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Friday, May 24, 2013

When you gotta go...

Four years ago today—I died.

It wasn't a big deal. Before...before I died I mean...I read they'd discovered it's possible to bring someone back a long time after they're dead.

Something about cooling the body down. Hours later they can bring that person back.

The big question they had to answer then, of course, is where does that person's mind, consciousness, soul if you will, go?

I mean. No brain activity. No heartbeat. Where do they go?

Now I know. They come here.

I was hiking. Yeah, I know. Winter. Nothing had ever happened before so I thought...you know how it is. I fell. Felt like I broke my leg. After that, it wasn't so bad. Kind of like falling asleep.

Now I'm here. It's not much to look at, I know. I've walked all down that path there, along the cliff by the ocean. Haven't found a way down, not safe anyway, to the beach. I'm still figuring out the rules. I know some of them.

I'm guessing I died in the snow and so ended up here. My body is preserved by the cold.

Like that iceman they found in the Alps. The caveman, you know? He'd been dead a long, long time. He'd figured out the important rules.

I met him once. Then he died.

I haven't seen him since. That's one of the rules. You die here, you stay dead.

The other rule I'm certain about is that there's only room for one here. I've been everywhere and there's no one else. Well sometimes...from time to time. Like you.

You see, I'm hoping I can get back. That someone'll find me, my body I mean. Yeah, I know it's been a long time. But you gotta have hope, right?

I don't know what's beyond here, if anything. But I sure know where we came from. And I want to go back.

There's the problem. I have to stick around if there's a chance to get back.

And...well, you can feel it, can't you? A fading, right in your center. Then it's alright again.

It's not alright. When you stop fading, I start.

And that's a problem. I have to stay. And you...you have to go. I can't risk fading before they find me.

So, here's the cliff. At least you're going to get to the beach. I never did.

26 comments:

  1. I DID comment here...where'd it go? It must have fallen off that cliff and now it's lying on the beach getting sand kicked over it. ;)
    Anyway, what I said was this is deliciously, delightfully evil - in a pragmatic, sensible way...or something to that effect.

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    1. "...deliciously, delightfully evil..."

      What a compliment from show who has Jezebel running about her home!

      Glad you enjoyed it, Laura.

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  2. I love the hint of humor, nicely dark. Nicely done.

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    1. Glad you enjoyed this. "...nicely dark..." - my favorite color! :)

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  3. LOL kind of creepy, kind of funny. Does she get rid of all the other ghosts?

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    1. The beach...or at least the cliff above the beach. At least that's what I think.

      Glad you enjoyed it.

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  4. Oh I feel so sorry for him, I hope his body does get found! ^_^

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    1. I hope so too, Helen. If only to have him stop filling up the beach with the others! :)

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  5. Oh so creepy! I got chills.

    Jai

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    1. Creepy! Glad I hit the mark, Jai.

      Thanks for your comment.

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  6. What a rotten trick. First you die, then you get killed AGAIN in the afterlife by some guy on top the cliff with an overdeveloped sense of entitlement.

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    1. It's bad, isn't it, Tony.

      But he wants to go home. That excuses everything, doesn't it? :)

      Thanks for stopping by.

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  7. Oh, that's such a dirty trick. If they're bored, THEY should jump off the cliff!

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    1. I agree, but I doubt the main character does.

      Thanks for the read and the comment.

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  8. Very creepy close! I don't like that hollow feeling it wants to give me!

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    1. No, not a nice feeling at all. Glad the 'creepy' came through.

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  9. Fabulous voice in this Kevin, and I love the twist, excellent story!

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    1. Happy you loved the twist, Deanna. I had fun with it, glad you did too.

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  10. intriguing - I love speculative life after death fiction and you added to the idea pool on it with this tory

    marc nash

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    1. Glad you enjoyed it, Marc. Thanks for the comment.

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  11. He does have an interesting way of thinking. Logically dark, too ;)

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    1. Yes, Estrella, the horror of calm logic - and entitlement, as Tony mentioned.

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  12. Do you suppose that eventually enough bodies will pile up that he can climb down to the beach on them? [Seems like an appropriately dark comment for this piece....] ;-)

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    1. A perfectly dark comment for this piece, Tim. Many thanks for that. It's perfect.

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  13. I almost think his chances of getting back fade each time he pushes someone off the cliff. Hope, a misguided, powerful emotion, eh?

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    1. Hope can be, Peg. I hadn't thought of the possibility of his chances fading, but there's some poetic justice there.

      Thanks for the comment.

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