A Corpse Arrived

It was a beautiful Tuesday evening in July.

Mai was on her way home after a trip into town on her bicycle. She rode down the small side street near her home, but she didn't notice the usual surroundings. Her head felt heavy with tiredness.

"Next time, I'll decline their invitation. I regret going," she sighed deeply.

She turned right, got off her bike, and held onto the handlebars, walking with heavy steps through the annoying obstacle, a shortcut through the large park. It was pitch black, even though dusk had just arrived. She took a deep breath and gripped the handlebars tightly, her fingers trembling. The bike creaked, and her heart raced as she looked around in the darkness. A cool wind grabbed her neck hair, sending shivers down her spine. She looked around but couldn't see anyone.

"Am I paranoid?" she whispered hoarsely, coughing away a lump.

She slapped herself on the cheeks and admonished herself to pull herself together. But as she looked to the opposite side, it was pitch black. Her stomach tightened, and she felt a knot in her heart. Suddenly, she tasted something sour and gripped the handlebars tightly.

"Damn. Why isn't it working suddenly?" Mai quickly sat on the bike and raced away.

Her heart raced, adrenaline pumped fiercely, and sweat poured down her like a waterfall. She gripped the handlebars more tightly and repeated her mantra: I can do this. I can do this.

Suddenly, the sky above her lit up red. She looked up and was met with a soft red color, like when the sun sets on a cloudless day. A loud creaking sound filled the air, and a huge black line appeared in the red sky. It quickly opened with a loud crackling that pierced her ears. She frowned at the sight. Suddenly, a thick black rope shot out towards Mai, who raised her eyebrows in shock.

"What in the..."

The rope twisted around her neck and tightened. She felt a searing pain and struggled to breathe. Her head suddenly flew off, and everything went black.

Mai opened her eyes and stared at a clear, light blue sky. She heard animal sounds nearby, and the ground shook beneath her. There were footsteps rushing towards her that suddenly stopped at her legs.

A huge, white deer head leaned over her.

Mai lay still as thoughts raced through her head. She wondered where she was, if she was dead, and what had happened to her dog at home.

Her stomach cramped, and she clenched her teeth in pain.

She repeated the words in her head, "Go away now. I have nothing. I'm not tasty," several times, hoping the deer wouldn't find her interesting.

Suddenly the deer stopped sniffing her. It snorted loudly and white stuff came out of its nostrils landing on her stomach. The smell was warm, rotten, and sweet causing her stomach to tighten even more. She struggled to suppress the sour feeling in her throat and forced it down. When the deer snorted again more white stuff hit Mai's neck. She automatically inhaled the smell causing her stomach to cramp violently and she pressed her lips together fighting against vomiting.

The deer stared at her and blinked. Suddenly, it shook its head violently, and white dust sprinkled down on her. Then, it lifted its head, glanced in a certain direction, and darted away suddenly.

Mai immediately sat up, vomited, and was met with an unpleasant smell of decay causing her to wrinkle her nose. She quickly wiped her mouth with her sleeve.

"Yuck. That's the last time I eat durum after a night out." she muttered.

She looked ahead and saw giant animals some larger than elephants walking silently while others were the size of horses. They were in different colors and their bodies sprinkled dust as the grass absorbed it. She wondered why the deer had suddenly reacted to her. She noticed the white stuff seeping into her clothes, and she suddenly saw that it emitted a white glow. Mai held both hands in front of her emitting a white glow and suddenly felt very warm. She now noticed that all living beings here emitted a glow from their bodies. Suddenly countless tiny glowing white balls shot up from the grass towards the sky spreading all over. Mai felt the grass under her becoming warm and it felt like the same thing was happening in her fingers. She placed her hands on the grass slowly spread her fingers and felt the incredibly soft grass.

A delightful feeling spread in her heart, and she broke into a broad smile. The ground became scorching hot and she heard a heartbeat which she initially thought was her own. Suddenly the ground throbbed under her hands. Each time there was a heartbeat it created tiny white dust that shot up towards the sky and spread all over. It landed on the animals' bodies which sprinkled some of it onto the grass.

Mai raised her eyebrows and whispered, "Is this some kind of life cycle?"