Day 237 - Obituaries

 OBITUARIES

Prompt - Obituaries : Look at the recent obituaries online or in the newspaper and imagine the life of someone and write about that person.

"SWANSTON Morag (North Berwick) Morag passed away on August 3rd, 2021. She was a loving partner to Robert, a magical mum to Adam and Jackson, beloved daughter of Pam and the late Ian, amazing sister to Fiona and a wonderful friend and colleague to many. A service will be held at Mortonhall Crematorium Main Chapel on Monday August 23rd, at 11am to which all are welcome."

Loving.  Magical.  Beloved.  Amazing.  Wonderful.  Really?  George smiled to himself, a corner of his mouth twisted to reflect his cynicism about the bollocks he'd just read.  The 'never speak ill of the dead' maxim had been applied liberally, with great shiny dollops of lardy-arsed glitter.  There was certainly no 'ill' in that brief obituary, but to have twisted the truth to such an extent... Then he found himself wondering who had written it?  And why they had chosen to paint such such a flagrantly false picture?

Surely not Robert?  The obvious choice, in that it would have fallen to him to organise things.  Yet it also seemed so unlikely.  Morag had left George for his best friend eighteen years ago, after not quite five years of marriage.  He'd been angry at first, but that was simple pride, the humiliation of the cuckold.  Relief emerged with surprising speed.  That he was no longer being shouted at, that he didn't have to worry about where the money was going, that he didn't have lay down the eggshells for his feet every day.  Within a year he'd been back seeing Robert again, and over time became a sounding board, an agony uncle, a sympathetic (but inwardly grinning) ear.  Robert's life was hell, but he couldn't have left Morag without his precious dignity taking a hit.  George wondered what she'd died of, and if it were all simply fate, or had there been a little human intervention in the process?  It wouldn't surprise him and he'd happily give his pal an alibi if needed.

Adam and/or Jackson?  Huh!  Not bloody likely.  Not unless one of them wrote it for a piss take.  The only magical element to Morag's mothering was her ability to suddenly pop up and try to take credit for his dedication to bringing them up, but her attempts at bribery and flattery rarely ended well, and the boys soon understood why George, not Robert, was the lucky one.

Fiona?  As far as he knew she hadn't spoken to her sister for at least eight years.  The boys sometimes went to see their aunt and reported back on the state of hostilities.  He liked Fiona, if only because she was so different to her elder sibling, so human.  But they'd hardly seen one another for years, the price of mixed allegiances.

That left Pam.  It had to be Pam.  She always was a bitch, and should have been his warning.  There was another old saying - 'if you want to know how your wife is going to be when she's older just look at her mother'.  Wise old saying, he had realised too late.  Morag's mum was an eighteen carat pain in the arse.  Becoming more rancid as she aged.  He had Robert's testimony to that.  She'd have had this pish printed just for the joy of winding other people up.  

Wouldn't get more people to the ceremony though.  Not unless they had their own motives.

The 23rd?  He thought he might be able to get the day off.  He might just go along.  It would be a laugh.