I straightened a little and cleared my throat, assuming the role of the storyteller. This one couldn’t be rushed. I had to tell it good.

“Okay. Legend has it that there was this undertaker, a really weird dude.”

“Most undertakers are weird,” Kevin muttered, his back still to me.

“But this guy was extra weird. Real skinny, real tall. He lived in the basement of the funeral home where he worked and he never left. For a long time people left him alone and didn’t bother him unless, you know, someone they knew died. Then they used his services. And he was pretty good at it. Even though he was weird, people said he could make their dead family members look almost like they were ready to get up out of their caskets and walk away.”