Geoff and Naomi are dead, and they're depressed, but when Geoff's cat Bernie dies as well, they embark on a wild journey to find it in the underworld.
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When Geoff dies, along...
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People think you find something out when you die. Geoff was expecting a great epiphany, perhaps a highlights reel of his life flashing before his mind's eye. As it turned out, being dead was mostly just as confusing and mundane as being alive.
Naomi lay in bed watching Geoff work at the sink, "do you still think I'm beautiful?"
"You're the most beautiful girl in the underworld," Geoff said without turning around.
Naomi rolled over in bed so she was facing the wall. She pulled the covers up around her face.
"You're just saying that to make me feel better," she said.
Geoff rinsed the plate he was holding and leant it on top of the others. The pile of clean dishes looked for a moment as if it might fall over. Geoff held his breath. They had so many plates. Why did they have so many plates? Alive or dead, they always had far too much crockery for two people. He wiped his hand bones on a tea towel and walked back to the bed.
Geoff sat down on the futon next to Naomi. He rolled her over gently by the shoulder to face him.
"I mean it darling."
He watched her face. Her empty eye sockets stared back at him.
"Don't you feel beautiful?" He asked.
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"That's just your brain tricking you," Geoff said.
This had been the one big argument in their relationship: Whether or not Naomi was attractive. Although, that had been an offshoot of an overarching disagreement - whether or not Naomi saw things clearly.
If you asked Naomi the fight was probably about whether Geoff saw things clearly. Was her perception correct or was his? That was the question at the heart of most arguments. It was just the nature of fighting. And the nature of relationships. And Geoff supposed when you got right down to it, human nature.
As far as Geoff was concerned, Naomi could think about things however she wanted to. If she looked in the mirror and saw someone ugly, then that was her business. At least in theory. It was just so galling to watch someone you love go through so much suffering because of something they'd made up in their head.
