How to Burry your Dead

A short story about letting go

We lug around our own half dead corpses, a burden slouching our shoulders, no one to share our yoke. 

I stare down into the damp hole that has been long in the making. It is time to say a final farewell to my dead. 

I reach behind myself for a small child's hand as she clings to my back. Her eyes are sorrowful. Around seven years of age, mentally she was still hiding in the bathroom, scared to move cross country. I pat her head and kiss her cheek before pushing her feeble body into the blackness.

 The next hand that met mine is a girl in an oversized lab coat, she beams up at me with the love of learning only ever wanting to become a scientist. She squeezes my hand and steps off the edge happily, knowing her time has come to an end. 

Just like that, one after the other, the pit fills with half dead girls. One for every year of my life, one for every nearly forgotten dream. A harmony of quiet sobs and childish laughter filled my mind like a chorus, a single tear sliding down my chin, falling to the dirt beside me. And with that a new corpse forms, she sinks into my arms, breaking down into tears.

 I hold the girl that is scared to let go. Wiping her eyes and smiling, I lower her onto the pile of corpses and begin to cover the grave with soil.

 I stand a little straighter, no longer so held down, I have opened myself to untold possibilities of growth. I am no longer so afraid of death. While, I have said goodbye, they will always be part of me. I will shed many more corpses through the rest of my life, but it will no longer be such a sorrow- 

But instead, a joy to remember.

Author's Note

was thinking about the concept of how many different versions of you there are, hope expressing these thoughts this way wasn't too confusing.

Reviews

[Michael Sun Bear]

Very creative. I had to outgrow a difficult childhood. It took a long time and won’t be totally complete until I pass into a new life. I don’t know if you were exaggerating for the sake of telling a good story, but I assume this is based on your real life and I applaud your being open about yourself, makes for great writing.
Well done.