Clark was an excellent make up artist, and it was obvious he took great care with his work as he sponged foundation on the woman's face. He contoured her cheekbones, plucked stray hairs from her eyebrows, and carefully filled in her lips with a delicate pink lipstick a few shades lighter than the pink of her dress; getting her hair just right had been more of a challenge, but the end result was a soft wave around her face that was quite becoming to her.
As he stepped back to check his work, the door to the room opened and a man in a navy suit leaned into the room, saying, "Is she ready?"
Clark nodded his head, and the two men gently lifted the woman, Clark slipping one arm under her neck and shoulders, the other under her lower back, being careful not to muss her hair or make up, and the other man sliding his arms beneath her hips and knees, and they laid her in the waiting casket; Clark smoothed the woman's dress and with one finger pushed a lock of hair off her forehead before quietly bringing down the lid.
"You spent a lot of time on her when she didn't even have any family or friends that would claim her," said the man.
"Maybe so," Clark replied, rolling the casket towards the doorway and the waiting coach, "but once, she was somebody's baby girl," and the other man nodded solemnly as they processed slowly out of the mortuary.
Linking up with Denise at Girlie On The Edge's Blog for Six Sentence Stories with the prompt "foundation"
Wow. Loved this take of yours. Beautiful. 'But once, she was somebody's baby girl' had me tearing up.
ReplyDeleteThank you so very much!
DeleteShoot - my eyes have welled up - Blink! Blink! 😊
ReplyDeleteThank you! I teared up writing it!
Delete"aww shucks, I done just what any man worth his salt woulda done." (fictional character all too often in the modern world)
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you would be da bomb at hair and make up!
DeleteMost excellent on the use of Clark, I'm tempted often to do so. And this was a tear jerker, my eyes water enough already!!!
ReplyDeleteVery nice last paragraph.
ReplyDeleteThank you! It's always something to remember when you see someone who is down and out.
DeleteA beautiful and tender take. I totally thought they were in the movies, and the navy suit man was an agent or stage manager, then it dawned...
ReplyDeleteI was hoping someone would think that! Thank you!
DeleteMan, you had me going! Nicely done, Dyanne :)
ReplyDeleteLove reading your Sixes :D
Thank you, sis! xxxooo
DeleteThey're a couple of real gentlemen. It's good that you referred to her as 'her' and 'the woman' rather than 'the body' or 'the deceased' because although it was confusing for a second, it really reinforced the point he was trying to make, that she was sombeody's baby girl.
ReplyDeleteThanks! My father in law was a funeral director, and my husband worked as one for a few years, and I have always been impressed with the respect and dignity that funeral directors have for the human body. They always refer to them as Mr. or Mrs., and they deal with people at one of the worst times of their lives. It's definitely a calling.
DeleteI'm not crying....ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜
ReplyDeleteMe, either!
Delete