The Funeral Pyre

by Karen Schauber

Katherine meanders down the hallway. Plush carpet muffles her footsteps; no one notices she has left the room, or the first floor. Relatives and friends of the deceased come and go; booze flows, condolences are offered, plates of canapés and crudités passed around. 

The street outside the house is littered with SUVs, compact two-doors, and luxury sedans. Someone has blocked the driveway; a commotion breaks out. It is a perfect cover. Katherine steals away. She knows the house inside and out: its three bedrooms with en suite, well-appointed living room; cook’s kitchen; Juliette balcony off the master; laundry chute from the second floor linen closet; and double tennis courts out back, as if it were her own. She helped make many of the décor choices when Lauren first bought the lakeside home after her divorce was finalized.

Making a beeline to the master bedroom’s walk-in closet, Katherine places her hand, expectantly, on the ebony box inlaid with pearl, sitting on the lacquer dressing table. Lifting up the lid, she catches her breath; the brilliant shine is dazzling, intoxicating. . . .

As she throws the Audi into reverse, Katherine glances back at the house; she has no regrets. Giddy, she pulls away from the curb and decides she will return later for the Sultanabad rug, and the Thompson Jack Pine.

Reaching the highway, she cocks her hand just so, and the light catches the diamond’s exquisite facets. She cannot believe her good fortune.

In her reverie, Katherine does not notice or hear the tanker truck barreling toward her at interminable speed.

Karen Schauber is a seasoned family therapist, practicing in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her early writing is nonfiction and details three decades of psychosocial and analytical cases. Flash fiction is a new and welcome adventure for her. Fictional short stories are much more fun to read and write! As an emerging artist, Karen hones her craft at home and at the dog beach on the west coast (when it’s not pouring out). The upcoming Group of Seven Flash Fiction Chapbook is her first editorial novella-in-flash venture. http://GroupofSevenFlashFiction.weebly.com. Karen’s flash fiction can be read in Spillwords, Blood Puddles, and AdHoc Fiction. She can be reached directly at: http://karenschauber.weebly.com