Tag Archives: coffin

Universal Values

She was born hungry and she died hungry.

But her hunger was in name only, for never once did she, between her birth and death, feel hungry. She ate things – delicious and exotic and expensive – but she did so only to be social, like a casual smoker casually smoking among friends. Alone, she did not eat; she felt no desire to do so.

She felt the effects of starvation. But she thought that this was her disposition. Indeed, she grew concerned when she did not feel this way.

She died, only, because I ended our relationship. She died, only, because I was not there to eat.

It took her but a week to starve.

During that same week, I feasted on the bodies of women as a display of sexual rebellion and fear. During that same week, my taste in disposable women became increasingly stringent: thinner and thinner, I demanded.

She died on a Friday, the same day that I unearthed and climbed into a coffin to lay with the skeleton of a woman, the same day I was shot for breaking the law, the same day I sold our companion burial plots to a young, attractive couple in love.

 


An Affirmation That Affirms Nothing

“Why are you here,” I asked in an accusatory tone.

 

“I loved him,” she moaned, extending a finger toward the coffin. She had dirt under her fingernail. “We were going to marry next August.”

 

“See that brunette in front? That’s his wife. So, why are you here?” I was calm.

 

“I don’t know.” Her eyes were red. She grabbed the lapels of her miniskirtsuit and pulled them tightly to her chest. “Do I have to leave?”

 

“Well, no. But you’ve been at every funeral for the past month. So I’m curious.” The authority with which I spoke prevented her from realizing that I was guilty of the same.

 

“I just prefer the dead.” She glared at me.

 

I was overcome with passion.

 

“So do I,” I gasped, grasping her hand. It was like ice. She recoiled but I refused to let go. “It’s okay. I understand.” She was obviously dead and found comfort in those like her. I, however, was just a deviant with a fetish for dead bodies. “Give me a chance,” I implored. “I won’t let you down.”

 

I took the flower she had tucked behind her ear (symbolizing life, perhaps) and sank its stem into my neck.