Emily Under The Weather

Alternate Ending 1-Carriage Ride

I love this part! I don't think it was exactly what you're expecting, but I've honestly fallen in love with it. So glad I got the request!

Sue sat under their tree. The spot they used to meet at. The spot that was theirs. Then it hit her, it was only her spot now. No one was coming. Emily was gone. Emily picked a flower off the tree and held it in her palms. She started at the delicate petals until a tear stained one, and the colour darkened ever so slightly. Sue raised a hand to cover her mouth and muffle her sobs. The last person she truly cared for was dead. Everyone she loved was dead. A world without Emily didn't feel like a world Sue wanted to see. She closed her eyes and cried until she didn't have any tears left. 

Her head ached and her stomach turned. She looked at the flower and tested her voice. At first no clear words formed and then the wind blew some other flowers to the ground. Emily would be running to write some poetic line after seeing something so delicately beautiful. Sue sucked in a breath and petted the petal.

"Emily," Sue's voice was shaking, but she had to say these things, even if no one but herself would be able to comprehend her sorrow laced words. "I never should have left. I was scared and I- I don't even have an excuse. I just ran. I threw away time because I thought- I believed we'd have forever. I believed with all my heart that I'd never live to see a world that didn't have you in it." Sue watched as more petals became soaked with her tears. "You are my world. You're always going to be my world. Forever." The wind blew again, more harshly this time and Sue swore she saw a carriage riding by in the distance. She got up, the few details she saw seemed so reminiscent of Emily's poetic description of death's carriage. 

Sue gathered the flowers near her feet and rushed towards the carriage. It didn't stop, but Sue wasn't going to just let it go by. She knew she was delusional and if the carriage was real it was likely some poor stranger unbeknownst to her grief. Sue ran up beside it, her shoes disappearing in the thick mud on the road, her socks soaking through and her dress growing with the weight of the mud and water splashed by the carriage. Sue desperately rapped on the side door and the carriage hesitantly came to a stop. The ghost-like shadow bound horses almost seemed to look at her till the door swung open separating Sue from their view. A kind looking man had propped the door open with his cane and he looked down at Sue over his glasses.

"Can I help you?" he asked, and Sue knew. She knew this is what Emily used to see. This is what Emily would jot down on scrap paper upon returning home.

"Are you death?" Sue asked, the flowers in her arms falling through and landing in the mud. Sinking and losing their bright beauty.

"Why do you ask?"

"I want to go on a carriage ride." The words flowed out of Sue unprompted. Never had language come so easy to her and never in such grief.

"That's a dangerous thing to ask of a stranger." Sue examined the man's face. She wanted to peek to the side of the compartment she couldn't see. She craned her neck and only caught a glimpse of a red dress. The man shook his head. Glancing across from him as he raised a finger to his lips.

"Take me on a carriage ride." It wasn't desperate. It felt more lyrical, like Sue was already drawn into some game or poem. This was all how it should be. Death leaned back in seat and looked at Sue. Then he extended his hand with a smile.

"Your body is here, but you're still kissing her infectious lips." Death shrugged, a smug smile sprouting on his face. "I suppose a carriage ride is in order." Sue felt her heart skip a beat and she looked over her shoulder at the world. It didn't have the same spark or light without her Emily. And besides, her heart had already stopped beating with its skip to silence. Sue took death's hand and stepped into the carriage. Her muddied dress changed to a fresh one and Sue turned finally seeing the owner of the red dress in full. It was indeed her Emily.

"Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality.
We slowly drove – He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility –
We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess – in the Ring –
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain –
We passed the Setting Sun –
Or rather – He passed Us –
The Dews drew quivering and Chill –
For only Gossamer, my Gown –
My Tippet – only Tulle –
We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground –
The Roof was scarcely visible –
The Cornice – in the Ground –
Since then – 'tis Centuries – and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses' Heads
Were toward Eternity –"

– Emily Dickson

Thank you for reading. Quick disclaimer that the ending poem is Emily Dickinson's poem and I have absolutely zero right to it. Lastly this is the first good request I've gotten and so Thank you for the request once more, @Stay_1992  and I hope it lived up to painful ending you sought. Thank you for reading. Requests for this story and others are still open. Though how long it takes me to fulfill said requests is always an interesting question. I hope you're all having a good day and can forgive my lack of editing for my stories, and if you're not having a good day, I hope it gets significantly better for you and I apologize for my poor editing :)