2744. Under the table
© Bruce Goodman 4 June 2023


Morag knew something was wrong when she discovered her grandmother’s body under the dining table. It was as if grandmother had been hiding there. A large tablecloth draped down over the sides of the table hiding anything underneath. That is why it took a while to discover where grandmother was. Possibly she had crawled there to escape some sort of danger. There she had a fatal heart attack – through fear – or something like that; although her head seemed quite bruised.

Morag had spent half an hour wandering the house calling for her grandmother. She never gave a thought that she would be under the table. She looked in all the rooms, including the kitchen pantry. She looked (and called) in every outside building, including the little woodshed. No grandmother was to be found. Morag often called in to see her grandmother. “You are my favourite grandchild and when I go you get the weaving machine that was my own mother’s.” Of course, given the current circumstance, a weaving machine was the last thing on Morag’s mind.

Morag didn’t want to call the police immediately. It had only been thirty minutes or so. Grandmother could have wandered over to chat with a neighbour, or popped down to the corner shop. That was why Morag didn’t call the police immediately. She filled in a further hour by vacuuming the living room and bedrooms. It was while vacuuming the dining space that she discovered her grandmother’s corpse under the table.

The hour or so had given Morag time to compose herself enough to return the frozen leg of lamb to the freezer.

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