She was still nodding like a toy dog in the back window of a fastmoving car when Father Swindells went on to talk about the parable of the ten virgins though he didn’t say virgins of course. Bridesmaids was the word he used or was it girls? I can’t exactly remember. Whatever it was it wasn’t virgins because he knew that that particular word was one that should only be used in mixed company when it referred to the mother of Jesus. Otherwise, taboo.
“The bridegroom was late coming if you remember and the five foolish bridesmaids hadn’t taken the precaution of having enough extra oil for their lamps. Of course the other five bridesmaids, the wise ones, had plenty to spare but wouldn’t part with it when the foolish ones found that their lamps were dry.”
Disobliging bitches I was thinking when the door swung open and Willie Henry McGillycuddy stood swaying and surveying all before him. He quickly spotted me and hastened forward to shake my hand, face wreathed in sympathy.
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The Wake - Table of contents
HumorTHE YEAR is 1968 and the Swinging Sixties are still swinging - though not in Ireland. But wait! An old woman dies in a northern Irish town and her wake becomes a rendezvous for lesbians, bisexuals and political revolutionaries. And in there among t...
