“She will be buried.” Denise declares.
“She will be cremated.” Deirdre counters.
And they’re off. In the upper corner of the room, the spirit of their departed mother watches her daughters spar.
“Full church service” Denise is adamant.
“A gathering in a forest preserve to scatter her ashes and plant a tree.” Deirdre is equally adamant.
“I’ve already talked to Fr. Rupert, he’s booked us for a week from Tuesday, in the afternoon. We can have a small reception in the Knights of Columbus Hall.”
“She wasn’t a member of the church.”
“She used to be.”
“But she wasn’t anymore.”
“But if she’s buried in the church...” Denise pauses.
“What, you think if her funeral is in the church you’ll go to the same heaven?”
In the upper corner of the room the spirit of their departed mother finds this funny. She cannot communicate to her daughters that she’s seen the glimpse of where she’s headed and it’s not what either of them are expecting.
“Weeelll.” Denise draws out a single word into several syllables.
“She may have been baptized into the church, but she didn’t believe any more. She’d want a celebration of life, out in nature, with friends and family dressed in happy colors.”
“No.” Denise is not going to yield. “Funerals aren’t for the dead, they’re for the living. Isn’t that the saying. So, it shouldn’t matter what she believed, it’s what the living would take comfort from which matters.”
Deirdre isn’t sure how to respond, first her sister wants a church service to try a last time to “save” her mother’s soul. Then a church service because it’s what she herself would find most comforting. She recognizes that Denise is not going to give on this. Personally, Deirdre has never derived comfort from church funerals, she finds them eerie if not a little creepy. She’s on her mother’s side on this one, celebration of life amongst the trees.
In the upper corner of the room, the spirit of their departed mother wonders what the girls will do when the lawyer contacts them to advise them of her wishes for disposition of remains. Such clinical legal words. But Denise has a point, it’s what will bring the girls comfort. She imagines there will be two funeral services. She wonders if both daughters will attend each service.
“I miss her” Denise dissolves into tears.
“I miss her too.”
— Lkai
“She will be cremated.” Deirdre counters.
And they’re off. In the upper corner of the room, the spirit of their departed mother watches her daughters spar.
“Full church service” Denise is adamant.
“A gathering in a forest preserve to scatter her ashes and plant a tree.” Deirdre is equally adamant.
“I’ve already talked to Fr. Rupert, he’s booked us for a week from Tuesday, in the afternoon. We can have a small reception in the Knights of Columbus Hall.”
“She wasn’t a member of the church.”
“She used to be.”
“But she wasn’t anymore.”
“But if she’s buried in the church...” Denise pauses.
“What, you think if her funeral is in the church you’ll go to the same heaven?”
In the upper corner of the room the spirit of their departed mother finds this funny. She cannot communicate to her daughters that she’s seen the glimpse of where she’s headed and it’s not what either of them are expecting.
“Weeelll.” Denise draws out a single word into several syllables.
“She may have been baptized into the church, but she didn’t believe any more. She’d want a celebration of life, out in nature, with friends and family dressed in happy colors.”
“No.” Denise is not going to yield. “Funerals aren’t for the dead, they’re for the living. Isn’t that the saying. So, it shouldn’t matter what she believed, it’s what the living would take comfort from which matters.”
Deirdre isn’t sure how to respond, first her sister wants a church service to try a last time to “save” her mother’s soul. Then a church service because it’s what she herself would find most comforting. She recognizes that Denise is not going to give on this. Personally, Deirdre has never derived comfort from church funerals, she finds them eerie if not a little creepy. She’s on her mother’s side on this one, celebration of life amongst the trees.
In the upper corner of the room, the spirit of their departed mother wonders what the girls will do when the lawyer contacts them to advise them of her wishes for disposition of remains. Such clinical legal words. But Denise has a point, it’s what will bring the girls comfort. She imagines there will be two funeral services. She wonders if both daughters will attend each service.
“I miss her” Denise dissolves into tears.
“I miss her too.”
— Lkai
This flash-fiction displays belief in an afterlife, albeit in an "upper corner of the room." Interesting location. I'm curious about what her directives (legal) actually were! I wonder how often these two sisters get together? Realistic but with a nice, formally balanced structure. Elegant, I would say! ---Macoff
ReplyDeleteNothing like a little funeral induced hysteria to bring a family together. 😅
ReplyDelete