Tears in the Stars

Return of the Dead?

I'm in a morgue. Standing here. Seeing my body on a table. I look like Hell. My hair, which is still wet from the rain, is matted against my face. On my physical body that is. I touch my cheek. Cold as ice. "What's your problem, dammit?" I yell at myself. No use. Wait, I've seen this is a show. I climb up on the table and lay on top of my dead body. I don't come back to life. I don't magically sink down into my body and shoot off the table, taking a deep, gasping breath. I start getting angry. I jump down and kick the cold, steel table. It shakes. Did that really just happen? I moved it?

"Yes, you moved it," I hear an old, dry voice say. "You can only move things out of anger." I turn around quickly, hitting the table again. It doesn't move this time. There stands a man. Probably in his eighties. He's by his own body. Just like me, he's transparent. "You can see other dead." he states. I nod. "How old are you sweetheart?" He asks. I stare, and he raises his eyebrows. "S-sorry. Uh, sixteen." He shakes his head. "Well now, you must be a good'un. They always die young." I manage a small grin. "What'd ya miss out on?" I pick at the side of the table, looking at the floor. I shrug and shake my head.

The old man nods. "A lot. You missed out on a lot. It's hard, I tell ya." I look at him. He had a life, just like I do. And he died, just like me. When you're dead, there's not much seperating you from others. There aren't and cliques. There isn't any racial segregation or hate. You're all dead. I shake my head some more as my eyes fill with tears. "It's just so lonely. And to think that everyone I know who has died has gone through this; standing in front of me without me even knowing it...." I trail off and begin to cry. The old man nods. "My wife of sixty-eight years saw me." My eyes grow wide. "Really?" He smiles. "Really. There is one thing strange to me. I've always been a man of faith. Ain't no Heaven or Hell in this world. Maybe that's the next stop."

He starts to fade away. "No," I shake my head side to side, reaching toward him. "Stay!" I call. I can see the world pull him away to his next destination. My arm flops to my side. "Why..." I whisper to myself. I walk over to the door. I'm tired of all the dead bodies. Of all the loneliness. I push against it. It doesn't open, but I fall through. I try to pass through the building, but for some reason, I can't go outside. It's like there's a barrier. I take the elevator to the top floor and manage to find my way to the roof.

I guess this probably won't work, but I need something. Anything. I hear the cars driving below in the ongiong rain. I step to the edge, letting my see through toes hang over. Spreading my arms wide, I lean forward. I fall. The icy air hits my face and the raindrops pelt me. "Goodbye," I whisper to myself. The wind grows even stronger as I fall farther from the tall building, but again, the streets are ripped away as I'm taken to another place. I'm standing in the grass. It's no longer raining.

The sun is shining, and the grass is soft, but everything still feels cold to me. I hear voices, like people yelling in rhythm. I look around and see a group of people. I know exactly where I am. The old man's words echo in my mind. "What'd ya miss out on?" A lot.