Closing Hours

WP Daily Prompt: Tell us about a time when you felt out of place.

When I was a Mortician’s Apprentice and the Funeral Directors I worked with had a rush on services to be provided, we would have embalming parties.

What that meant was we were going to be pulling in overtime and end up working through the night, but that was ok because we got PIZZA. The President of our Company tried to get us to call them ” Pizza Parties ”  instead of embalming parties. but he also asked us to not play with our Nano Baby Keychains during staff meetings and that suggestion went nowhere too.

We explained that we couldn’t ignore our Nano Babies  because our Nano Babies would die if we didn’t take care of them and he said if we couldn’t handle that, we needed to seek employment at one of the many fine dining establishments in the area- McDonalds and Burger King were always looking for highly motivated workers so we could start there.

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There was something a little odd that did happen at our embalming parties. It happened every single time.

After the Services for the day were done, our Embalming party would start. We would turn  the music up loud and then we did something we didn’t normally do any other time.

We locked the door between  the embalming and prep area and the CU.

As the night went on we told stupid jokes, had debates about who would win in a fight- Superman or Freddy Kruger, was microwave popcorn an actual food.

Nobody I worked with would ever confess to believing in ghosts, they didn’t believe that the Spirits of the dead were watching us as we prepared them to see their family and friends for the last time.  But at around two in the morning we started to feel like we didn’t belong in the Funeral Home and that feeling made us feel nervous- and at that point we started to speak softly and move around quietly.

In other words, we acted the way Morticians acted in the movies and that was just creepy.

On Embalming Party Nights, way after midnight, I felt like I had over stayed my welcome and was being politely asked to leave- we all felt that way, but we would joke about that feeling and said we were tired and just acting silly.

But nobody ever teased anyone else when they mentioned that feeling. Nobody made fun of you or laughed when you brought it up out of nowhere.

Ever.

 

AI Art: Created by Cursejourney

The Dandelion Game

Inspired By Oct 6th  image prompt at Experience Writing: https://experiencewriting.com/2023/10/06/oct-6-prompts-in-the-twilight/

 

” What have you done? ” her Mother cried from the doorway,  ” Mina, have you done? ”

Flora pushed her daughter’s bedroom door all the way opened and asked her again: “What have you done? ”

Mina got up from her chair near the window. She held  up her arm and showed her mother a fistful  of dandelions clutched in her hand” We were playing a game.  We were playing the Dandelion  game. Julia lost. ”

Julia was sitting next to Mina’s writing desk. Her back was as straight as a poker and her head was resting on her shoulder at an awkward angle.

Mina stepped away from a curtain less window that was full of moonlight and freshly cast  shadows  and into the candlelight that lit her small dark bedroom and then she sang, just under breath:

” Flora had a bestie and her head popped off. ”

Mina put her thumb under the heads of one of the dandelions and with a face that was expressionless as one of the half dozen porcelain dolls with their mouths sewn shut that sat on her dusty bed, she flicked her thumb up and from  where she sat on the chair next to her little writing desk,  Julia’s head  popped up off of shoulder and landed on the desk.

Flora reached to the hairs on the back of her neck and smoothed them down. She licked her dark red lips and told herself that this wasn’t something she couldn’t handle.

” Give me those dandelions this instant young lady.”

” I like this game Mother. I’m good at it, aren’t I?”

Flora reached out for the weeds in Mina’s hand.  “I wouldn’t say that. Now.  Give those to me. ”

” I want to play it again. ”

” No. You’re to stop right now. I mean it Mina. If you want me to teach you anymore games you will listen when I tell you to do something.”

Mina looked her Mother in the eye and said, ” Mina had a Mommy and-”

” Don’t you dare young lady. ”

”  her head popped off.”

Flora’s head snapped back and  just before it  flew away from her  neck  she caught her head by the hair on top of her head and held it in place.

Her yellow eyes burned, her black forked tongue shot out from between her lips and tore through the air and just before she snapped her jaws shut  the little black eyes that dotted Flora’s tongue shot daggers at Mina and then it slid back into her mouth.

Flora took a breath.

” Fine Mina. That’s just fine. For all of your disobedience tonight, for not coming when I summoned you, for not answering a simple question when I ask you one,  there’s no dinner for you tonight.”

Mina sighed and tried to look remorseful, but she failed.  That didn’t mean that she wasn’t worried though. Mother never made a promise she didn’t keep and she never made a threat that she didn’t enjoy carrying out.

Lucky for Mina  Mother was so mad that Mina  had not only popped the head off of one Flora’s house guests but she was probably even angrier that with all of her work and practice with Mina  it took  Mina two tries instead of one to pop Julia’s head off.

Besides that, Julia knew where all the tasty prey could be found  in the next town over. and to add insult to injury, she had messed up Flora’s hair too.

Flora wasn’t exactly thinking straight at the moment.

Flora swung around and slammed the bedroom door behind her. ” Just wait until your Father gets home.”

The gust of warm air that smelled a little of rotten eggs and sour earth from the door slamming shut caused Julia’s started to roll across the table and before it went over the edge Mina caught it.

She lifted it up and looked into Julia’s slack and sleepy looking face and said ” Guess I won’t be getting my dinner, but at least I’ll have my dessert. ”

Painting “Untitled”  by Monika Mostowik

Chilly Bones

My inspiration for ” Chilly Bones ” came from Welcome To October Day 1: Prompts to Put Us In A Spooky Mood  at the Experience Writing Blog

I used a mind map provided in the post and I TRIED to stick to the suggested form The Pantoum,  for my poem, but I’m going to have to practice that ( it looks like fun so I’m looking forward to it)

I’m looking forward to catching up and continuing this months Challenges!

Anita

AI Artwork-Creator Unknown

My dark house is empty

the doors have all been nailed shut

cool wind chills it’s brittle bones

and warms it’s icy heart.

 

There’s a stain on the floor in the kitchen

and another outside my bedroom door

it’s a map left by a traveler,

who sleeps in the basement alone.

 

Sometimes I dream about him

and the rusty knife he held in his hand

and sometimes he has nightmares about me

and what sharp teeth I had.

 

The world outside swirls around us

and sometimes it finds it’s way inside

and if I hear it, if it devours my quiet

I make it wail and cry.

 

My house is dark and empty

all of the doors have been nailed shut

there are no windows, but I keep dead flowers

in a shattered vase near the front steps.