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Smoke Break with Mama Metcalf
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
Where the Dead go to Die Intake
INTAKEAfter stowing her coat in the break room, Emily found Woods outside the door to her office, holding a bottle of Yoo-hoo chocolate in her hands. At first glance, her supervisor’s face was stoic. A second pass proved otherwise.Emily detected shards of unease in Woods’ expression, the pointy ends driving in, causing noticeable pain. And she wasn’t doing a good job of hiding it, either. Emily almost asked if she was okay, but snatched the words from the tip of her tongue and tucked them away as though she’d been caught red-handed with something humiliating.What an awful revelation. Discovering someone you’re obliged to respect is human.No matter how passive the mask someone wore, emotions lurked beneath the surface.In some alternate reality, Emily suspected robots must be the ones delivering this line of work. Machines programmed to express dignity and empathy on cue, deflecting care’s heartbreak. Maybe the hospice workers of the future were coin-operated things, little pro
Where the Dead go to Die Interlude Two
INTERLUDE TWOUsing the creases you have made, bring the top three corners of the paper to the bottom. Flatten. After this, fold the top triangular wings into the center and unfold. Finish this set by folding the top of the square downward, and crease. Unfold.“Did you grab the card, babe?” Jordan asked.The look Emily gave her husband said it all: Why of course she’d forgotten to grab the card. It was inside on the study desk where she’d stopped to write the inscription, thinking, So do I make this out to Kevin or his parents? It’s not like a three-year-old is going to read it anyway. He’ll just throw it aside as he rips off the wrapping. Emily couldn’t blame him for that. Lucette, who was the same age, had done a similar thing at her birthday party the month before. And although they often pretended otherwise, adults weren’t so different—everyone knew cards were an overpriced pit stop on the road to the good stuff. But formalities were important.They help trick us into thinking
Where the Dead go to Die Break Down
BREAK DOWN“Mom? Mom?”Emily was on her hands and knees, searching under the bed for her other shoe amongst the dust bunnies and pre-packed suitcases when she heard her daughter’s call. To some degree, she was a bit of a Doomsday Prepper. Of course, anyone who had suffered losses to the outbreak over the past decade would understand. Sure, the Ministry played a pretty song about control measures, which everybody loved to dance to, but in the back of Emily’s mind there was no doubt that it would all come crashing down. One day.If something could happen, it eventually would happen.So Emily Samuels wasn’t ashamed of those three suitcases under the bed—there was pride in batteries and canned sardines, even if the blessed of this cursed shit-hole thought otherwise. Her clumsiness, however, was a different story. That, Emily was not proud of. She’d half-tripped getting into bed the night before and kicked her shoe to Kingdom Come.“Mom!” Not a question this time.“Jesus, Lucette. I’m
Where the Dead go to Die The Last Orphan
THE LAST ORPHANEmily watched Robby breathe.She became conscious of the easy, natural rise and fall of her own chest, so unlike that of the boy’s, whose rib cage fluttered and hitched beneath the sheets. He’d been sleeping so much since the pneumonia had taken hold, a blessing were it not for the nightmares playing out behind those eyes.He twitched. Clenched.Robby’s phlegmy snore filled the room, reminding Emily of the way the generator on her parents’ property sounded after a season of disuse, the rumbling groan as it kicked into gear. The sound used to frighten her as a kid, though she endured it because there was light at the other end. Only the abandoned machine of meat and ambition before her wasn’t starting up. It was winding down. And the only thing Robby would soon know? Darkness.She hoped.Nobody knew if there was consciousness after the climax. Just theories and speculation. She prayed the infected slid into nothingness, an entreaty that left her kneeling at the alt
Where the Dead go to Die Interlude Three
INTERLUDE THREEOpen the highest wing, bring it upwards and press the sides of the paper inwards at the same time. Flatten it down, and again, crease well.Emily pulled the needle through her husband’s skin and yanked the thread. The jack-o-lantern wound pinched inwards, sealed. Jordan flinched, his teeth gritted together. He was on his side, splayed across the couch, which Emily had covered with the plastic tarp they’d used to paint Lucette’s bedroom. Blood pooled in its crinkles. Debris from her makeshift triage surrounded them, all those matted cotton buds, tweezers, gauze, saline solution.An empty bottle of whiskey. They had been saving it for a special occasion.Lucette was locked in her room with enough crayons and toys to keep her occupied. She was happy in there, and wouldn’t be able to hear her father’s groans over the television in the living room. Midday cartoons blared violence as cats mangled dogs with hammers. Only these animated beings didn’t bleed. Just stars and b
Where the Dead go to Die Swearwords and Peanut Butter Cups
SWEARWORDS AND PEANUT BUTTER CUPSLucette sat on the edge of the bed with her hands in her lap, dressed for the day. There had been a time—and not so long ago it seemed—when she did this and her feet didn’t touch the floor. Now they did. This made her sad. Not sad in the way some cartoons did, or like the time the only real friend she’d had, Imogen, moved to New York with her parents. This sadness was new, different from those difficult-to-define barbs she thought of as memories of her father. Lucette missed the way her legs used to swing back and forth, and being unable to do so made her feel older than she wanted to be. She was sad because nobody had asked if she wanted to grow up in the first place.If Mom is anything to go by, being an adult doesn’t look like fun. Getting old means you have to yell a lot and be angry over every little thing.Every fucking thing.Lucette glanced about the room, half expecting the walls of their apartment to split apart, revealing a network of ea
Where the Dead go to Die Corridor 3
CORRIDOR 3Lucette found it almost silly how nervous and excited she was to meet this total stranger. But the very idea of Robby being alone in this place, abandoned by his family, unable to go out in the sun or play with friends, filled her with an aching she couldn’t describe.They passed a woman in a white hospital gown going in the opposite direction, clutching a wheeled metal pole, a bag of clear liquid hanging from the top, a tube snaking down to jab into her arm. Her hair was straw yellow, so thin her sore-covered scalp was visible beneath. She glanced at Lucette, who was being led by her mother, and dipped her head in a slight nod.Lucette nodded back, even as her mother grasped her hand tighter and pulled her close. Farther down the hall, Mama Metcalf came out of one of the rooms, waved at her, then disappeared down an intersecting corridor.This part of the hospice, which was where the sickest of the guests were put, felt different to everywhere else in the facility. Ther
Where the Dead go to Die Interlude Four
INTERLUDE FOURTurn the model over and repeat the prior instructions. When finished, fold the top wings into the center, doing the same action on the other side.Emily had always known that there were places in this big ol’ world where dark things grew. Nooks and crannies that safe people like her were privileged enough not to see. That privilege, of course, came from her self-proclaimed inclusion in the ‘oh, it’ll never happen to me’ crowd, a special club that was nowhere near as exclusive as its members assumed, or hoped it to be. But the dark always ended up growing no matter where you went, even in the well-lit places. Such was the nature of shadows.I thought we were safe.Safe. Emily scoffed at the word now. Anyone who thought they were safe was deluded or over-faithed. Neither of which she found a suitable excuse anymore.Because, yes. There were places where dark things grew, dark thoughts and acts and secrets and hatred. Only never once had Emily thought she’d live to see
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Where the Dead go to Die The Choices Mothers Make
THE CHOICES MOTHERS MAKELucette was finally sleeping.Emily sat by the girl’s bed, listening to her labored breathing. It was so deep it made the bedsprings squeak. All about them were bundles of soiled tissues, cotton buds, a half empty bottle of gin, red bath towels that had been drenched red. The prior afternoon and the night that followed had been its own kind of slaughter, not so different from that which she’d witnessed at work. Emotional destruction.These had been the most difficult hours of Emily’s existence.She patted her daughter’s sizzling forehead, trying not to look at the bandages wrapped around the lower part of her face. The wet fabric sloshed inwards and outwards with every one of her daughter’s desperate intakes of air. This detail broke Emily’s heart because it made it all seem too real. And it was real, despite the way the hours since leaving the hospice had blurred together, like those fitful times when dreaming and waking mingled. A blur of wishing versus t
Where the Dead go to Die Red
RED“What in the name Sam Hill was that?”It was the first time Emily had dropped the expression in years. When times turned south, so too did her vocabulary—even her accent sounded stronger. But the shock of her slip was nothing compared to the sound reverberating through the facility, ringing in her ears.You know what that was, said a voice in the back of her head. You know only too well.Woods was next to Emily at the door to her supervisor’s office, surrounded by the five Crowners. As expected, their visitors had arrived in their ‘casual’ attire, a thrift store patchwork of summer shirts that made them look like unassuming RV drivers, only instead of prowling highways they coursed the corridors of America’s hospice system. Like Emily and Woods, they had all flinched and ducked at the gunshot, exchanging wide-eyed glances.A second blast rung out. Someone started screaming for help. Mykel.“The break room,” Woods said. She clutched her blouse, a gesture that undermined the fe
Where the Dead go to Die Interlude Six
INTERLUDE SIXTo complete, inside reverse fold one side to fashion the head, and then fold down the wings. Only then, as you do this, will the origami crane take shape. You are finished.Emily was in the bed she no longer shared with her husband, yet which still smelled like him, when the noise came. Twisting metal, shrieking tires, engines that roared like rabid things hell-bent on biting and tearing until there was nothing left to bite and tear. Whoever they were, they had knocked down the gate. All that noise was lightning-fierce, seeming to shake the earth their house was built on, snapping her from sleep. It extinguished all other sound. She bolted upright, unable to hold in or hear her cry, and watched the window overlooking the driveway burn bright, the venetian blinds sending swirling bars of yellow light across the walls. Emily shielded her face, splayed fingers doing little to obscure that false-dawn glare.Doors slammed. The thump of heavy boots pounding the lawn.She lo
Where the Dead go to Die Murphy’s Law
MURPHY’S LAWEvery day has its destiny. The cracking icicle that’s almost ready to fall. A branch weighted by too much snow, soon to break. Clouds that try and try to hold in their water, only to fail, and in doing so fulfill their meaning in the world. An architecture of inevitability, that this was fated to be. The destiny of this day: Bloodshed. It would begin with a single drop.A pigeon sailed through the air, uncaring and unthinking. It knew nothing but its desperate need to eat, that desire its only real companion. That, and lice. Wind rustled its feathers as it soared out of the sky towards the hospice, which from above seemed two-dimensional against the snow. It neared the rear courtyard where the tall, two legged creatures sat to eat, this act of survival, despite the cold, uniting them in some strange way.Closer now. Closer.It was then that the wind changed, warping the bird’s descent. Its wings were sideswiped, its body turning fast. The pigeon didn’t feel fear, it ha
Where the Dead go to Die Interlude Five
INTERLUDE FIVEFold both legs of the model upwards, crease with great pressure, and then unfold again. Inside reverse fold the legs along those creases you just made.Sally parked her station wagon under an elm, its branches as old as any of the buildings in the city, its roots stretching back through layers of soil to a time when the ground was less bitter. Those days were gone, yet the determined though foolish tree lingered on. It offered shade to a world doomed to burn anyway, and not all the chicken soup in the universe would change that.But regardless, she had to try.The contents of the Tupperware container tucked under her arm sloshed as Sally made her way up the street in the direction of Emily and Jordan’s house. A corridor of hedges zoomed by on her right, dead leaves crunching under her sneakers. The seasons had already started to mingle, a chill encroaching like an anti-fever.It was just after ten in the morning and she’d left Kevin in her husband’s care. Conrad was
Where the Dead go to Die The Uglies
THE UGLIESThe first time Robby experienced a night terror, back in the early days of his infection, he had no idea what was going on. Something bitter twinkled to life in his dream, twisting the otherwise innocuous imagery into a nightmare that didn’t end with waking. This was always the worst part. The leftovers. Whatever despicable things the fever conjured in the dream—the uglies, as he’d come to think of them—followed him into reality. There they would linger.The uglies were with him that Christmas night. They stood at the foot of his bed.He’d gone to sleep thinking about the summer Lucette had whispered to life earlier that week. The checkered cloth across the grass, the leaves on the tree, fireflies in the eyes of the dinosaur skull. But his fatigue had been deep. His limbs had grown heavy, as though he weren’t dressed in a gown but an iron suit, like the kind deep-sea divers wore in old movies. And then the heaviness dragged him into the dark where he was alone for a while
Where the Dead go to Die The Last Christmas
THE LAST CHRISTMAS“Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Ho Ho Ho, and all that kind of bizzo!” Mama Metcalf said, opening the door. She wore a knit red sweater with a green Christmas tree stenciled across the front, actual silver bells dangling from it, and a Santa hat was perched on her head. Seeing this, Emily bleated, glad that she hadn’t cancelled as she’d been tempted to.“Good, lord! The same to you. You look quite festive.”“Well, way I figure it I only get to wear this stuff once a year. Might as well enjoy it.”“You’ve got a point there.”The house was small, a ‘cracker box’ as Emily’s parents used to describe such homes, but it was warm—perhaps a little too warm even. Feeling as though she’d just stepped into an oven, Emily began to de-mummify herself from her layers of scarves and jackets, urging Lucette to do the same.“Welcome to the Winter Wonderland,” Mama Metcalf said as she took their gear and hung it by the front door.It looked like a Christmas suicide bomber had
Where the Dead go to Die Summer
SUMMERRobby’s hardly touched his meatloaf, Lucette thought, crunching up her empty bag of pretzels and tucking it into the pocket of her jeans. Her mother was always at her for doing this, tissues in particular, as her forgotten trash ended up going through the wash and soiling the load. Lucette retrieved the bag with a sigh and placed it on the tray table and pivoted across the bed. It was important that she made an effort to be on her best behavior. If she didn’t, this solo visit with Robby would be her last.“Not a fan?” she asked.Robby shrugged his shoulders. “Dunno. I’m hungry, I guess, only nothing’s appealing.” He turned to the room’s single window in the wall, like a framed painting of the landscape, a skinless world of snow-white bones. Perhaps it gave him comfort knowing there was a wider existence beyond this place.Or maybe it’s mocking him. Gosh, I hope not.“Want to work on the crane?” Lucette asked in an attempt to puncture his sadness, to let in a little light.
Where the Dead go to Die Interlude Four
INTERLUDE FOURTurn the model over and repeat the prior instructions. When finished, fold the top wings into the center, doing the same action on the other side.Emily had always known that there were places in this big ol’ world where dark things grew. Nooks and crannies that safe people like her were privileged enough not to see. That privilege, of course, came from her self-proclaimed inclusion in the ‘oh, it’ll never happen to me’ crowd, a special club that was nowhere near as exclusive as its members assumed, or hoped it to be. But the dark always ended up growing no matter where you went, even in the well-lit places. Such was the nature of shadows.I thought we were safe.Safe. Emily scoffed at the word now. Anyone who thought they were safe was deluded or over-faithed. Neither of which she found a suitable excuse anymore.Because, yes. There were places where dark things grew, dark thoughts and acts and secrets and hatred. Only never once had Emily thought she’d live to see
