Watching
&.&.&
She liked watching the living. She would hide behind the trees and spend hours just looking at them. It made her feel alive again, even though her heart had stopped beating years ago. No pulse to be felt. No warmth in her body, her skin now a sickly pale colour.
She knew she was dead. That much was obvious. It just seemed so….strange. How was it that one minute she was alive and breathing and the next she was in an entirely different world than the one she had known her whole life?
How cruel the world could be.
There was one person she watched in particular, the young man who didn't seem to fit in. His awkward posture and all round quietness made her feel like she belonged. She too was an outcast.
Letting out a slight gasp as a crow flew off his perch, she turned back to see that he had arrived.
He seemed to be going for a walk, not going anywhere in particular, just wandering around. She quietly laughed as he tripped over a step. She had been clumsy as well. And in her opinion, still was. She continued to watch him and he continued on his walk, he stopped to look at a butterfly on a flower.
There were so few people who appreciated the beauty of a butterfly. Most people saw them as pests that were there to be swatted.
The man took a pad of paper and a pencil and began to draw the butterfly.
She yearned to get closer to him and tell him that she had been watching him. How she had watched him every day for months. Tell him she felt that she was not alone because of him. But that was not allowed.
What would everyone think if a corpse was in love with a living man? She was cursed by the greatest taboo that was her own death.
There were always so many boundaries that she had to obey. Why had fate dealt her such a cruel hand? She though bitterly. Why couldn't Death have taken someone else, someone who had lived their life properly, who had had a family, children and a loving husband of wife?
Why?
Why?
Why?
There were times when she was so angry that she could scream. Other times there was just acceptance. So many mixed up emotions. All of them, dancing around her. Making her head spin, making her feel sick.
Why couldn't Life and Death be simpler?
She pulled herself out of her thoughts and realized the man was returning home. She'd see him tomorrow, of that she was certain. There hadn't been one day that she hadn't seen him.
Every day she loved him more. Every day and he still had no idea that she was watching him.
Yes, Death really should be simpler.
Got inspired to write this after watching The Nightmare Before Christmas when I noticed the similarities between Emily's and Jack's 'laments'. I'm not actually sure if this girl is Emily or an OC, so you can view it either way, and Happy Halloween!