afterlife tender_square ruby couldn't settle herself. she sulked from room to room, trying to look through the curtains and shades i'd drawn to keep her from barking at the squirrel squad. she jumped against the picture windows with a force that startled. mom asked me to call when dad arrived with her, and he scoffed when i did. he didn't want fish and chips like we'd planned on, so i drove to get us mediocre burgers we ate at a dining table for six, ruby locked in a crate that was too small for her. "your house is so quiet," he remarked. i turned on the classic vinyl channel, and we listened to eric burdon and the animals while he talked about his friend dying. i found us a documentary about the saqquara and the relics found in wahtye's tomb. "he spent so much of his life preparing for the afterlife," a man in the film remarked. the egyptians spoke of judgement after death, that the heart would be devoured by a crocodile if it weighed more than a feather. my horoscope said that god is judging us every day; the fact that we're here means we're worthy. 221213 what's it to you? who go blather from