The Old Man and His Will
by Scot Lahaie
William Jefferson Makepeace, age 83, is terminally ill. He has experienced great success in a high-level business career and has amassed a considerable fortune. Unfortunately, he has not enjoyed it and has had no one with whom he could share it. At the end of his life, he summons the four people closest to him for an afternoon tea–his purpose is to read his living will and divide his fortune with them before his illness takes his sanity and autonomy. Not understanding the gravity of the invitation, not even one of his invited guests appear for the reading of the will. Speaking to an empty table, the old man disinherits the four friends and gives his fortune to his servants. He then kills himself in despair.
