as he was considering whether to hire a chef, the phone suddenly rang.
"Peter, something happened!"