Burial. I made someone a promise once. They haven’t died yet so I’ve got a bit of time to think about it. I guess there is a likelihood that I will die before them and then I get out of the bargain altogether. The aforesaid person wants to be buried. Says he wants to give something back to the earth. I thought I was more of a cremation person myself but I’m slowly coming 143
round to his way of thinking. At first, I had reservations of my body being eaten by insects and other creatures but he seemed to like that idea. I thought this made him a freak but of course it doesn’t.
The difficult part of his request however, is that he hates churches and does not want to be buried in a churchyard. Obvious really, why would someone who hates religion want to reside for eternity just yards from a church? He wants to be buried in the middle of nature, in a field or riverbank. This poses me just a small problem. How the fuck do I do it. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I’ll probably have to steal his body. If anyone has any better ideas, I’d appreciate any suggestions.
In a strange twist of fate he and I may die together.
That would be nice.
If not, I think I will tell him my wish. If I have to have any sort of service I’d like a humanist one. Then bury me in a place I love where it is unlikely I’ll have a house built ontop of me and visit me once in a while.
Odd thing to say when you’re twenty-nine. Mind you, you never know.
I don’t know what to do with the dogs when they eventually pass away. I won’t leave them with the vets that’s for sure. Laid out on a slab before being disposed of god knows how. I’d like to bury them somewhere they loved too, even if I have to enlist help and sneak out in the middle on the night with a spade.
I’m so fucking morbid sometimes. I do apologise.
Clowns. Now they really are scary fuckers. Why would you hire a clown for a toddler’s birthday?
You’d scare the living daylights out of them. Plus I’ve 144
never encountered a funny one. ‘Hello, I’m Mr Bubbles’. I bet your wife doesn’t even find you in the least amusing. Fuck off.
Just think, whilst I’m still on the subject of death, in a few years a whole generation will be dead and gone.
The first world war generation. A generation with belief systems and perceptions many of us will never have. People who have seen things many of us have no way or inkling to understand. It’s no wonder the older generation feel they get no respect. They don’t.
As I keep saying, no-one really gives a shit.
All I have left from my ancestors, apart from my genes of course, which is a huge inheritance, is a clock. It means the world to me. It reminds me that things have gone before and things will come after.
It’s only a clock but it lets me know every now and then just how insignificant I am, how insignificant we all are.