Integrity Funeral Home - In the Middle of the Covid-19 Pandemic

Crystal walked up to the front doors of the old building and looked around, taking in the majesty of the craftsmanship, and the feel of everything that happens behind the door. This was the first day of her new job, and what felt like the start of something new. She reached out and grasped the door tightly and gave a large tug, released the large wooden panel from its jam and reveling the soft and sensitive decor that lay beyond it. A gentle fragrance of cinnamon and vanilla welcomed Crystal to her new life.

"Hello?" she said softly to the void, her voice echoing down the hallway.

"Oh Hi!" a cheerful voice responded, and a middle aged woman emerged from an office near her, "You must be Crystal! Such a pleasure, I am Amelia, Office Manager, come dear and let me show you your desk!"

'Oh, this is my new boss then.' Crystal thought to herself, "Oh wonderful! I am so excited to meet everyone and get to work!"

Amelia gave a brief smile and escorted her to the reception desk, "We have a daily meeting at 8:30, always be prepared for notes. Later I will give you a tour, but for now, go ahead and settle in, lets get you logged into the computer and we can run over a few basics, and welcome, to Integrity Funeral Home."

The morning quickly ticked by as Crystal dug through the desk to get a feel where everything was at, Amelia popped her head around the corner and gave her a wink,

"Meeting time! lets to introduce you to the directors."

"Sounds good! how many people work here?"

"Well me and you is two, then we have a Managing partner, and two directors, and two gentlemen who set up peoples pre-needs, that's when people are still alive and have paid ahead for the services."

"Small bunch then huh?"

"Yes we are a small, but close knit group."

"Thats kind of wonderful, it actually gives people the chance to get to know one another and work well as a family."

"That is what we strive for actually, we like being a family. Sometimes we do fun things like having picnics and bbqs." Amelia directed Crystal down a hallway and through a set of double doors, reviling the back area, which seemed much more run down, versus the pretty classical front. Bright colored caskets lined up the hallway, they were careful not to scratch them as they made their way to a conference room.

"Welcome to the Family!" a loud voice rang out, startling Crystal and causing her to give a small yip.

everyone gave a chuckle as Amelia introduced the group, "Ok, here we have Sarah, she is our Managing Partner, and our directors Mathew and Franklin." Crystal gave a small waive and grabbed a seat by Franklin.

The bubbly Sarah leaned in "We are so glad to have you on board! we have not had a decent administrative assistant in years, and could really use someone with you skill sets."

Crystal smiled, "I am glad to be here, a Funeral Home is a slightly different industry than I am use to, but I am not new to professional buildings, and Administrative work."

"Awesome, that is amazing to hear, alright guys lets get cracking."

As the weeks started ticking by, a few things became very clear to Crystal, like the differences of personalities and thoughts on how things should be run. She didn't dare whisper a word about the groups of people she would see roaming around the home, or the little old lady, who commonly would be seen laying in a casket in the show room, of course, she wasn't sure if anyone else knew these people were there, or any of the other things she had seen walking around. She noticed Amelia seemed to put herself at odds with the other people, and constantly saying things like,

"that's now how we have done it for eleven years." or "I have been here as a manager for fifteen years." but the one that always bothered Crystal, was every conversation with Amelia started with, "I am your boss and you need to remember that."

Crystal had worked in worse environments, and she viewed if that was the worst of her experiences, then she could easily tolerate that.

When she Crystal started, it was what everyone thought was the end of the dreaded Covid-19 Pandemic, but it turned out, that moment was just the eye of the storm. The further into the year she went, the more the bodies were piling up, and fighting ensued between families. Crystal could not believe the day they had to call the cops because an actual physical altercation broke out between a family over whether or not Covid was real, or a government conspiracy, when in fact, the loved one of the family had just passed of nothing other than Covid. The busier the business got, the more active the spirits became, and the more Crystal saw things.

One day Crystal was typing up numerous obits, and the frisky spirit children were starting to bug her, it became common things for her touch screen monitor to start randomly opening windows and programs, pausing videos, moving the courser, and erasing things, and today, she had enough.

"Please Stop!" she said exasperated, "I have to get this typed out!" little giggles responded to her.

"Ya know they aint gonna stop right? kids will be kids." a soft voice came from behind her, a small twinge of an Irish accent behind it, "And, I know you can hear me, you aint like those other folks."

Crystal turned around, to find a tall and slender young woman standing behind her, light red curly hair tied back tightly in a bun, with a few strands of hair left to frame her almost gaunt face. Crystal stared for a moment and took in the woman, her pretty floral frock that hung about to mid calf length, cinched tight at the waist.

"Aye, I am talking to you missy." she said with a smile

"I'm sorry, I am just not used to spirits actually acknowledging me and speaking to me."

She scoffed at Crystal, "Maybe you were not sure of your own power by that point, But being here, you have provided enough power for some of us to feel alive again. Names Kathryn, I have been in this building since the start."

"I'm Crystal, and what do you mean since the start?"

"I was one of the first to be done in this building, back when the family purchased the building from that disgusting molester."

"Their are some harsh feelings I take it?" Crystal leaned forward

"Aye, there are. Over a hundred years ago, this building held what was the top of the line frocks, dresses and accessory's for women. No one thought anything about how the business was strictly geared to a modern younger girl, no men's clothes, no older woman's adornments, nothing for an expecting mother, nothing. I tell ya, I shopped there regularly! He always had the most amazing things, and if I brought my wee little sister with me, Mr. Frank gave me a hefty discount. Didn't dawn on me what was happening, all I knew, was with that discount, I could afford to remain stylish on my allowance."

Crystal stared at her in awe for a moment and shook her head, looking around to make sure no one had come up yet. "Continue.."

"Well, I had no problems bringing my wee sister with me, especially since my parents always insisted I take her everywhere, while we were not poor, we were not wealthy by any means, and thus could not afford to hire help to care for my sister. Father worked all day, and Mother would try to help by doing a bit of sewing, you know, darning gentlemen's socks for women who could not sew, hemming trousers, patching up skirts and knickers, minor things that were quick. I took Abigail everywhere with me, and it did drain me emotionally, cause I could not really hang out with friends. But with my savings from Mr. Frank, I would usually get her some ice cream for being good."

"So you and her were close then?" Crystal questioned

"Aye, we were. She was my only sister, I cherished that pest."

"That sounds like most siblings." Crystal giggled

"One winter, it were especially cold, and I decided to head down to the shoppe for some thick and warm frocks. Abigail followed behind me rambling on about things, and I ain't gonna lie, I hardly listened to her, but something she said caught my ear, and I turned to her, and told her to repeat what she said..."

"What did she say??"

"That Mr. Frank likes to take her in the back room, and will give her candy if he can give her a hug, and that he had told her next time she came in, he would let her pick her own fabric and he will make her, her very own dress, if he can help her put it on."

"That does not sound good at all!" Crystal gasped

"Aye, it does not. I decided then I did not need a dress, and told her I forgot I didn't have any money for it, and that we had to turn around and go home." Kathryn twisted a lock of her hair around her delecate finger and sighed, "I am getting tired..."

"Oh, running out of energy? I am not sure there is anything I can do to give you a boost, I would like to hear the rest."

"Next time love, next time. You will find, there are a lot of us here who have a story to tell." Kathryn slowly was starting to become transparent "I'll be back again soon, and I will continue my story."

Crystal blinked for a second and Kathryn was gone, she rubbed her eyes, trying to sort out everything that had just happened, It hadn't taken very long at all, but she felt so drained. Amelia walked up to the desk with a couple papers in her hand, and a sad look on her face.

"Amelia, whats wrong?"

"We just got three more calls, all Covid positive. I have a strange feeling that this is going to pick up again."

"oh boy, with the first round did it get bad?"

"Not to terribly bad, we were slightly busier, but we had to shut down and no services were done in person; but I have a much worse feeling about this."

"Me too..."