“One Week Off” by G. Halley

Gregory Halley is an aspiring writer based in Washington, D.C., but was raised in northeast Ohio. His previous work includes a flash fiction publication in the Bright Flash Literary Review as well as a self- publication and self-narration of a short story on Amazon and Audible. He has a passion for writing and hopes you enjoy his stories!

G. Halley has been previously featured in the Fall 2023 issue of In Parentheses (Volume 8)

One Week Off

“Eleanor Gertrude Whitman was known by many things to many people. She was a teacher, a mentor, a wife, a grandmother, a great-grandmother. To me, she was Mom. Never before has there been such a caring soul. Mom would stop everything at the drop of a hat if someone needed her help. I can still remember the time I got the stomach flu at college, but since my roommate was out of town, Mom drove two hours from home to look after me. It’s just how she was. It must’ve been genetic, because I see that spark in my daughter, Olivia, all of the time. It must skip a generation.

“I think we were all a little disheartened that Mom passed so close to her 90th birthday. She had that childlike spirit in her. Her great granddaughter, Marissa, loves playing with toys and nobody loved playing with her more than Mom. They listened to the Wiggles together all the time. Because of this, we had been planning for her birthday party to be 9 year-old themed. Bouncy castles, animal balloons, swirly straws, the whole nine yards.

It was going to be a surprise, but I was never good at keeping secrets from her. I know she was very excited for it. She used to tell me that we only have a certain amount of time given to us on this Earth, and it’s foolish to ask for more. That being said, I sure wish she had been able to stick around for just one more week to see her party.”

– From the eulogy of Eleanor Gertrude Whitman, by her son, Harold

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“Dear Eleanor Gertrude Whitman,

“We regret to inform you that your application for the Afterlife Group Activities Committee has been denied. We understand this is regrettable to hear, but we believe newer additions to the afterlife should be more devoted to enjoying what the spirit realm has to offer. The Hill of Endless Meadows is a great place to feel the wind through your fingers. Flight is optional, but many find the act of running to be enough to quite literally keep them grounded. Additionally, the Room of a Billion Puppies is quite popular for newcomers who miss their old pets. Now is not the time to worry about things such as the Group Activities Committee—you no longer have any fiscal or physical needs, and an understanding of the life-afterlife transition is important to have for the Committee. This is only something that can be acquired with time.

“We encourage you to re-apply the next time there is a vacancy. Among the qualified candidates, our selection is ultimately made on seniority. As we believe in complete transparency, we are notifying you that the individual chosen for this vacancy is Tyler Baylor, a former 15 year-old Student Council member at Lance High School who tragically died in a skateboarding accident approximately 6 days before your death. You would have taken his place should you have died one week earlier. Thank you for your time and consideration. You will be notified of any further vacancies.”

– From the Afterlife Group Activities Committee

From the Editor:

We hope that readers receive In Parentheses as a medium through which the evolution of human thought can be appreciated, nurtured and precipitated. It will present a dynamo of artistic expression, journalism, informal analysis of our daily world, entertainment of ideas considered lofty and criticism of today’s popular culture. The featured content does not follow any specific ideology except for that of intellectual expansion of the masses.

Founded in late 2011, In Parentheses prides itself upon analysis of the current condition of intelligence in the minds of these young people, and building a hypothesis for one looming question: what comes after Post-Modernism?

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