Last Will and Testament by Karl Kramer

The lawyer walked in the musty old mansion and headed toward the den which had the large portrait of the now deceased Wilma Cartwright on display. Mary and her two daughters were standing next to it crying fake tears as nephew Donald sat on the back chairs. The lawyer made a noise with his throat to get everyone's attention to read the last will and testament of Wilma. There were only four chairs as the maid stood in the back of the room to watch the proceedings. Donald noticed her and offered her his chair but she shook her head no.

Mary sneered at both Donald and the maid as she seemed to know what exactly was in the will. The lawyer took out the documents and read a few legalese statements before going on to the matter of who got what. "To my maid insert name here I give one month's severance pay." The maid walked up to the lawyer and grabbed something to throw it on the ground but was stopped by Donald.

"I worked my ass off for that crazy old bat for over thirty yearsand all she gives me is one month's pay? She didn't even remember my name! I had to cut her sandwiches into shapes and clean the bathroom her special way." Donald tried to calm down the woman but she stormed out of the room. The lawyer looked up and then continued with the reading of the will. "To my greedy nephew Donald who is the executive of my estate I leave one penny." Donald smiled and nodded at the lawyer before tipping his hat to the photograph.

"Wilma, you always were sweet with me even in death." He then nodded for the lawyer to continue with the reading. "I leave $50 million to the local cat and dog shelters around this tri state area. Donald did tell me to do something smart with some of my money and I never cared for pets. But they at least aren't greedy like people can be." The lawyer seemed to want to laugh at times when he read what Wilma had written but kept his composure.

"Now for the charming niece Mary and her two lovely daughters. I leave you the rest of my estate including this house. You both visited me and even though I know you hated me it was a kind gesture on your part." Mary and her two daughters jumped up for joy and began to dance a jig until they noticed the lawyer staring at them. He then read some more legalese and left the house with Donald escorting him. Donald returned to see Mary going through the piles of old newspapers in the main living area.

"That maid didn't do a very good job. As for you Donald, I want you to vacate that nice property overseeing the bay as we plan on moving into it." Donald looked at the three women and burst out laughing. "That is my house as I own it. I am very wealthy in my own right and never wanted a dime of Aunt Wilma's money. As the will states, you get the house and the rest of her money which now equals zero. She gave all of her money to the animal shelters instead of your greedy hands." Mary grabbed several magazines and threw them on the floor as she screamed for Donald to get out.

"Oh, good luck in selling this termite infested dump. No maintenance was done in decades and it is falling apart. Also, there are more than enough liens against this property so you won't see a penny from it." Donald left as he heard the crashing of objects on the floor. He walked up to the crying maid and put his arms around her.

"There, there, Lila. I will give you a nice monthly stipend for the rest of your life so you can have a nice retirement. I also have plenty of tickets to those cruises so you can visit anywhere in the world." Lila smiled as she wiped away the tears.

"What happened to that beautiful woman in the photograph, Mr Donald?"

"She never really existed, Lila. She never really existed."