The sidewalk cracks blurred beneath the feet of Mr. Lux as he strode purposefully toward the diner, a bulging manila envelope in the crook of his arm. Tall and gaunt, he was dressed in the neatly pressed black suit of his trade. Silver hair hung to his shoulders while the sun glinted off his bald pate. Pale skin, beady eyes, a large nose and bloodless lips completed a look that many in town felt resembled Mr. Lux’s clients too well.
Unseeing, or perhaps uncaring, he strode on, townsfolk quickly sidestepping to avoid his path. He was met with looks and stares of surprise and unbelief, but never anger. No one could remember the last time they had seen Mr. Lux beyond the confines of the Gallows Road Funeral Home. In his wake, they whispered.
Yanking the diner door open, Mr. Lux took one long stride inside, and let the door bang shut behind him. He surveyed the room, nose acting as pointer, until he saw what he had come for. Ignoring the waitress, he approached a young woman sitting in the last booth. She had dark hair, large blue eyes behind stylish glasses and wore conservative business attire. Before her was a cup of coffee and her laptop.
Mr. Lux sniffed. The woman looked up and shock flashed across her face. “Ms. Fennell?” His voice was like old leather.
“Yes,” she smiled but her eyes were calculating as she gestured Mr. Lux to sit. “Please, have a seat.”
He folded himself into the booth opposite her, placing the manila envelope on the table, resting both skeletal hands on it. “As agreed,” he pushed the envelope across to her.
“Let’s just take a look,” smiling again as she opened it, pulling out a pile of loose papers, napkins, post-it notes and a chunk of cardboard.
Her smile faded. “What is this?”
“Hrm,” Mr. Lux sounded like brick dragging on brick, “the book you agreed to buy.”
“This?” Ms. Fennell was incredulous. “This isn’t the normal way to submit a book to an agent, Mr. Lux.” She fingered the pile of papers, pulled out a post-it. “It says, ‘Mrs. Jones told me that her husband had been taking money from the town treasury to pay his gambling debt.’ It’s dated, February 20, 1987. What is this?” She began digging through the pile in earnest. “Is it all like this?”
Mr. Lux showed his teeth in what Ms. Fennell hoped was a smile. “Hrm, yes, it is all things my customers have told me.”
“Customers?” She was holding a handful of papers in each hand, “aren’t you the … ?”
“Mortician?” He showed his teeth again. “Hrm, yes, I am.”
He stared at her, unblinking, watching her think.
“Wait,” she dug through the pile again and found the first post-it. “When did Mrs. Jones die?”
“Mrs. Jones? Hrm,” his face contorted into an approximation of a smile. “February 18, 1987.”
Dropping the papers as if they were alive, she whispered, “She was dead when she told you this?”
“The dead have many tales to tell,” he said as if it were an everyday thing.
“But,” Ms. Fennell scooted to the edge of the seat as if to bolt. “But, that’s not…”
Spreading his thin hands, fingers splayed, Mr. Lux’s eyes bored into hers. “Normal?”
I was going to submit this to a Trifecta writing prompt for “Normal.” The piece had to be between 33 and 333 words. This clocked in at 551. I like it the way it is – I don’t want to cut it. So, no Trifecta again for me this week. Enjoy the story anyway.
I love creepy and Mr. Lux is great!
Thanks! I like him too.
Ha….I can’t help but picture Mr. Lux as the groundskeeper from the Harry Potter movies….
I was actually picturing him as the preacher from the Poltergeist movies, but Mr Filch will do too.
sometimes when i read stories, my mind will put background music to it because i can see it so clearly. this one begs to be scored by nick cave and the bad seeds. i have always been a fan of what seems like the sometimes lost art form of short stories; people don’t always realize how hard it is to write them well. i love the way that somehow your writing jumps to life for me in a paragraph or two, and that when Mr. Lux says ‘Hrm’ i know just what it would sound like. awesome…
Thanks, Shannon! I always have some fun trying to come up with ways for characters to vocalize without words, hopefully telling a bit about them by the sounds they make.
See? Now that everyone is sharing their visions, I have to, too. Mr. Lux: The Swede from “Hell on Wheels.” The music? Something dark and odd from Tom Waits.
Anyone tall and thin. Lol. That guy from Hell on Wheels is awesome. Is that show coming back? I kinda liked it.
Season two starts up soon. Mark and I just gorged ourselves on the first season in preparation. Thus the Swede on my mind.
Awesome!
Definitely some weird insomnia action going on in my world. Last night, (3 a.m. ish), I was catching up on some blog reading. I read a piece on self-publishing (which I shared on the Studio30 Plus Facebook page), then a post or two later, I read my former student’s blog (she’s a certified funeral director who works for the Medical Examiner’s office in southern Missouri — fascinating stuff). If you’re interested in reading her tales, let me know and I’ll get you the link.
Two posts later? I read yours. Publishing and death combined again.
I had to shake myself to make sure I hadn’t fallen asleep and dreamed the whole combination.
Love the character of Mr. Lux. He’s sinister, yet I can picture an ornery twinkle in his eye…one that hides just a bit of mirth within his usually unapproachable self.
Funny the neat things that happen when we can’t sleep. Glad you like Mr. Lux. I have a feeling we’ll see him again.
This was so engaging and descriptive I was hoping to read more. You cut the story short and I’m screaming cause there is so much more to tell! It’s not often one finds a story that reads different as this one does….
This was started as a writing prompt that could be no more than 333 words. This came in at 551. I didn’t want to cut it any shorter, but the shortness was deliberate. I like the character of Mr Lux and I think we’ll see more of him in the future.
This has the makings of a longer piece. Great character Mr. Lux.
I think I might re-visit Mr Lux at some time int he future.
Interesting. He’s a creepy sounding guy but I almost feel sorry for him. He seems like he’s trying hard to be someone other than who he is.
Mr Lux knows exactly who he is. He’s a mortician who talks to dead people.
reading these comments finally nailed who this character reminded me of – not a copy of the character, but someone from the same clan – Mr. Ibis, the mortician from Neil Gaiman’s American Gods (for my money, one of the best books ever written). i believe it’s becoming a necessity for you to bring this character back, because he is stuck in my head like an old friend….
I agree, American Gods is one of my favorite books but it never occurred to me the similarity to Mr Ibis. I’m pretty sure Mr Lux will be popping in and out of here for a while.
Hey man, I really liked this story and you left it wide open for more chapters…. very cool. I have to say the title made me think some Superman tie in, but I was pleasently surprised. Well done.