Most unusual

Clopping down the dark tan carpeted stairs, I dashed through the kitchen. I swiveled around my whining 6 year old niece who won't eat her breakfast and my extremely irritable 26 year old brother. Soon I was speed walking to my bus stop 5 minutes away. The chilly wind of October blew across my pale face. My bright flax colored knitted cap on top of my dark blonde hair keeping my head warm while my old faded spring green and gray light sports jacket struggled to do the same for my torso. Wide strides had my feet eating pavement as I saw the faded STOP sign up ahead.

I stopped near the sidewalk-less curve to be safe from the no traffic road of my growing neighborhood. I stared at the few just constructed houses down the block and a few skeletons of future homes. I shifted my light blue backpack and purse hanging off my frame when I saw out of the corner of my eye a friend. I murmured a "Morning!" but was ignored due to the earbuds in her ears. I just blinked normally, unfazed and stared ahead not really thinking of anything, my mind blank of any thought, listening to my own music.

I felt the wind blowing a little harder, trying unsuccessfully to lift the frizzy curly rope of hair to swing in the huff of air, just shy of touching the ground. I glanced at it and pulled out semi warm hands to bring up the braid and try to stuff it in the hood of my jacket. When I finished my task, I reached to the side of my backpack to take a drink of my still hot jasmine green tea from my thermos. After taking a few satisfying sips of the liquid warmth, I felt pain rip through first my navel then my entire torso. I didn't process anything anymore enough to scream out my pain. I saw blood on the dark gray concrete road and my friend's horrified face before nothing.

I slowly opened my eyes and gave a horrified confused scream. I looked back at the mangled corpse. Dull blue eyes stared out of rounded rectangular glasses. Pale tinged red skin from past sun burns was pale and bloodless. The chest and middle was torn apart, guts, tissues, and muscle everywhere along with too much blood. Pieces of blonde rope scattered everywhere on polished ivory marble slowly soaking in red.

It was me.

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I stared. I stared because there was nothing else to do. I understood slowly that I was dead, and I am just staring at my bloody body. Memories where blurred before I remembered the pain. It wasn't until I heard footsteps that I looked around. I was in some kind of building with very less walls and a lot of light and vegetation. Then I saw a tall being.

From what I could observe, the being was male, had really long dark hair-perhaps brown- crowned with a silver braided circlet, wearing robes of some kind (not bathroom kind as I remembered watching renaissance themed movies and a couple of pictures from history class) and pointed ears as he bent down to view my corpse better. He hmed before removing my glasses and tilting my face towards him. It was then I noticed the familiar weight on my nose was gone. I could see clearly again without my glasses. A really minuscule bonus to being dead, I guess.

I wanted to move, but I noticed quickly that there would be a problem. I couldn't feel anything as I looked at my feet that were touching the nice floor. I picked up a foot, but before I could set it down to step towards the just-about-to-leave being, I suddenly shot up towards the ceiling. I tried to grab something, but everything was too smooth for my astral hand to grip. I could hear the thud my back made on the ceiling, but still could not feel anything. I saw the being pause and look in my direction. Sharp eyes past over me. He looked around once more before slowly leaving again with my corpse. He was covered in my blood, fluids, guts, ect. I also noticed that I dripped. I grimaced. I wasn't squeamish about seeing innards or something dead but, damn, those nice floors are being stained with my blood. I just hope I don't smell. That was what got me every time.

I blinked as I noticed that I was gently flouting down. I landed lightly back on the floor, moon hopping a couple of times. I wondered if I would have to shuffle to get around instead of walking normally. I spread my arms to see if that would keep my balance and gravity. I took another step. I did a small hop in the air. Something was different. I thought of my used-to-be weight. I felt slight pressure on my, now noticing, bare feet. I took another step. Small victory! I can walk normally again with some wobbling.

I followed the trail of my blood. When I reached my destination, it was a room with a wooden plank bed. That bed-well table really- held my 5'3 foot tall body under a thin sheet slowly turning red. The being was nowhere in sight. When I made to my side, I reached a hand to see if I could grasp the sheet. Surprisingly, I could. I honestly thought I was a stereo-typical ghost that couldn't touch anything, just passing through everything. I breathed an airless bracing breath and pulled the sheet back to view my face. The being closed my eyes. I stared at my unnaturally pale face.

I sunk to my knees. My forehead rested on the side of the table. My arms rested above on top of the table. I squeezed my eyes shut as my situation fully came down on me. I wanted to cry, be emotional for once, but without a body, I had no tears to release my self-pity and sorrow. I understood long ago that I was selfish. I didn't even think of my family or friends first or even right now, probably won't later. All I saw and knew was that I died, and I can only watch strangers inspect my corpse, prodding it and wondering where it came from. I slowly gathered myself up with what mental strength I had. I'm dead, end of the story of my life.

I slowly stood when another being came back. There were notable differences like this one was a woman. She looked similar to the other being. I watched another came, same gender. I watched as they cleaned my corpse up, dressed it in a dress similar to mine, modest white to my ankles (only the one I'm wearing goes to my knee caps) and left. I stayed in a corner, watching them.

Then a couple of males came and picked me up. I followed them to a freshly dug soil. I was placed in the hole, buried with some mumbo-jumbo prayer-saying that actually made me feel lighter, and planted a sampling in place of a tomb stone. I stayed after they silently left. It wasn't until sunlight shined in my eyes that I noticed that I don't tire after staying up all night and that the light doesn't pierce my eyes anymore. No body, no pain. I mourned myself.

I kneeled in front of the sapling. I looked around for a rock or a sharp looking stick. I had to travel a ways to find a small one. This place was too neat, orderly, and clean. Living I would have appreciated it but not now. I kept it low to the ground. When I came back, I scratched one word, a name. I was always horrible at remembering names. I do believe that this name, my name, will join all those others.

"Shania"