I Am Dead

• Isobel Pitt, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2014

I am dead! Not sick, not dying, but dead. The question is how did I die? Does it really matter? The only important thing is that I am dead and that is how I will stay. I am sitting, sitting in an empty room looking down on the place I used to call home. I see my family going by with their usual routine, but something is different, something has to be different. I’m not there to race my brother down the stairs or to steal mums piece of toast. I’m not there to help dad with the cooking or to read to my sisters.
I can almost feel them beside me, my family, but when I turn around they have vanished. To them I no longer exist.
I wonder what happens next. Will I stay in this room forever? There doesn’t seem to be an exit. Heaven… hell… if there is one, what’s next for me? Is there even a me anymore? I just can’t tell.
As I sit and stare I begin to wonder, wonder how this works, how can I think, how can I see? I mean, I am dead, right? Maybe this is all a dream, maybe if I pinch myself I will awaken. So I try, preparing myself for pain. I clench my eyes shut and pinch, but there is nothing, not even a hint of pain. So here I am, in the middle of an empty room, dead.
I am dead.