Antonia Church

Last Rites: a Collection of Short Stories Antonia Church

Chester Mudd had called Fable, Texas his home for nearly three decades when the old woman mysteriously showed up one morning, walking her dog. He'd become used to this predictable little town where everyone knew just about everyone else. But his next door neighbor didn't have the first notion who this newcomer was. Neither did his girlfriend. No one seemed to have any idea where this old woman came from or who she was. It was Chester Mudd's riddle. He watched her for one long week. She walked the dog every morning at precisely noon. She walked around the block exactly two times. Every day it took her exactly one half of an hour. This pattern never varied. Until now. Until today. Chester Mudd met the old woman outside on the sidewalk that passed by his front porch."I am wondering why you are here?" Chester asked the old woman."What else do you do when you've been dead for thirty years?" she replied. Dead. A ghost. Right here in Fable. Right here in his own home. "What is it like being dead?"The old woman grinned sadly, understanding more already about Fable in one week than Chester had figured out in years. "You tell me," she answered. "I just got here."Life is short. So are these thirteen tales. So read the Last Rites, and get on with the rest of your days.