Death: Part 1

I died at the age of 17. Young, yeah sure, but who’s going to be surprised if you were diagnosed with pretty severe cancer at 15. Point is, I’m over it. The whole dying thing. I’m not so much bothered by dying, but rather death. You know the state you exist in after you stop living.

It’s a weird thing… death. We have over sensationalized death and dying so much. There are questions out there like “What is it like to die?” or “What happens after?” We humans attach so many things to this phenomenon, like heaven, hell, purgatory, reincarnation, the egg theory, and all these crazy other things when death is simple. You just aren’t alive anymore. There’s no light at the end of the tunnel. No Grim Reaper, although that would have been awesome. I wanted to challenge him to a game of Halo. Apparently if you challenge the Grim Reaper to any game and you win you get your soul back. One time use only… But alas there’s no cloaked skeleton dude. There’s only you and the afterlife.

Which actually isn’t so bad once you realize that you’re dead. It’s just like existing when you’re alive, the only difference is you can only observe. Like being benched in sports. You can watch whatever you please. They can’t see you. And yes, I do admit to abusing this perk of death, but can you blame me? I died, cut me a little slack. I’m still kind of new at this. The learning curve of living in death is pretty steep, but I think I’ve got a good handle on the basic “rules.” I can’t be heard. I can’t be seen. I can’t grab or move anything or anyone. If I try it weighs as much as an elephant. I don’t weigh anything, but that doesn’t mean I can fly. Basically I can be standing on your shoulders and you won’t feel or see anything. 

Anyway, those are the terms and conditions of death as I see them so far. You might feel a little constricted by them at first, but there’s something about death that makes you learn acceptance and patience. Once you figure it out and get used to it, you’re actually quite free. That’s how my first year or so of death was. Experimenting and testing what shit I can and can’t do. After spending two years in the hospital, you get pretty restless. So for awhile that was my afterlife… until she came along…