The Will

1

It was 5 pm on Thursday when Eve got the call.

Old Mrs. Carmichael was dead, they said.

The grief that seized her heart was instantaneous. She felt the loss like a blow to the chest. Tears started to run down her face while her mind remained in a standstill. She couldn't process it.

A heart attack, they said. 'You know these old people, death waits for them around every corner. It was simply her time'.

She didn't understand how that could be true. They met just last week at their favorite cafe. They had the blueberry croissants they both loved. Nancy, as Mrs. Carmichael liked to be called, had seemed so full of life. Her eyes had shone when Eve told her funny stories from work and made her laugh.

Nancy was 64.

Nancy was healthy.

She couldn't be dead.

She just couldn't.

The burial would be in a week, they said. They would appreciate her presence at the grave site.

She had a week to collect herself. For Nancy's sake, she would try.

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The burial was held at the Carmichael Estate.

Eve was no stranger to the grounds. She often came over to spend time with Nancy when she felt low or she needed a  break from the world. It was a large manor with large, sprawling gardens that never failed to bring a smile to her face anytime she visited.

This time was different. The air felt thick with negative emotions. Even the trees over the grave site seemed to sigh with grief. The entire atmosphere was dark and gloomy- too gloomy for a July afternoon.

There was one other fact that left Eve feeling uneasy- she was the only one at the funeral. Well, she and a man who had introduced himself as Richard- Nancy's lawyer. She remembered Nancy saying she wasn't on speaking terms with the rest of her family but this was a bit much, she thought.

The sense of foreboding she had stayed with her throughout the ceremony and lingered even now in Nancy's office as the lawyer opened his briefcase and produced a file boldly marked with the words- "NANCY'S WILL"

Richard was arranging different folders on the desk when Eva decided to speak up.

"Um, excuse me" she began, "There's something not quite right here. Isn't the will supposed to be read to family members? Or, you know, people that are actually included in the will?"

He looked up at her and sighed. "You are included in the will Miss Daniels. In fact you're the only one included in it."