Lucille dragged the body out of the closet. It didn't look bad for a body that had been stuffed away for, what was it? Fifty-five years now? She thought back to that day. Fifty-five years, how time has flown.
She had thought it would only be for a few weeks, maybe a month at most. That was what her friend, Suzanne, had promised. Lucille thought it was an odd request. Can you please watch my body? I need to see my mother. She isn't well. I'll be back in a few weeks.
Normally Lucille wouldn't have considered doing this. She hated responsibility. Every plant she tried to care for died. Every animal she took in ran away. And boyfriends. Don't go there.
But this seemed different. After all, it was already dead. What could go wrong?
But then, Suzanne didn't came back.
At first, Lucille was annoyed with Suzanne. Not so much for the closet space the body took up. Lucille didn't have many clothes. She believed in living simply.
It was the smell. Lucille didn't know it at the time, but bodies start to smell after they have been dead a while. It wasn't that noticeable for the first few days, but after a week, the smell was kind of distracting.
But Lucille got used to the smell, and after six months, no longer even noticed it.
After a year, Lucille started feeling pretty close to the body. A year is a long time. Before this, her longest relationship was with Darwin, which lasted only a few weeks. Was Darwin a boyfriend or a pet? She couldn't remember.
And here it was, fifty-five years later. Now she couldn't imagine life without the body. Time does that.
But now the day she had always feared had arrived. Lucille had a horrible feeling the instant the phone rang. She could feel sweat running down her armpits. Lucille never sweat. Especially in her armpits. Her mother had drilled that lesson into her from the time she was a little girl.
Lucille knew who was calling before she even picked up the phone. She prayed silently, but her prayers were pointless. Then, the voice. It was cheery, flighty, almost sing songy.
"Hi Lucille," the voice said. "This is Suzanne. I'm back! Thank you for taking care of my body. Can I come over and pick him up?"
Lucille wept, silently, to herself. She didn't want to upset Suzanne. But she knew how lonely her life was about to become.
Except... she had an idea. Suzanne was coming over. Maybe the only thing better than having one body in your closet would be having two bodies. Lucille felt much better. Yes, that would be very nice.
Spiritual questions:
- What bodies do you have in your closet?
- What are they keeping you from doing?
- Are you getting rid of them or just accumulating more bodies?
This is one of the Parables for the Spiritual but not Religious Series.
Jan 29, 2018 - This piece was written at the Roundhouse Writing Group, Santa Cruz, Guatemala. The writing prompt for the session was: Lucille dragged the ____ out of the closet.
The photo is by Jo Naylor, made available via Flickr and Creative Commons. Some rights reserved.
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