Morose Marvin

Morose Marvin

He ran out into the stone anteroom and he was about to climb the spiral stairs, but the headmaster was sitting on them, calmly sipping tea. He scowled at Marvin, took a sip, and then shook his head.

"You were warned, boy! You were told not to return here at night!"

Marvin wanted to climb over him and get out of the nightmare; he wanted to wake up in his bed back home and never see this place again. He also wanted to cry.

The headmaster explained, "It's the embalming fluid, you know. The special mixture we use revitalizes the corpses. It brings the bodies back to life!"

Marvin kept glancing fearfully at the tunnel, slowly backing up, until he realized that he was backing toward another tunnel just like the first. He moved back to the center of the room, slowly spinning in place to watch all of the tunnels at once. He felt dizzy and confused.

The headmaster continued, "So we process the bodies here, let the families bury them, and let the embalming fluid work its magic on the tissues. Then we extract them from the cemeteries from below!"

"Sure, their minds are simple... daft, really." He smiled, "But they're fantastic at door-to-door cosmetics sales! You see, we build the perfect sales force, and we never have to pay commissions!"

Just as his Mrs. Maguire shambled out of the tunnel smiling hideously at him, Marvin's little mind snapped. The world grew dark as he fainted, and he collapsed in a heap on the floor.

THE END