Beyond the Grave Perspective

I just thought I'd throw a wrench in the perspective of death and give new meaning to "afterlife".

As they wheeled me into the funeral home, I watched the overcast sky fade from my vision, only to be greeted by the sight of florescent lighting and pastel colors. The delicate fragrance of the air hit me then. It was a concoction of an arboretum and a taxidermy shop. To some, the stagnant air may have been suffocating, but to me, it was the smell of graduation. This was the moment I had been waiting for! Trying to remember all I had learned from my creator, I waited in anticipation for the mortician to wheel me to my new companion. Coming to a stop, I looked over and saw her. Her skin had an almost transparent pallor to it. Her hair had been styled to cascade down her back in rivulets of silver thread, while her old floral dress hung loosely from her frame.

“Good day ma’am,” I began, attempting to be formal like I was taught. “My name is Asrael.”

“What a pleasure it is to meet you Asrael,” she replied, flawlessly matching my formality. “My name is Lucia, but you can call be Lucy if it so pleases you.”

            “I will call you Lucy then. Might I just add that you look absolutely stunning,” and she really did. How could I have been so lucky as to be able to spend the rest of eternity with this beautiful woman?

            “Why thank you Asrael. My husband must have found it in the back of my closet. I’ve completely forgotten that I even had this. It reminds me of my first couch. It was the first thing I ever bought for my house. I was so proud of myself for saving up all that money…” trailing off to relive memories of her youthful independence, the room fell silent again. I did not want to bother her.

            Coming back in, the mortician continued his work of putting Lucy’s mostly-unbloated body into my soft, velvet interior bed. He then continued to pose her body and face like a seasoned sculptor. After he had made her look blissfully serene, he then rolled us into the viewing room where we would then meet her family and friends.

            There were so many people there that they had to open an overflow room for the service, just so they could fit everyone. The rows of padded chairs were filled with faces�"both young and old�"with tears streaming down their cheeks like waterfalls. All of it caught me off guard. I had been told that there would be crying, but I never fully understood it. Why would people be crying when she looked so beautiful? Why were they so unhappy? I had only been with this magnificent woman for a couple of minutes and she had already made me so happy. How is it that they had been with her for so long, yet they have so much sadness? It was all much more than I could grasp.

After the service, the pallbearers carried us to our new home. You couldn’t hear any noise except for the birds at our new hillside abode. The shiny black headstone stood as a mailbox would, telling about who resides there. As they solemnly lowered us down into our cozy domicile, we both shivered in anticipation for the chance to grow our friendship.

            “I’m so happy my family chose you amongst all the other caskets, Asrael,” Lucy said excitedly.

            My heart fluttered, our new life had begun.

Reviews

[Nicholas Antonio Young]

I loved this! It's so creative and original. What an exciting read. Your grammar is flawless as well and the story flows perfectly. There was nothing I didn't like, this was so unique!

[Marie]

This was a pleasure to read--it's so different from all the cliches about death. A very original concept...