Lulu was in the bride room adjusting her veil in the floor-length mirror.
At forty-five, she had finally set a date and was now going to walk down the aisle after a twenty year courtship. Her fiance, Fred, was most delighted after he was told she made up her mind. Her only regret, causing great dismay, was that her parents would not be in attendance. Mom and Dad were off in Africa on safari. Too bad they would have to miss her big day.
She was disappointed, but did not fuss; nothing would ruin her wedding day.
Lulu stepped out of the bride room and stood at the door entering into the church, waiting for her cue. For how long she had waited for this moment, she had every step memorized.
Lulu put her feet forward and started down the aisle in her white flowing gown.
At the altar her groom stood, looking as handsome as he ever did before. Never before had she been this nervous.
Admittedly, she was suffering from cold feet.
Lulu looked straight on ahead, stopping to meet no one's gaze. She feared they might discover her fear. Her fears were plain when considering marriage, like divorce. Mainly it was her fear of living 'til death do us part with the same man.
Lulu thought to herself,
"What if, after I marry Fred, someone better comes along?"
Not the best doubts to have right before proclaiming your devotion to another.
In the midst of her thoughts, Lulu reached the middle of the aisle. The music changed. Instead of the cheerful wedding march, it became a funeral dirge. Lulu slowly looked at the organist. It was not longer her kindly old kindergarten teacher, but a decrepit-looking, decaying corpse of a woman.
Lulu gasped at the horror while shaking the image from her mind. When Lulu looked up, the woman was back to her sweet, silver-haired self.
She smiled happily in Lulu's direction while pressing the keys.
Lulu breathed a sigh of relief once she reached the altar. She took in a deep, luxurious breath. Shyly, she kept her eyes to the floor.
"What took you so long?"
she heard Fred ask.
Lulu turned to look at him. To her horror, he had turned into a frightful, decaying mess. His bones were visible through his worm-betten flesh.
Shrieks of terror escaped from her lips. As Lulu stumbled back toward the pews, she caught a glimpse of the minister and the crowd, and they appeared like Fred also.
They were all just a roomfull of decaying, rotting bodies.
"No, this can't be!"
Lulu covered her face with her hands, but only to discover the nightmare was only just beginning.
As she took her hands away, a pund of flesh pulled from her face. Lulu looked at her hands; her skin was wrinkled and falling off, just like the rest of them.
"No!" Lulu cried,
"This can't be happening!"
Lulu moved further back as the corpses of her friends and once family members encircled her.
"You shouldn't have waited so long, Lulu!" Fred advised.
"'Til death do us part, Lulu!" he cackled wickedly.
His words echoed eerily in her ears as the crowd enveloped her, taking Lulu under. Only her hand was seen sticking out above their heads. Eventually, her hand was pulled down from the crowd, and her cries ceased.
There's no easy way to escape your fears unless you confront them first.
Poor Lulu had to learn this lesson on her big day.
Sometimes when you wait too long,
and after all you love are dead and gone,
You'll be wishing you hadn't taken so long.
