Day 30 of my 2023 drabble-a-day challenge! Here is today’s drabble…
A Desert End
To remain with the desert, a feast in the hot dunes. That's what Athan always wanted. Yet his wife would hear none of it: a box, she said. A box of polished wood and velvet, to shut Athan up for eternity.
"Ma'am, Athan would have..."
"I'm not having him torn apart by those vile things."
On the outskirts of camp, smelling death, the expectant ghouls shuffled their feet in the sand.
He made sure the box was weighted correctly. He attended the funeral she held.
Then, under the new moon, he allowed the ghouls to bear his best friend away.
It’s definitely spooky season, so I thought it was time to visit ghouls. From everyone’s favourite website, I have learned that ghouls sometimes have origins in the desert. There’s a particularly lovely bit of Islamic lore which says ghouls are devils who tried to fly to the heavens but were burned by comets.
Anyway, today’s drabble is not based on “real” tradition in any sense. I just liked the idea of ghouls being viewed in a slightly more positive light (at least by some).