The Visitor

It is Halloween and Alison was asked to receive a delivery for a friend.  Now she has this visitor in her sitting room and is not sure what to do with it, she turns to her friends for help...

Enjoy

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         “OH my God!!”  Frannie exclaimed as she walked into the sitting room.  “What the hell is that?”  She walked closer to the corpse and continued.  “And why the hell do you have it  in your sitting room?”

         “Because it is too heavy for me to move it myself, that is why I called you.”  Alison answered calmly.

         “I am not touching that thing.”  Frannie said still looking at it.

         “It has been dead for a while.”  Alison informed Frannie.

         “I don’t care, I am not touching that thing.”

         “Come on Frannie I need your help.”  Alison said pleading with Frannie.
                   
         “Why do you have a corpse in your sitting room?”  Frannie asked again getting a closer look.

         “I don’t know, if I had an answer would you be willing to help me move it?”  Alison said to Frannie.

         “No!”

         “Frannie?”

         “That thing is strange.  It is like it is watching you.” Frannie stopped and moved off to the side of the corpse and continued.  “Look his eyes moved. They follow you as you move.”  Frannie moved back and forth in front of the corpse.

         “That is why I want to put it in Jack’s office.” Alison explained.

         Frannie walked to the phone and began to dial.  She waiting a few seconds and heard hello.  “What are you doing?”

         “Nothing, really.”  Janet answered.

         “Alison needs you to come to her house and help her move something.”  Frannie began.

         “What does she need moved?” 

         “It I hard to explain, you just have to see it and it is really heavy.” Frannie said.

         “Be there in a few minutes.”  Janet and Frannie both hung up.

         Frannie turned and walked back to Alison.  They both stood there for a few minutes just looking at the visitor sitting on the sofa. “What do you think killed him?”

         “I am wondering why he is not in a coffin in the ground?”  Frannie said cocking her head still looking at the body.

         “You know, Frannie, I have had some strange things happen in my life, but nothing quite like this.” 

         “Remember when we were in Cardiff and went though the tunnel, that was pretty strange.”  Frannie reminded Alison.

         Alison turned and pointed at Frannie.  “We agreed that we would never talk about that.”

         Frannie smiled and asked “Have you thought about what Jack might say if he sees it in his office?” 

         “No, but I was really hoping that it would be gone before he got home.”  Alison said.

         “Just in case it’s not gone before Jack gets home, let visit this.”  Frannie folded her arms on her chest.

         No, lets not.  If we put it in his office, I can keep him out of it.  He gets the script for the next show today.  He will want to start reading it and will come here to the sitting room.”

         “What if he needs or wants something in his office?”  Frannie began asking.

         “I’ll get it for him.”  Alison answered.

         “What if you are busy making dinner and he just gets it himself?”

         “Frannie you are not helping me. I will think of something.”  Alison said.  “I will have sex with him till Marcus comes and fetches it, I will have Jack take me out to dinner.”

         “I have an idea, why don’t you just tell him that its here.”  Frannie suggested.

         “Sure, let me call him and tell him I had a dead guy delivered the house.  Do you know what he would do?”  Alison said getting desperate.

         “What?  Roll his eyes, shake his head, ask why there is a dead guy in the house?”  Frannie said trying to calm Alison.

         “Jack will have my medication increased.”

         “It should be increased.” Frannie said to Alison. 

         “You have a dead guy in your house?”  Janet asked excited as her and Abby walked into the sitting room.

         “Yes, she does.”  Frannie said to Janet.
         
         “Why?”  Abby asked just looking at the corpse.

         “That is just so cool.”  Janet started.  “Where did you get it.  Think Nigel will let me have one?”  Janet asked getting a better look at the corpse.

         “It’s a dead person, Janet.”  Frannie said reminding her friend.

         “I know.”  Janet said simply.  “It is just so.”

         “Odd?” 

         “Strange?”  Abby added.

         “Why do you have a corpse in your sitting room?”  Janet finally asked getting a closer look at it.

         “Because it is too heavy for me to move into Jack’s office.”  Alison answered.

         “I would love to help you but I just had my nails done.”  Abby said getting out of touching the corpse.
         
         “Three days ago.”  Janet said to Abby. Looking back at the corpse she continued. “You know, he needs a name.”  Janet announced.

         “Remember how my parents would never let us name stray animals that wondered on to the ranch?”  Frannie asked Alison.

         “Your dad said that if we named them, we would get attached to them.”  Alison answered looking at the corpse.

         “Mr. Lippenheimer.”  Janet blurted out.

         “He doesn’t look German.”

         “He’s dead.”  Frannie pointed out.  “You people keep forgetting that.”

         “They keep forgetting what?” 

         The girls looked up to see Faith and Saddie standing in the doorway of the sitting room.

         “You have got to come see this.”  Janet suggested.

         Faith and Saddie both walked over to the rest of the girls. “Why do you have a corpse in your sitting room?”  Saddie asked.

         “You know you rich people really decorate your homes in the strangest ways.”  Faith pointed out.

         “He would look better in Jack’s office, he clashes with the furniture in this room.”  Abby said getting used to the corpse.

         “I know, and if I am lucky Jack will not go in his office.”  Alison said to Abby.

         “So why do you have this thing in your living room?”  Saddie asked.

         “It’s too heavy for me to move into Jack’s office.”  Alison answered again.

         “That is going to be your answer to that question, isn’t it?”  Frannie asked Alison getting tired of hearing the same answer.

         “Yes, it is.”  Alison answered getting frustrated.  “Lauren asked if I could receive a package for Marcus.”

         “So being the good friend that you are, you now have a dead person in your house.”  Abby added trying not to laugh.

         “Yes.  It is freaking me out and I want to put it in a room that I don’t go into very often.”  Alison began to explain.

         “So since none of us are willing to help you move it, why don’t we call Rosie, she might be used to dealing with dead people.”  Faith suggested.

         “Her husband is a vicar.”  Saddie added.

         “He’s a vicar not a mortician, the dead people come to him already neatly packaged in a coffin.”  Frannie clarified.

         “Yes, but.”  Abby started. “He would be used to dead people more so than us.”

         “And Rosie does help Alistair as the church.”  Faith finished.

         “She has a point.”  Alison began to agree. She left the room to make the phone call to Rosalie.

         The ladies just stood in front of the corpse, none of them really sure what to say.  It was Janet that finally broke the silence. “You know, my life was kind of dull before I met Alison.”

         “Does she always do strange things like this?”  Saddie asked.

         “Yea.” Frannie answered.

         “She doesn’t always think things through.”  Janet continued.

         “She is a lot of  fun.” Abby added.  “Your life will not be dull and she gives you things to talk about at dinner.”

         “Ok, so I told Rose that I needed her help.”  Alison said coming into the sitting room.

         “Did you tell her that you needed help moving a dead guy?”  Frannie  asked.

         “No, I told her that I need to straighten up the sitting room and needed to move something.”  Alison answered.

         “Did you tell her about Mr. Lippenheimer?”  Janet asked.

         “No.”  Alison said simply.

         “I think she may notice it when she get here.”  Faith informed.

         “Do you mind if we throw a blanket over it?”  Abby asked grabbing a blanket from another chair in the room.

         “No!”  Fannie grabbed the blanked from Abby.  “Not that one.”

         “Why?”

         “Frannie made it.”  Alison answered.

         Abby took the blanket back from Frannie and began to inspect it.  “Really?  This is really nice.  Look at the stitches, nice and even.”

         “I tried quilting once, it was just a bunch of squares and then I attached some bows.”  Janet let the girls know.

         “My mom taught me and Carley how to do cross stitch.  Did you see the covered bridge in the entry way?”  Alison told the girls of her hidden talent.

         “Did you make it?”  Saddie asked.

         “No, my mom did.” Alison answered.

         “I have a question.”  Faith began.  “Why are we just standing here looking at it.”

         “I don’t know, it is kind of like a train wreck, you just can’t help but look at it.”  Frannie answered.

         
         “You  really do need to tidy up before Jack gets home.”  Rosalie said entering the room. “What do you need help moving?”

         “That.” Alison responded pointing to the corpse.

         Rosalie had a blank look on her face as she looked at the visitor sitting on the sofa and then back at Alison. “It’s a corpse.”

         “Yea.”  All the girls responded.

         “Why?”  Rosalie asked.

         “Because he’s dead.”  Alison answered.

         “I think she meant why is it here.”  Abby

         “I can’t move it by myself.”  Alison said to Rosalie.

         “Nobody here will help you?”  Rosalie asked.

         “Frannie won’t touch it, Janet is having too much fun poking it, Abby  had her nails painted three days ago.”  Alison started.  “What about you, will you help me?”

         “I feel like I should have some Holy Water or something.”  Rosalie responded.

         “I have bottled water.”  Alison said. “Will that work?”

         “I don’t think so.”  Rosalie said still looking at Alison’s visitor.

         “Are you sure?”  Alison asked trying again to get someone to help her.

         “Al, saying good Lord as you pick up the case of water from the back of your Range Rover does not make the water Holy.”  Frannie said.

         “This kind of reminds me of the time that my grandfather died.”  Faith said remembering.

         “What does?”  Someone asked as they all looked at Faith for the answer.

         “This.”  Faith began waving her hands over the chair where the corpse was sitting.  “My grandfather came home one evening from his shop.  There was really nothing different about the evening or him in fact.  He had not been sick or anything. There he sat, in his chair.

         “Hours went by before anyone realized he was dead.”  Faith said finishing her story.

         “That’s just horrible.”  Abby said.

         “We all just kind of walked passed him, talked to him, asked him questions.  My grandmother, at one point, put her hand on his shoulder and made the comment that he was kind of cold.”

         “What did she do?”  Janet asked.

         “She placed a blanket around his shoulders to warm him up.”  Faith answered.