What surprised me was that, after being soaked in the Yellow Hair's potion, my soul could separate from the skeleton due to its free will. Later, I felt it should be some degreasing or bleaching solution.
I was placed in a seated position in his bedroom, on a cool chair near the window. My skeleton was completely cold, but he still dressed me in thick clothes. There were several pots of plants on the windowsill, probably from the south, looking very lush and green. I felt a bit regretful looking at the watering can; he never forgot to water the flowers on time every morning. The writing desk was neatly organized, as was the bed and the inside of the cabinet.
I'm always idle, previously trapped within a corpse and now confined within this bedroom. But at least I have gained something. I am a man, I double-checked that... Once the soul separated from the body, attempting to rejoin it would reveal that the bones were indeed a bit shorter. I wasn't sure if that counted as good news.
Each morning, I witnessed him kissing the remaining bones on the female corpse's cheek, tending to the plants, using the restroom, leaving at seven in the morning, not returning at noon, and coming home at seven in the evening. Sometimes he would sit with the corpse at night and read a book, other times he read alone. At ten in the evening, he would kiss that piece of bone again.
It was the first time I realized that men aren't fickle creatures.
If someone treated me like that, would I give up on my sexual orientation by nature? As I looked at the photograph of him and another man on the nightstand, I turned to glance at the mirror behind me, but I could not see my reflection.
At night, I still returned to the corpse to sleep. After all, I cannot touch anything apart from this and the time for me to return to the corpse was getting earlier and earlier. I could sit and read a bit of the book or indirectly feel his kisses. Sometimes he would say a few words to me, usually along the lines of, "It's okay if you don't talk to me, I know you won't leave me." I heard it loud and clear, and sometimes I even thought he could truly see my soul. However, sometimes when I roamed around the room, his attention would still remain on the corpse.
Was I getting jealous of my former body? No, I deny it.
Yellow Hair visited once later. He stared down at the corpse condescendingly. From an outsider's perspective, his eyes were filled with disdain, his eyebrows furrowed tightly, and his body tense. He hugged the corpse briefly, though not in a friendly manner. I guessed he wanted to throw the body out of the window, but he refrained.
After that, no more visitors came. I looked out of the window and saw a small garden. A few children were always sitting on the ground there, playing with marbles or picture postcards. I never thought these old-fashioned gadgets still had children playing them. Their mother would lean out of the window, shouting their names to remind them to wash their hands and eat. Usually, at this time he should also have returned. Just a few days ago, I found out his name from the cover of a book. His name is Lu Nan.
When he returned home that evening, he seemed very happy. I didn't know where he had found an old TV set, the kind with a lump behind it. "I've been thinking that you must be bored all alone at home. What do you like to watch?" he fiddled with the TV and turned to ask me. His movements paused for a moment, then he turned back and continued with a cheerful tone, "Let's put on a children's channel for you. You like watching cartoons. We can watch movies together when I come back in the evening."
He was still very cheerful, sitting relaxedly on the chair, hugging me tightly. I shrank inside the bones, and I saw the corners of his mouth curve upwards, but his eyes seemed unfocused. I also wanted to hug him. After being dead for so many years, I felt sad for the first time.
Why did I have to die?
The author has something to say:
The complete self-narration is coming to an end... I hope it won't continue with "my" thoughts throughout the rest of the story... From now on, there will be interactions between "me" and him, probably in the next one or two chapters.
YOU ARE READING
The Lost Corpse
Cerita PendekI died. My body turned into white bones and he still found me. Plot summary: I decayed into white bones under a tree, but one day I was unexpectedly brought home by a man. His name is Lu Nan. He believes that I'm his lover who disappeared after a ca...
