Keywords
Murder, Flower, Dark Humor
Document Type
Fiction
Description
Anise’s favorite poisonous plants were delphinium, oleander, and lily of the valley. Especially lily of the valley, which she’d wanted in her wedding bouquet even before she knew the flowers could put a man into cardiac arrest. After she learned that tidbit, it had sounded even more appropriate for a wedding. A flower that could literally make your heart skip a beat? Not to mention the wicked play on “till death do you part.” She didn’t tell anyone about this joke after it had gone over poorly with her sister, who had always been, Anise thought, a little too sensitive about dark humor. Anise’s sister Hortensia was traditional, to say the least. Lilies for funerals, always lilies. White, like heaven: pure, innocent, sterile, like every funeral since the funeral when that first white lily had entered the folded white hands of some dead medieval maiden. Anise admitted there was Gothic charm in a traditional funeral, but people aren’t all stuffy Victorians, and people aren’t at all pure. Anise’s passion ensured her father placed her firmly as manager of funeral arrangements upon his retirement from the flower business.
Recommended Citation
Schow, Maddy
(2023)
"Sympathy,"
Inscape: Vol. 43:
No.
1, Article 4.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/inscape/vol43/iss1/4