The Facial Spa
Death
It wasn’t what Marvin had thought it would be. He was ready for pearly gates. If not that, he was prepared, as best as he thought he could be anyway, for fire and brimstone. Though as he lay dying, suffering with each of his bloody breaths, Marvin began to hope instead that he might fade away into nothingness after departing this world rather than bear any more earthly stings.
After his last breath came, Marvin’s body shook then contracted slightly. Expelling his soul from his old lifeless shell.
At last outside of the physical realm, Marvin enjoyed the tranquility of the absence of feeling. Not a numbness, but a still quiet on the body.
As he waited to be pulled upward or dragged down into the earth, Marvin’s attentions were drawn to Cherry. He couldn’t help but watch as she continued to compress the chest of his lifeless corpse. It was painful to watch.
His death had been painful physically. Being dead was painful emotionally. It still hurt him knowing that it was Cherry who had caused his ultimate demise. Marvin understood Cherry’s desire for him to die, but he still couldn’t grasp her desire to actually kill him. Seeing her endlessly continue her compressions without ever checking his pulse or giving him mouth to mouth was disheartening.
It was to his relief when the EMT’s arrived. At least his body might now rest in peace, Marvin thought. He watched as they carried his body out to the ambulance then drove off.
He wasn’t sure if he would be dragged along with it as it tore down the roadway. But after dying at Cherry’s hands, he wasn’t sure of anything.
His spirit wasn’t pulled along with the ambulance. It seemed there was nothing attached to his body but the little bit of his ego that Marvin’s spirit still hung onto.
“The old fucker was keeping it in the storage shed.” he heard Cherry say behind him. Well, it was good to know his sense of hearing was still there, Marvin thought before the gears clicked into place. Wait, she had been waiting to find out where I had been keeping the doll. Was that all that was holding her back from shoving him down those steps until now?
Marvin followed her back upstairs. Marvin was unsure about going up the steps, he tried flying at first, but it seemed death was without that perk.
Climbing the steps, Marvin peeked into the bedroom and watched as Cherry disrobed, throwing her bloodied clothes in the trashcan. Seeing her naked body did nothing for him now. He didn’t feel the normal rush of excitement upon seeing her still sexy body.
Marvin wondered if it was because of him being spent after so recently having sex with her. Maybe he had lost his attraction toward her after her ill will unto him?
After some thought on the matter, Marvin tossed that idea right out. If that was the case he wouldn’t still be fascinated by her nakedness as he watched her take a shower and cleanse herself of the remnants of his blood.
Perhaps now would be a good time to see what perks death had to offer, he thought as he followed her into the shower. The results were disappointing. There was no joy to be had standing amidst steam he couldn’t feel as the hot water shot through the visage of his body.
“Cherry? Cherry can you hear me?” He asked to deaf ears.
His entire being was still unknown to Cherry. His attempts at touching her with his phantom hands were futile. Death was turning out to be quite disappointing.
Looking upon himself, Marvin was somewhat surprised the hands and body he saw were of a younger version of himself. That was nice, he was in good shape once upon a time.
What shocked him the most was recognizing for the first time that he was naked. He hadn’t really thought about that fact before jumping into the shower. For whatever reason, he had no clothes. His was now an translucent body, with a sadly flaccid penis.
Despite being so close to the attractive nude women dripping in water, there was no more rise in him. Apparently, in death, there were no more erections. The afterlife was a horrible thing.
Ogling Cherry’s body alone wasn’t doing it for him. He tried reaching down to wake his member up on his own, but his gaseous form was unable to touch itself. He was no more able to stimulate himself than he was anyone else. Marvin was beginning to wonder if he was, in fact, in hell.
He left from ogling Cherry’s showering body to see about clothing himself. He was in his own room after all. But he couldn’t open drawers, and the clothes he had left on the floor he couldn’t pick up. He looked over to the wall mounted mirror, and realized that he couldn’t see himself.
Perhaps there was no longer a need for modesty, but the idea of being naked all the time still made him uncomfortable. Incorporeal though he was, Marvin liked the idea of having at least some form of protection over his body, even if he no longer really needed it.
While waiting for Cherry to finish her shower, Marvin toyed around with his sensations being dead. His sense of touch, taste, and smell were all gone.
Aside from that, Marvin found death to be quite the same as being alive. Just now he was able to walk through walls.
The experience was frightening, what if he got stuck in a wall? After all, if he could walk through a wall: what was keeping him from falling through the floor?
For whatever reason the floor always caught him. Just like he was able to ascend the stairs. It took away the fear of his incorporeal form falling through the earth with him stuck, eternally conscious at the earth’s center.
It was odd that the floor always caught him. Chairs never did. Marvin wondered if would have to stand for the rest of eternity.
Marvin hoped that he wouldn’t grow hungry or thirsty. If he didn’t need to eat, it would be a blessing because he couldn’t interact with anything.. He wondered if he would ever need to sleep, and didn’t relish the idea of resting on the ground.
But he seemed free to do as he would. Whatever there was to do being dead and unable to interact with the world of the living. There wasn’t a guide to being dead.
Thoughts of that movie from the 80’s came to mind. What if he was stuck in his own home? Would there be sandworms?
Marvin heard the shower turn off and watched as Cherry began to dress herself. He was disappointed to see her put on some of her more baggy clothes. Not that it mattered much if she dressed sexily or not anymore.
The sun was getting ready to set as Cherry stepped outside. Marvin didn’t find anything amiss. Aside from the fact that he was dead and could still see. He took a useless deep breath, out of habit, then stepped out the door behind his wife. Or should he say widow now?
No sandworms. Good. At least that sort of afterlife didn’t await him. But Marvin would find himself hard pressed not to take advantage of forcing a group into singing a Harry Belafonte song if he had the power.
Cherry made a beeline over to Marvin’s golf cart that he kept in the carport next to the house. She had known that Marvin would go and check on his units in storage weekly, but she’d never shown any interest in coming along. Either before or after her transformation. Marvin was curious about her intent and with nothing better to do hopped through her into the passenger seat.
He fell straight through to the ground. It gave him a neat perspective of the internal mechanisms of the electric cart as she turned it on. But that proved of less use than being able to ride along in the cart.
She backed the cart through him, and made a turn onto the dirt path that led to the storage sheds at the edge of the property. Marvin started to run behind her. Despite his younger body, he was unable to keep up and found himself huffing and puffing despite not needing to breath.
Marvin had time to think that some habits die hard as he ran along. It was a strange sensation to run along and think that he was tired without actually feeling tired.
The golf cart went out of view as it went over a small hill. Marvin tried to pick up the pace so he wouldn’t lose it again. He found he was able to. Running didn’t hurt his knees like walking had during life. This realization brought Marvin’s speed up to the sprints of his youth and he found himself gaining on the cart as crested the hill.
Still gaining on the cart, it was no more than a few hundred yards in front of him now, Marvin was about to push himself to see if he could go even faster than he remembered ever going in his lifetime. Then the cart stopped dead in its tracks.
Still uselessly panting, Marvin slowed as he approached and turned to look at Cherry. She was staring wide eyed at the storage shed, still a quarter of mile in front of them.
She was also starting to pant a bit, or breath heavily at the least. Marvin saw her bite her lip and rub her legs together in a familiar way.
A brief spat of jealousy wound its way into him as Marvin began to think that Cherry’s sole intent of killing him then coming here was to visit the puppet. The jealousy was beginning to twist into anger until he saw Cherry’s hands clench the steering wheel of the cart and then turn it hard right in a u-turn and head back toward the mansion.
Still regaining his breath that was never lost, Marvin heard a whisper in his head.
She was coming to destroy me.
“What? Who said that?”
Is this truly your first time hearing me? That is a pity considering all the conversations we’ve held.
“Whoa ho ho! So there was a genuine spirit in you this whole time! I mean, the guy told me that was how you worked, but wow! Wait, so you were listening as I was talking to you?”
Indeed I was. Though I was shamefully mistaken in concluding you could somehow hear me. It seemed you were always answering the questions I posed you.”
“Oh, hehehe, must have been some sort of intuition I guess. I’m sorry Mr. Puppet, I didn’t know you were speaking with me.”
You don’t even know my name, do you?
“Well, I guess not. What would you prefer to go by?”
Kudan is what I call myself. Though I have no fortune to tell you. Come and speak with me face to face. Even though few can see you, it seems strange to see an old man alone outside talking with himself.
“So I shall instead go and speak face to face with a magical puppet! Hahaha! Very well, Kudan! I am coming!”
And with that Marvin ran as quickly as his spiritual legs would take him to the shed where Kudan was kept.