Anna wiped her eyes with yet another tissue, unable to stop the steady stream of tears. She never knew why she did this to herself. After all, Marley and Me was the only movie to make her a sobbing mess.
Meanwhile, her husband, Todd, seemed perfectly content.
“What’s wrong, hunny?” he asked, tilting his head.
Anna stared at him like he was a psychopath. She had never met anyone who wasn’t saddened by the movie, much less smiling.
“Um,” she paused. “Did you not see the movie?”
He nodded.
“Of course I did.”
“Why aren’t you sad?”
The look of confusion on Todd’s face increased, even more perplexed.
“Why would I be sad?” he asked. “It was a cute movie about a man and his dog. Nothing bad about that.”
“But you know Marley died right?”
He shrugged.
“And? He’ll be back.”
Anna stopped crying, now the one confused. She stared at her husband while she attempted for a coherent to his sentence.
“That’s not how death works…” she said, throwing her tissue away. “Once it happens, there’s no reversing it.”
Todd scrunched his nose as if smelling something foul.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Anna scanned him before answering, looking for some indication that he was joking. But she saw nothing.
“How do you not know what death is? You’re twenty-eight years old.”
“Well excuse me for not knowing your fancy-smancy medicine words. Some of us aren’t doctors around here.”
“It’s English.”
“Oh, I knew that,” he stammered. When he continued, his voice was just short of a whisper. “So what does it mean?”
“Did you ever have a hamster or small pet when you were a kid?”
“Of course,” Todd smiled. “Mr. Squiggles and I were the best of friends.”
“And he left one day, right?”
“Yeah, Mom said he had to go live on a farm somewhere. I tried to keep in contact but it never worked. Hamsters can be so busy.”
Anna placed a hand on his arm, looking in the eyes. She never thought she would have to give the death speech so early, especially to her husband.
“Todd, he died. He never went to a farm. That’s why you could never hear from him again.”
Todd laughed, slapping her hand playfully.
“That’s a good one!” he exclaimed. “I suppose you think that my grandmother didn’t actually fulfill her lifetime dream of becoming a spy ten years ago, either. She had to cut all ties with the family so we wouldn’t be liabilities.”
“She died, too,” Anna said, averting her gaze. She didn’t have the gall to look him in the eye while warping his reality.
But Todd didn’t make it any easier.
“That’s stupid,” he said, shaking his head. “I bet you’re gonna say that Marley wasn’t just hibernating in that box. You think he died too, don’t you?”
“He did…”
Tood stood from the couch giving Anna a sharp look. He clenched his fists, his face turning red.
“I’m done with this this stupid game you’re playing,” he barked. “I’m trying to confuse me with this “death” thing. If you want to stop acting like a jerk, I’ll be playing Mortal Kombat in our room.”