Response to a Prompt My Friends Gave me
My friends made a google classroom for a writing club I’m in and have posted two prompts so far. The posts of my responses will be tagged with #nerresponsetoprompts.
Person A, at Person B’s funeral: Can I have a moment alone with the deceased?
Person A, leaning over person B: I know you’re not dead.
Person B: Yeah, no shit.
Rain is spitting out of the clouds in fat, heavy drops. The cemetery is quiet, save for the sounds of quiet crying and conversation. I stand under a black umbrella, watching, listening.
A blonde woman in a black dress stands beside a casket, the people that had surrounded her walking back to their cars and driving away. Tears stream down her face and make tracks in the makeup she had carefully applied that morning. She tells the preacher to give her some space, and he obliges. She hears his car start up and drive away, and that strikes me as odd. Why would the preacher leave a funeral?
The woman kneels next to the casket, and I stand next to her as she looks at her husband’s face. She does not see me, no one ever does.
“I know you’re not dead, Ben.” At her words, the man’s eyes open, and his face splits into a grin. “No shit, Cara.” She extends her hand to help him out of the casket, and they share a kiss. As they walk out of the cemetery, I seethe. No one should be able to cheat me, not even for true love. For I am Death, and I know for whom the bell tolls.
