Saturday, October 2, 2010

Bathroom Monologue: Loving the Dead

Wesley was not the popular kind of necrophiliac. The popular kind of actress was the one who slept around and flashed her cleavage on magazine covers. There were hundreds of heads of state around the world, and yet the world only recognized a couple war-makers. Uninformed stereotyping harmed his passion. Wesley never touched a corpse improperly. He touched them with care, embalming, smoothing wrinkles and dabbing around their eyes with industrial make-up. There was no sexual intercourse. It would get him fired, and that wouldn't be love. That would be rape. He was a lover of the dead, there to ready them for that last encounter with their families. They didn't need a one-night stand with some stranger at the mortuary. They needed support. Sometimes supportive undergarments, but usually just a man who could take care of them. They'd all forgotten how to tie a Windsor. He'd do it around his own neck before slipping it around theirs. Pulling the knot tight was the most intimate he got with them. They deserved more than a clip-on, and he never left a bruise. That was love.

7 comments:

  1. This was a different sort of tale to go with the first cup of coffee. As always it's a keeper.Great for a 'something scary in October read'.

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  2. Now that's true love. :)

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  3. You made me feel queasy and sympathetic all at the same time. Great work.

    Jai

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  4. He doesn't seem like a bad sort of guy. Reminds me of an asexual I dated - platonic love only. ;)

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  5. Mary, did you find it scary? I intended to take an end-run around the macabre.

    Danielle, true for for every customer.

    Jai, sorry for the nausea.

    Vandamir, my Horror movie buddy! Of course you focus on the positive. I don't think he's a bad guy, either. He practices the less celebrated brand of this sort of love.

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  6. Sweet, actually. Without sticky sentimentality. The detail about the tie is especially nice.

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  7. I have to say, you have a real talent for "strangely adorable". I would never have guessed this one was possible.

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