Thursday, July 02, 2015

His final laugh




At this week's Three Word Wednesday, the given words are Obedient, Raspy, and Sombre.




“.....Your obedient servant, Claude Underwood”

He placed the letter on the table. Without raising his head, he peered upwards over the rim of his gold-framed spectacles.

There was stunned silence from the assembled family. The atmosphere was sombre. The words from solicitor Solomon Greenwood’s raspy voice hung in the air.

He held a crisp white handkerchief to his mouth as he cleared his throat.

“Does anyone have anything to say?”

Slowly removing his glasses, he looked around the room from one person to the next and then the next, patiently awaiting a reaction.

The sound of Jennifer Underwood softly sobbing broke the silence. “It’s alright Jenny” whispered her brother Rufus as he tenderly laid his arm across her shuddering shoulder “It’s alright”

Without a word the family members pushed back their chairs, scraping them across the oak floor as they rose to leave.

Mumbling ensued as one by one they left the dining room, the scene of happier times when the exceedingly wealthy Claude Underwood hosted extravagant dinner parties and regaled his overly appreciative audiences with his humorous stories and witty rapport. But it was he who had the final laugh.

“Disgraceful”

“How could he?”

“But it should have been ours”

Solicitor Solomon Green sat alone for a few moments. Then he placed the letter in his leather briefcase, folded his spectacles which he placed in his pocket, and in an uncustomary moment of mirth he muttered “I just hope the creatures at the Charlton Dog Rescue Centre appreciate his fortune!”


.

23 comments:

  1. How generous :D Maybe he felt the dogs were better deserving. Who knows?!

    ReplyDelete
  2. And what do we learn from this story...? Be nice to rich relatives :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Annalisa, good to see you (even though I can't!) Lesson? Don't be greedy!

      Delete
  3. Barking mad I would have to go with - although sometimes money is wasted on people if they don't know truly what a gift it is.. another thoughtful and unique story ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The family were certainly barking up the wrong tree if they thought they were getting it! Thanks Jae Rose.

      Delete
  4. Hey nominated you for the Versatile Blogger award. love your blogs.

    Check this link
    http://indiandramaqueen.blogspot.in/2015/07/versatile-blogger-award.html

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nicely written. The descriptions of the room and the characters, those little nice touches (i.e. the gold frame) really make the scene come to life.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much. It's not my normal style but I thought I'd stretch myself and hopefully not strain anything!

      Delete
  6. I like it! And Mr. Henrichs says beautifully what I was thinking. Well done.

    ReplyDelete
  7. it kind of makes you winder what they did to get cut out of the will. well written Keith

    ReplyDelete
  8. Just why should we profit from someone else's toil? I have always thought it strange that the hope and dreams of people should be frustrated by lazy relatives.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Here-here! That's exactly what led me to jot down this piece.

      Delete
  9. ...and this really happens. Sometime deservedly, sometimes not. But everyone can do as they choose with what they have.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They can indeed. Thanks for dropping by Shadow.

      Delete
  10. Terrific, and the snapper at the end...

    ReplyDelete
  11. brilliant, the twist was unexpected

    ReplyDelete
  12. nice story, beautifully narrated

    ReplyDelete