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The Red Parade


Cars are still parked outside. If the rapture had happened, why was it unrecognizable? Why was the sky blue? Why did no one tell me? Do these things not announce themselves?

T

Dr. Tenderheart has done this job long enough to know what death means. But nobody noticed, and nobody cared. So she pressed on.


Quills and Sofas Panic Fiction entry for a Rob Panic. The prompt was 'naked on the beach.' 2nd place winner. Like what you see? Come join us! Content warning: death.

Chapters (1)
Comments ( 32 )
ROBCakeran53
Moderator

Beautiful. Honestly.

10435819
Just like you :)

Thanks Rob

I am very much regretting the fact that Fimmy fic doesn't have the :yesintensifies: emote. Seriously. Beautiful writing, as always. Good job, Red.

Really beautiful.

10435924
Thanks! Glad you liked it! ^^

Mica #7 · Sep 16th, 2020 · · 1 ·

I do wonder if changing this from fan fiction to original fiction would detract from the story at all.

10436330
I'm not sure lol but it's interesting to think about

This has beautiful prose. I loved every second of it!

Not sure, but is the title a Buffy reference?

Death takes everyone, and it is up to them to decide if they want to be remembered or if they want people to care. If you do, a small thing is all you need for love.

Honestly, this fic shows the troubles of people that work with death as a job, beautiful prose!

The last two lines are such an effective ending. They focus all that pain and creeping nihilism into a concise and coherent "why?" A lot of fics about death ask the same question, but their "why" statement is much less effective in their respective context.

Thank you for sharing! 😁

10436876

Thank you! ^^


10436908

Not intentionally, the title comes from the chorus of Early Sunsets Over Monroeville by My Chemical Romance.


10436935

Indeed. Thanks for reading!


10437291

Thanks man, glad you liked it! ^^

clicked for the title
...
you know why, it's a good song

10437546
No zombies in this fic sadly

10437584

HOnestly, this title remeinded me of this song. It's by Citizen Soldier. It's titled "Would Anyone Care?"

10437662

Interesting, but that wasn't the song I was thinking of. Thanks for sharing though!

This is so good.

Seriously.

Stories like this are why I love this site.

Thank you.

10438271

aw thanks man glad you liked it ^^

Huh, so this is the result of working at a hospital too long.

10438983
Morgue, actually, she's a mortician/medical examiner primarily.

10439000
Oh, it was a little hard to know that.

10439010
The story starts with

Sitting in the morgue at night is a different feeling.

so I don't know what to tell you mate, plus hospital workers don't respond to dead bodies on the beach

10439016
I didn’t know that. Also, I got confused because I the picture she has the hat with the hospital logo on it.

You told this story exceptionally. Dr. Tenderheart's position is a grave one (no pun intended), and the way you described her work and routine really makes you wonder whether anyone does care. I love it when a work of fiction makes you think deeply. Nicely done. :)

And in one story you won me over. I am adding you to the authors I follow.

This story was moving.

10476645
Thanks, glad you liked it so much ^^

It's hard to perfectly put how much I enjoyed this short story, but I think I can start to ascertain my feelings with the sense of detached awe the prose gives off. A grizzled veteran of a coroner, a starry sky, a misplaced seagull, and a soul long gone. These make up the four cornerstones of this excellent piece, and like corners, they're all far from each other but connected all the same. Each does a stellar job in holding the story up to a towering height. The line which gave this story its namesake, 'did anyone notice, did anyone care?' made me audibly gasp.

That hollow feeling like Tenderhoof knew there should be some tears shed, some heartache endured, some sense of mourning for that unknown body on the beach, but that it couldn't be her, was a soul-touching experience. You didn't use a lot of words to convey this genuine desensitization, but each one you employed was a brick in a bridge from a premise to a perfectly executed finished product. This was nothing short of fantastic Red, and it's clear how this story claimed success!

Show me what you've got...

Hello there!
Your story has been reviewed by the Reviewers' Mansion, you can find it here!

Tenderheart stiffens a yawn..

A stiff yawn sounds.. unpleasant. Should be 'stifles'.

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