Prompt #2
Prompt 2: Your one of the newly dead - a spirit unable to cross over - you've found peace in knowing you can watch over the ones you love, yet the world as you know it is filled with unseen secrets and treasures. Describe some of those secrets in 300 words or more.
In your life, you’ve always found it difficult to actually come to terms with anything, to accept things for what they are. In your head, they were always different but in the end, you learnt how to grit your teeth and try as you allowed the waves of reality to wash over you.
Death for you wasn’t much different. You still have trouble accepting the fact that you’re not there with everyone else yet a part of you thinks it’s better to be out of the way. At least now, you wouldn’t be caught up in what was about to overflow.
In your place, you watch those who were close to you, how they conduct their lives without you and in an instant, you realise that things are not how they should be. Change is another thing you’ve never gotten used to and that’s what made it so easy to notice.
He stands there, staring tentatively at the cabinet high above his head, wearing a deep frown. With a quick glance around the corner, he turns his attention back to the cabinet and opens it slowly. There in front of him, lie several bottles of pills, all different shapes and colours. A pang runs through you; all those bottles have your name on them with the seals unbroken in the same way they were brought home from the chemist’s. It’s not those that have his interest, rather, it’s the large bottle of amber liquid hidden in the corner.
He stretches his hand far back and pulls it forward, quickly unscrewing the cap and taking a large swallow. You see his shoulders droop and he bows his head before taking another swallow, this time shorter. The burn of the liquor does not seem to bother him, he’s much to numb to notice. Footsteps echoing down the hallway startle him and hastily, he replaces the bottle in its place in the cabinet. Shifting to the sink, he picks up an empty glass, fills it with water and quickly downs it. The footsteps become louder as he refills the glass but merely stares at it.
He turns halfheartedly as the owner of the footsteps enters the kitchen with a smile to which he returns, rather forcefully. She doesn’t notice but you do. They continue to talk and eventually the woman goes away. Almost immediately, his smile is wiped from his face. He goes to the cabinet once more but this time not for the bottle, rather, he picks up once of the smaller containers of pills with your name on it. You close your eyes because you can’t bear to watch what will happen next. As you feel the hot tears spill down your cheeks, you are almost certain that he feels the same.