Say Hello to the Geese

Brother is mad about birds. And he’s ill. So ill that Sister is afraid he’s going to die. Since he wants to know what happens if you die, Sister invents the Land of Yesterday, where today goes when tomorrow comes, where all wonderful memories are, and where you fly to, light as a feather, if Death comes to fetch you, along with the birds. Their dead dog Bobby is happy there too, so they decide to throw a party for the anniversary of his death. But an uninvited guest shows up: Death, whose birthday it is. Sister knows he’ll take Brother with him when he leaves, so she tries to make the party last as long as possible.

Despite the subject and the eventual death of Brother, ‘Say Hello to the Geese’ bathes in a warm and comforting atmosphere. Death is not a frightening character but more of a sorrowful clown, used to everything around him going wrong and falling apart. The comic relief this supplies, and the ‘scuse me’ that awkward Death keeps mumbling, evoke great sympathy. In pastel oils and coloured pencils, Lot Vandekeybus surrounds Sister and Brother with colourful birds that contrast with the pale Death in his chequered jacket. Melancholy and poetic, funny and sad, ‘Say Hello to the Geese’ is a moving story about the inevitable.