Reading of the Will

 

I took a seat in the back row.  Various relatives and friends were dotted about the room on uncomfortable folding chairs.  I thought the entire place was rather cheesy for a lawyer’s office.   The clock up on the left side of the room said 10:07.  The lawyer sitting in the front of the room looked up at it again, and announced that we would start, and that anyone who was late – was just late.  We wouldn’t wait anymore.

It was my uncle who was late.  Isn’t that what they call dead people, the late?  I wondered how that came about.  Why late?  I couldn’t stop thinking about that.  I could see the lawyer talking, but my mind kept playing with words and semantics.  We have an odd language I thought, and even though I was missing everything being said, I couldn’t shut off my internal chatter.  It was annoying even to myself. 

At twenty past eleven I heard my name.  I looked up and noticed several empty chairs.   Apparently, some folks had left, and I hadn’t even noticed.  I didn’t really expect to inherit anything, but you never know.  Anyway, the lawyer was going on and on about the relationship between myself and my late uncle, and how much he had enjoyed my writing over the years, then he finally came to the good part. 

“His entire set of World Book Encyclopedias.”

 

I couldn’t believe it.  Had my uncle never heard of Google?  I guess he was late to the party, as they say.