Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

OK: First off, this IS NOT my idea.
I mean, the story line isnt even my idea. it's practically ripped off of The Near Departed by Richard Matheson. He's the author of I Am Legend, btw. but this story was sooooo great for its length that it just...inspired me into this.
so here you have it, a parody...i think. i mean, i did change a few details to make it TRC-ish.

anyway, enjoy the fic and wish me luck for the finals~


The Nearly Departed

The young man opened the door and stepped in out of the glaring sunlight. He was in his early thirties, a handsome man with brown hair and eyes. He closed the door without a sound, and then stood in the shadowy foyer, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the change in light. He was wearing a black suit, white shirt, and black tie. His face was pale and dry and his eyes were bloodshot.

When his eyes had refocused themselves, he removed his Panama hat and moved along the hallway to the office, his black shoes soundless on the carpet. Two blond heads poked out as he walked past a door.

The mortician looked up from his desk. “Good afternoon,” he said almost pleasantly. This man had unusually long black hair and demon yellow eyes, as if death itself waited to bury the deceased.

“Good afternoon.” The young man’s voice was soft.

“Can I help you?”

“Yes, you can,” the young man said.

The mortician gestured to the arm chair on the other side of his desk. “Please.”

The young man perched on the edge of the chair and set the Panama hat on his lap. He watched the mortician open a drawer and remove a printed form.

“Now,” the mortician said. He withdrew a black pen from its onyx holder. “Who is the deceased?” he asked gently.

“My wife,” the young man said.

The demon mortician made a sympathetic noise. “I’m sorry,” he said.

“Yes.” The man gazed at him blankly.

“What is her name?” the mortician asked.

“Sakura,” the young gentleman answered quickly, “Minamoto.”

The mortician wrote the name. “Address?” he asked.

The young man told him.

“Is she there now?” the mortician asked.

“She’s there.” The young man confirmed.

The mortician nodded.

“I want everything perfect,” the young gentleman said, “I want the best you have.”

“Of course,” the mortician said. “Of course.”

“Cost is not important,” said the gentleman. His throat moved as he swallowed. “Everything is not important now. Except for this.”

“I understand.”

“She always had the best. I saw to it.”

“Of course.”

“There’ll be many people,” said the young gentleman, on the verge of tears. “Everybody love her. She’s so beautiful. So young. She has to have the very best. Do you understand?”

“Absolutely,” the demon mortician reassured him. “You’ll be more than satisfied, I guarantee you.”

“So beautiful,” the young man said. “So young...”

“I’m sure,” the mortician said.

The small man sat without moving as the mortician asked him questions. His voice returned to a normal tone and did not vary again as he spoke. He blinked his eyes so infrequently that the demon mortician never saw them doing it.

When the form was completed, the young man signed and stood. The mortician stood and walked around the desk. “I guarantee you’ll be satisfied,” he said, his hand extended.

The young man took his hand and gripped it momentarily.

“We’ll be over at your house within the hour,” the mortician told him. The two blonde boys from the hallway earlier walked into the room and stood by the demon mortician.

“Fine,” the young man said.

The mortician and the children walked beside him down the hallway,

“I want everything perfect for her,” the young gentleman repeated. “Nothing but the very best.”

“Everything will be exactly as you wish.”

“She deserves the best.” The young man stared blankly ahead. “She’s so beautiful,” he said. “Everybody loved her. Everybody. She’s so young and beautiful...”

“When did she die?” One of the children asked.

The young man didn’t seem to hear. He opened the door and stepped into the sunlight, putting on his Panama hat. He was halfway to his car when he replied, a faint, deranged smile on his lips, “As soon as I get home.”
------

Sooooooooooooo? totally tell me how you feel about this one.
and if you can figure out the characters int he story, have urself a cookie. ='D