Nearby stood the father, silently staring at a single point, as if none of this was happening to him. The child’s coffin, decorated with roses and soft toys, seemed out of place against the gloomy landscape.

The priest was reading a prayer; his voice sounded muffled under the gusts of wind. One of the relatives placed a plush teddy bear in the coffin—the girl hadn’t parted with it even in the hospital. People lowered their eyes; someone quietly wept.