Sittin' Up With The Dead

(2W) For Emily Carlton, it is a test of her mettle, as a southern woman, to “sit up” with her dead husband Will’s body.  It seems he was found “slumped over, face down in the sink at Exit 47 East with a Saturday night special jammed in his mouth…” Who knew he was so unhappy?  Certainly not his girlfriend Marylizbeth.  And now it’s up to Emily to put on her game face and do the right thing. And that means sittin’ up with Will all night long at the Hazel Funeral Home.  Not only is this night a test, it’s Emily’s last chance to express her love for a man she couldn’t hold in life.

Eventually Emily falls asleep on her “watch” and Marylizbeth steals into the funeral home at 3:00 AM hoping to pay her respects in private, away from the glare of the local gossips.  When the eavesdropping Emily witnesses Marylizbeth’s tender farewell to Will, Emily loses all dignity in her grief and, in a jealous rage, smacks her dearly departed right in the kisser, dislodging his nose.

Can there be comedy in the midst of tragedy?  Can laughter midst tears uplift the human spirit?  Can childhood rivalries be finally buried on this walpurgisnacht?  Can Will’s nose be put back on before the doors swing open for visitation?  (and NO- “closed casket” is not an option when you have the family honor to uphold.)  Emily and Marylizbeth begin their journey as rivals and end as comrades in failed love.