mrs fleming

by fan taser

marian always liked the island because it was so quiet and peaceful, and because the other guests kept to themselves, and were not intrusive and always asking her questions about herself. an older woman whose name marian understood to be mrs fleming was especially quiet. marian did not think she had ever heard her speak at all. one pleasant afternoon, marian was seated at a table on the veradah with an excellent view of the sea, sipping a lemonade and reading a book she had taken from the hotel’s library, a book she was unfamiliar with, by an author she had never heard of. mrs flleming was seated at another table, about eighteen meters closer to the railing of the verandah, and to the sea. the book by the author marian was not familiar with was not terribly engrossing, and she paused more than once to gaze at the sea and the sky. mrs fleming was in her line of vision as she did so. marian began to have a curious feeling that mrs fleming had not moved at all, throughout the afternoon. she found herself glancing up at the still figure of the old woman, more and more. this will never do, marian thought. i have never liked to think of myself as a busybody. finally, on an impulse, she put her book down on the table and approached to within a meter of mrs fleming. the old woman was completely motionless. marian went inside the hotel and approached the desk clerk. do you see that woman seated out there? marian pointed to mrs fleming. i believe her name is mrs fleming. ah, mrs fleming, the clerk replied. what about her? i believe she is dead. oh, yes, mrs fleming has been dead for years. she has? yes, many of the guests have been dead for quite some time but - why does she not … fall apart? decompose? i know the air is healthy here, bur even so… oh, we have a special serum for that. one of the attendants goes around to the dead guests every morning before dawn and gives them an injection which keeps them inoffensive for the rest of the day. really? marian said. i never knew such a thing existed. there are probably many things you do not know, madam, the clerk replied politely.