Dead Man Walking

[WP] You recently died and became a ghost. Not wanting your friends and family to feel sad about your death, you possessed your corpse and acted like you were still alive. It worked for a while, but your body decomposing is becoming more noticeable and you're running out of ideas for how to hide it.

*****

I couldn't let go.

Not yet.

My wife and daughter needed me. I hadn't seen them more distraught than when they witnessed my body after the car crash. Their tears prevented me from moving on.

"This is a miracle," said the doctor. "I've never seen someone come back to life after so many hours. Seriously, you nearly gave our pathologist a heart attack. A second later and he would've gone through with the autopsy."

I chuckled. "Well, I'm not about to question my good fortune."

"I disagree," said the doctor, "This is exactly what we need to question. Studying you might give us some insight into the phenomenon."

I paused. If they found out I'm a ghost, they would never let me leave this building. It could even escalate into something absurd, like the government turning my corpse into a guinea pig.

"Surely," I said, "this isn't a big deal, right? Can't we just accept it and move on?"

The irony slapped me across the face as soon as the words left my mouth. I couldn't accept my death and move on. Expecting the same from someone else felt hypocritical.

"You don't understand," said the doctor. "You're supposed to be in crippling pain right now. This is defying everything I know about medicine."

"Please," said my wife, "we've been through enough. If he says he feels fine, can't we just leave?"

The doctor nodded. "This isn't jail. Just make sure to come back if anything arises."

We thanked the doctor and left the hospital in high spirits. I had the whole week off work so it served as a great way to bond with my family. Everything came into perspective during that period.

I'd been too busy with my job lately. My daughter had barely spent any time with me these past few months. I didn't even know she had a lead role in her school play. At the very least, I promised to both myself and her that I wouldn't miss it.

Nobody suspected anything for a while.

And then a decomposing smell slowly oozed out of me.

I tried drowning it with perfume, but that only made it worse.

My wife didn't take long to notice it. While in bed, she wrinkled her face in disgust and said:

"Could it be a side-effect?"

"Of what?" I replied.

"Your condition!"

"Oh, right." I feigned ignorance. "It's probably nothing."

"You should go to the doctor. This isn't normal."

"Nah." I waved her off. "I'm fine." My wrist broke with that movement. Shit.

My wife widened her eyes.

"It's okay." I popped my wrist back into place. "It's been happening since the accident. Don't worry; it doesn't hurt."

"You know, I'm happy that you're spending more time home, but I get the feeling that you're hiding something from me. You've never been this... enigmatic."

"What can I say? I'm a changed man. A near-death experience does that to you."

Or a full one.

I tried pretending everything was fine for a few more days. Febreze served as a way to lessen the smell, if only a little bit. I went through a bottle a day in order to mask it. Unfortunately, deep down, we all knew I was living a lie. Even my daughter suspected something was wrong.

One day, after she arrived from school, I tried to lift her up only to feel my spine snap in half.

We both fell to the floor. My daughter was fine and giggled, but I then knew I couldn't keep this up forever. Not without help.

I went back to the doctor and said:

"I need you to embalm me."

The doctor squinted. "Is this a joke?"

I showed him my fractured wrist. "I wish it were, but no, I'm really a ghost."

The doctor couldn't believe it. He ran a series of tests and discovered I was medically dead. The only thing that kept functioning was my brain. He sank deep into his chair and said:

"This shouldn't be possible."

"I know, right?"

"It goes against everything I know about the world. Is there an afterlife? Did you hear or see anything?"

I shook my head. "Nothing of the sort. Who knows. I might just disappear if I leave this body."

"You know, embalming won't stop decomposition. It'll only slow it down."

"And?"

"This isn't a solution. If you keep up the lie, you'll only make it more painful further down the line."

"Not more painful than it already was. You gotta understand, doc. I've... I've been a shitty husband, and father. And even though I wasn't there for them, they were both so torn by my death. I don't want to hurt them. They're the most important thing in my life, but I didn't realize it until it was too late. Nobody gets a second chance like this. I can't let it go to waste."

The doctor looked at a picture on his desk and sighed. It was his own family. "Fine. I'll do it."

The procedure didn't take too long. After a couple of hours, my body was sturdier than ever.

"Don't push it," said the doctor, "as soon as you feel something's wrong, let me know."

I smiled. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me. Just do right by your family. Don't make the same mistake I did."

I hadn't been more happy on the way back home. This bought me a lot more time. I couldn't wait to show them I was fine.

My daughter, however, screamed in horror when she saw my face. It was too uncanny for her. My rigid expression and almost plastic skin left her deeply disturbed. She ran away and locked herself in her room, too scared to see me.

I wanted to die right there. Was I a monster? I'd never felt worse in my life.

"Honey," said my wife, "What did you do?"

"Just a small procedure. It's... temporary."

"Temporary?"

"Yeah..." The lie burned deep in my unfeeling chest. "The doctor said so."

My wife gently clung to arm. "Don't worry, then. She's only twelve. She'll get over it."

I nodded softly. How long could I keep this up? The doctor was right. This wasn't a solution. My daughter was so young. Even in the best case scenario, I wouldn't get to see her grow into an adult.

The more I had to lie to my family, the more I felt dead inside. Keeping up the charade was my own personal hell. By the time my daughter's play came around, I wasn't sure how long I had left.

My leg even broke when I got in the car. That was only one of many injuries I'd accumulated. This body was already a shambling mess on the inside. If it hadn't been for the doctor's assistance, I'd be completely shattered.

My wife stared at me with concern. She had already dropped off our daughter a few hours earlier so we were alone. "Are you sure you're fine?"

I shrugged her off, feeling more bones crack. "Of course."

"We should go to the hospital."

"What about the play?"

"Screw that! You're falling apart!"

"No!" I shouted, punching the dashboard. My wrist broke again.

My wife paused. "Please, tell me what's wrong. Your daughter doesn't want you to mutilate yourself for her."

"I... I can't..."

"You have to."

"The truth is... I'm already dead. This body is a corpse, which I'm possessing because I'm a ghost."

My wife stayed quiet for a long second.

"Look," I said, "it sounds crazy, but-"

"I believe you."

"Eh?"

"I'm not stupid. I... I think I already knew." She welled up with tears. "I just didn't want to accept it."

I hung my head. Of course she knew.

"But why?" asked my wife. "You don't have to cling to a rotting body. This must be torture for you."

"Not more than seeing you two in pain. I... I had to redeem myself. I haven't been the best to both of you. At least, I want my daughter to remember me as someone who supported her. Not a... distant jackass too busy with work."

"You really are an idiot. She never saw you that way. If anything, it's this constant need to prove yourself that keeps you unhappy."

"What do you mean?"

"You threw yourself into work because you wanted to be a good father. We never wanted that. Spending time with you was what mattered."

"Exactly! I have to make up for it!"

"You're not listening. Do you really want your daughter to see you like this? Don't you think it's more damaging to see her father rot away?"

I took a moment to think. My wife wasn't wrong. "Is it really okay if I just... pass on?"

"It won't be okay, but it's better than this." My wife's voice started breaking. "You've never been a bad father. You're just human. And humans die. That's something our daughter has to learn too."

Somehow, despite my body being practically dead, I was able to shed a few tears. This outpour of emotion hadn't happened to me even when I was alive. "I... don't... want... to die."

My wife started crying. "I don't want you to go, either."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

We didn't go to the hospital. I attended the play, just as planned, and praised my daughter's performance. I had never seen her happier in my life. Her smiling face was everything I ever wanted. She could even be an actress one day. With that image in my head, after making it back home, I went to bed one last time and passed away in peace.

*****

THE END