Short Stories

Stuck in the Gray

Grayson Torres: Tales from the Afterlife

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What do you think happens when you die? Do you go to Heaven? Or maybe you're just gone from existence? Guess that depends on what you believe in.

I don't believe in anything. Well I did once upon a time, but that landed me here. Dead.

Yep, I died. Wanna know what I found?

There are two options after you die. The first is you go into the afterlife. I have no idea what is in the afterlife because I landed myself in the second option. I'm stuck in the in-between, not apart of the living world but not part of the afterlife either.

I'm stuck in a sort of gray area. Story of my life. Insert eye roll here.

The in-between is for those who have unfinished business in life. I fit right in cause I have a shit ton of unfinished business.

Another perk of the in-between is that we can see everything that goes on in life. We can stand next to people we once knew, walk through our old house. It's like a one-way mirror. We can see and hear them, but they can't see and hear us.

It's great fun. I get to wander around aimlessly, watching people live the life I deserve to have. The life that was ripped from my grasps. And I had her to thanks.

Oh where are my manners, my name is Grayson Torres and I died as result of joining a selection. Said selection and the princess we were all competing for is the reason I have unfinished business and am stuck in the in-between. Sorry, is my bitterness peeking through.

I'll get into the whole princess thing later. Once I've calmed down.

I think the worse part about being dead and stuck in the in-between is that I got to see how my family reacted. My heart broke when I saw my mom break down. She collapsed on the floor and sobbed until she couldn't breath. I couldn't do anything and it killed me... I couldn't hold her or tell her everything was going to be okay because I was dead!

One good thing did come out of my moms pain, she called my sister. I started crying the moment my sister walked into our house. She hadn't been there in years, must have been weird for her.

She stayed strong when my parents told her I had died. I wanted to scream when she asked how I died and my parents couldn't tell her. They didn't know. I knew but I couldn't tell them.

My family sat down together for dinner. Without me. My mom made my favorite meal, spaghetti. I wanted to be there to tell her how amazing it tasted. But I wasn't.

Reluctantly my sister agreed to stay the night. She went to bed in her own room, but snuck into my room in the middle of the night. I sat next to her as she cried herself to sleep, hugging the old stuffed bear she had bought me.

My sister left the next day but she and my parents stay in contact. She'll come over once a month form family dinner. It hurts, but I join them. I laugh along as my dad recalls stories from work. I cry with them as they talk about old memories of me.

Dying made me realize that I had a good life. It might not have been the best, but it was pretty good. I had two loving parents. My sister was my best friend. I had friend who I knew always had my back. There were plenty of girls that were interested in me.

So why the hell did I get it up for a princess?

That's the question I ask myself every time I see or hear her name. I haven't gone back, I can't handle it. I can't handle watching her be happy with him, forgetting all about me.

I gave up my life for her and she didn't even say goodbye.

It had always been him and I was so naive to think any differently. I should have gotten off that boat when I had the chance.

Thanks to Midnight I'm stuck in this Gray area. Thanks to her I'll never be able to tell her how much I hate her. I'll never be able to tell my parents I love them one last time. And thanks to her I'll never see my sister again.

My life had been a gray area, makes sense my death is as well.