The Chapter Where An Old Man Dies Of Old Age

A warm summer breeze spilled through the open window, stirring the flowing growing from the wall. The pale yellow room with one wall playing host to a garden and the ceiling open to the sky was pristine and clean, but also a place of death. The death of a man, ripe in old age, who passed peacefully in his sleep.

A small drone, the man’s caretaker during his final days, pulled the sheets over his face, laying him to rest. With its job finished, the drone drifted silently out of the room to await its next patient.

In the dead man’s room, the clock marked the hour. One chirp, then two. It was disinterested in observing a moment of silence for the loss of its roommate. Three chirps, then four. All was still, save for the breeze and the birds. The clock continued its chirping. The man continued being dead. Then on the twelfth chirp, a small hiss interrupted the stillness, and the man, who was still dead, was slightly less so.

The hiss grew in volume. Wisps of steam escaped from beneath the man’s covers, growing denser as the hiss grew louder. Then it stopped. The steam cleared, and the room returned to its previously peaceful state.

With a sudden jerk, the old man sat up, throwing the blanket off his face and taking deep gulping breaths. Except, he was no longer old and no longer a man.

After catching her breath, the girl looked from side to side. She remembered this room. She looked up, and remembered the blue sky. She looked down. Her hands she did not remember, but she remembered how she had gotten them. She had died, and now she was back. Which meant the plan was working.

She swung her legs out of bed and tried to stand, but promptly fell to the floor.

“Criminy! Dadgum legs,” the girl started, but stopped herself, not wanting to attract the attention of any passing nurses or drones.

Peaking around her bed, she saw no one, heard nothing, and took that as a good sign. She gathered herself and snuck to the adjoining bathroom. This time she took special care to account for the movement of her new body.

In the bathroom, the results of her recent death were evident in the mirror. Gone was the wrinkled old man she had grown accustomed to seeing, and in his place was a girl. Probably eighteen, she guessed, just under half her age when she had died.

Examining herself closely revealed she had retained the same brown eyes, albeit now brimming with youth, but the rest was unrecognizable. Having freckles again wasn’t to her liking, but her hair was an amusing novelty. She liked the way it transitioned from brown to gray before brushing her shoulders, a souvenir of her past life.

“Since when did I have wavy hair?” she asked, her voice just as unrecognizable as her reflection.

She stepped back and turned in place. She touched her toes, did a squat, then jumped up and down. She laughed and couldn’t help but smile. The lack of painful aching and creaking was a welcome surprise. For the first time since she had started this plan, it didn’t feel two hundred percent stupid, unachievable, and crazy in equal parts. She actually felt hopeful.

Without another minute to lose, the girl checked the closet and found a bag waiting for her, exactly where she had been told it would be. She changed into the clothes within and left the dead man's gown on the bathroom floor.

Returning to the bedroom, she peered out the window of the room where she had died and come back to life. The world seemed brighter than she remembered. It could have been that she didn’t have old man eyes anymore, but she could swear the city was gleaming. The summer greenery was fully grown, making the city look like a giant garden full of crystal glass spires.

This was a new day, a new life, and she intended to make the most of it.

“Step one: die. Check. Step two: reincarnate. Check. Now for step three, the most important step of all: repair my broken relationship with my daughter.”

“Excuse me.”

The girl screamed and nearly fell out the window. She turned to find a nurse she didn’t recognize standing behind her, flanked by three clinic drones.

“My apologies. I did not mean to frighten you. Have you seen an old man anywhere? Pale, gray hair, passed away recently?” the nurse asked.

“Um, well, I mean, no. I haven’t.”

The nurse stepped closer. “Thank you for your help. If you should see him, please inform a member of staff. Please, check the other rooms,” she said to the drones. Two drones floated out of the room.

The nurse stepped closer. “I do not see your visitor pass. Did you misplace it? Or did you forget to check in when you arrived? All visitors should check in and receive a visitor pass. I will check you in now. Can I get your name please?”

“Um, Liam,” the girl said.

“That is the same name as the old man I am looking for. What a coincidence,” the nurse laughed.

“Sorry, I meant Liane, but I’m not really visiting, so I’ll just go.”

Liane tried to step around the nurse, but the nurse moved to block her.

“If you are not visiting, does that mean you are a patient? I see that your Second Sight is turned off. May I help you turn it back on? It would better help us help you,” the nurse said.

Liane stepped back. “No, thank you.”

The nurse stepped closer. Liane stepped back again and felt her leg hit the window frame. The nurse reached a hand forward.

“It would better help us help you,” the nurse repeated.

Liane turned and leapt out the window. She landed on her face, unhurt and glad the clinic only had one floor.

“Are you alright?” the nurse asked from the window.

Liane didn’t respond. She got up and ran.

“Take care. Come back to visit us anytime,” the nurse called after her.

Liane ran till the clinic was far out of sight. Then kept running just because she could again, laughing at the thrill of being able to move again. She didn’t stop till she finally ran out of breath.

“Creepy nurse. I hate shells,” she said to herself as she observed where she was.

She had run all the way into the heart of the city. This area, she knew, for being popular and always crowded, but Liane didn’t notice. With her Second Sight off, the ghosts were invisible to her, and she gave a wide birth to the shells.

She walked down the center of the street, searching for transportation to take her home. She spotted several cumulusboards parked next to a café where trees grew through the center of each table, providing shade for the diners. Several shells sat at the café, pretending to enjoy a meal. Liane wanted to avoid them, but she also didn’t want to turn her Second Sight on to summon a ride.

She walked over to the café and grabbed a cumulusboard, trying to move discreetly.

“Excuse me miss. Wait just a moment, please,” one of the shells called. He sounded handsome and pleasant, but he didn’t look that way to Liane. None of the empty animatronic people did without her Second Sight projecting a pretty visage over their metallic bodies.

Liane stopped reluctantly. The shell walked over and placed a helmet on her head, then strapped it under her chin.

“Safety first,” He smiled. “I see that your Second Sight is off. May I help you turn it back on?”

“No! I mean, no, thank you,” Liane said.

“In that case, you may find the cumulusboard difficult to ride. I recommend using the board with assist turned on.”

The shell tapped the board, and it chimed in response.

“All set. Is there anything else you need?”

Liane was about to say no, but glancing at the diners made her realize she was starved and parched.

“Could I have some food and water? The sandwich?” she asked.

“Certainly. Would you like to join us?”

“No, thank you. I’m in a rush. I’ll just eat as I go.”

“In that case, I would recommend using the board with windshield and full auto on.” He tapped the board again to change its settings. “If you prefer, you may sit while you ride.”

Liane had never ridden a cumulusboard before, so she obliged and sat. The shell retrieved the plate of food and glass of water. The other shell whose food he had just taken smiled and waved to Liane. She smiled back uncomfortably as she accepted the meal.

She entered a destination into the board. It chimed its acknowledgment, then drifted into the air and off through the city. Her first stop was home, then she would go straight to see her daughter and finally have the chance to do what she had been unable to do in her last life, repair their broken relationship.