The land available for burial was a small plot two feet by one foot. Tomas bought it anyway figuring, worst case, he could be buried standing up.
And this is what he told people, “I’m going to be buried standing up.”
Then he died. Most people do. It was not much of a surprise that Tomas did.
But being someone who few people paid much mind to, his wife had no clue when pressed what the man’s final wishes were.
“Think he wanted to be stood up, or some such nonsense.”
The undertaker wasn’t a smart man. He was mostly in the businesses because his da wouldn’t let him go to bard college and learn minstreling, but still he wanted to do a good job. As anyone would when trying to build a life.
With no other instruction that’s what he did. He prepared Tomas’ Earthly remains to be stood up.
First he removed the decaying flesh, muscle and internal organs and fired them down to a fine powdery ash.
He boiled the bones in bleach and water until they were white as new fallen snow. Then he let them dry.
With the water he boiled the skeleton in and the ash he made from the soft bits he mixed a mortar and after posing the bones he poured the mix in on top.
It set and dried and he polished the finished product and informed the widow her husband was ready for the funeral.
The shock of the finished product killed her also.
It did not matter much to the undertaker, because he buried her under Tomas, standing up.
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