Revived
He loved her more than life itself, so when death came to take her, revival became obsession. Science was his second love, his home a functioning laboratory filled with potions and devices beyond imagination.
Night and day he worked, trying different concoctions, feeding them through her dead body and awaiting a spark. On the thirteenth day, it came.
His beloved sat bolt upright, turning to face him, a rictus smile on her face. Tears fell from his eyes as she stood and walked toward him, bones popping so loud that he did not register the snap of his own neck.
The Well
Death comes to everyone, and when pressed, we all have a preferred, acceptable method of death. For most, it is passing while asleep. No one asks to be dumped down a well and fed to those already there.
William screamed on his way down, his ankles snapping as he touched the dry bottom. The pain was nothing compared to the feeling of his flesh being torn from his body by those looking to survive.
When the killing ground was eventually found and the well uncovered, the dead all had their skulls facing upward, as though waiting for light to return.
The Wizard
Barnabus was a magician, a practitioner of the dark arts willing to share his methods with anyone willing to pay the price. He turned young women into Hollywood starlets and paupers into princes.
His name became legend among those looking for something more, and while most had nothing to offer at the time of asking, Barnabus gave them a life that meant future payments were assured.
The problem, though, was that fame and fortune are often fleeting. Those who were unable to fulfill the full asking price were forced to pay in other ways. Barnabus loved these one the most.
Revived reminded me of some of Hawthorne's obsessed alchemist stories compressed into drabble format. Maybe we should be teaching John Watson in English class? Not getting rid of the classics, just expanding them into the 21st century.
Loved revived