Mourning Has Broken

The wake had gone fairly smoothly considering. Some underlying conflicts bubbled along but everyone was civil and the overall feeling was of fond remembrance and recollections of a being who had brought everyone there some joy.

Toby had been that kind of person, wherever he went and whoever he saw he always left a smile behind when he had gone. He floated between groups of all backgrounds and managed to find a connection with them every time, and his genuine interest in others lives meant that he was drawn towards people of all s

This also was the cause of some of the slightly uneasy feelings, his wake had some clashing personalities, from resolute meat eaters to strict vegans, from spiritualist mediums to fact based scientists, a whole range of beliefs and opinions covered the room, and although much was made about how Toby crossed all the invisible barriers people put up and what a truly wonderful way that was of living, it was hard for many there to individually see any common ground with some of the others there.

Harry hadn't known Toby very long, but he had also fallen under the spell of relaxation and acceptance that he spread as he travelled. And while Harry didn't have any problems with anyone else there, well ok the one who was waving crystals around did get on his nerves a bit, he felt it was a shame that the troubled undercurrent was there. As if it was slightly tainting Toby's memory, which caused him some sadness.

When it had all ended, kind of awkwardly, Harry made his way towards the entrance and to the cloakroom there. He handed in his ticket and after receiving his long grey coat he walked out of the building while putting it on. Outside with his coat now fully on he felt something heavy in his pocket. He dipped his hand in and pulled out a small black book.

Surprised and a little confused he was about to turn around and walk back in, assuming that he had the wrong coat or someone had put the book in the wrong pocket, when he noticed that his name was written on the front of it.

Harry looked around, not knowing what he was looking for, then looked down at the book and opened it up. On the first page there was a single word written large in the middle:

'Hello.'

He turned the page and saw his name on the next one:

'Harry.'

He flicked through the pages of the book and saw that there was a single word on each one. After a moments thought he looked around for a place to sit, finally perching on a wall, and started to read through the book.

'Hello … Harry … I … hope … you're … smiling …'

Harry did smile at this familiar greeting from his now gone friend.

'I … know … that … I … lived … what … was … seen … as … a … charmed … life'

This was true, many had commented on how he glided along without any visible stress.

'I … put … this … down … to … a … sense … of … the … ridiculous … for … example … making … you … read … this … page … by … page'

Harry could hear Tobys voice saying that and had a little chuckle to himself.

'My … refusal … to … take … life … seriously … meant … I … had … no … real … need … for … material … things … so … I … ended … up … saving … quite … a … large … sum'

This came as a surprise to Harry as he had never known of Toby even acknowledging money, he always seemed able to barter or to blag anything he needed, working for board and fuel for both him and his battered motorbike.

'as … you … were … an … important … part … of … my … life … I … want … to … share … my … treasure … with … you! … Complete … the … instructions … that … follow … and … I … have … no … doubt … you … will … have … a … greatly … enriched … life.'

On the following page was an address that wasn't far away and the time 4:25pm, which was underlined three times, underneath this were the words 'Let yourself in'. Harry checked his watch, there was an hour to go so he went for a wander around the cemetery gardens.

As he strolled along the paths between rosebushes, with names of the dearly departed hanging from them and scattered metal plates with reminders of mortality, he noticed a few of the other people from the wake also taking their time around the grounds. It was a clear fresh day so a good one to take a moment of peace to clear your mind.

After some time enjoying the quiet he made his way to the address in the book. It was a small shop that looked like it had been closed for a long time. The windows were all whitewashed and the sign above the door had long been removed, leaving a ghost of a shape where the edges of it had been. Harry checked the address again then, after closing the black book and putting it back in his pocket, he pushed at the door.

He walked into a small room which was very dark. There was a single bright light shining straight down onto a table on top of which there was a black briefcase. Harry took a moment to let his eyes adjust to the dark while smiling to himself and thinking that Toby always did enjoy being a touch dramatic. He then stepped forward the couple of paces to the table. Taking a breath he reached out to the two buttons on either side of the case and pressed them, releasing the latches to spring up with a satisfying click.

He lifted the lid of the case letting the light fill it. In front of him was money, a lot of it. Rows of £50 notes filling the case from edge to edge. Harry was trying to make a quick calculation in his head of how many notes deep the case could be and the number of rows to try to come to an amount but his mind was swimming, or rather drowning, in the weirdness of the whole situation.

There was a loud click and suddenly the notes were blasted aside as out of the case something erupted hitting Harry in the face blacking out the light. Stunned by the surprise, as there was no pain, he took a step back and felt something wet slowly fall from his face and heard it hit the floor. He wiped something from his eyes and looked down to see the crumbled remains of a pie, all cream and pastry and custard.

The room lit up and a door at the back, which had been hidden in the darkness, opened and a figure stepped out of it. Before Harry could react the figure had taken him by the shoulders and directed him towards the door it had just walked out of.

Harry found himself in a larger room and the first thing that he noticed was the laughter. To start with this combined with his confusion to raise a little anger as he looked around him. He saw that the laughter was coming from several of the people that had been at the wake, but as his eyes adjusted to the brightness of the room he saw that each of them had the remains of a pie surrounding their face and on their clothes, and they weren't just laughing at him, but at each other and themselves.

Someone came up and patted him on the back, still laughing, and handing him a towel. As he wiped some of the pie from his face he noticed the figure coming back out of the door and there was some 'shhhh'ing going on around the room. It was then that Harry noticed a large screen on the wall behind him and he shuffled out of the way as the others in the room moved in to look at it.

The screen showed the dark room he was in before. As they watched silently someone, recognisable as another of the mourners, came in the front door just like he had and moved towards the now reset case. Harry looked around at the the people watching. He noticed that while they were all wrapped up in the anticipation of what was going to happen any underlying conflicts were momentarily forgotten, barriers had crumbled like the pies they were all wearing, as they shared in the joy of the ridiculous.

Harry placed his hand on the little black book in his pocket.

“Thank you.” he said.