Jake

1 

"Want to see a dead body?" 

Jake was lying in the tall grass a few feet away from me when he asked that question. I looked over at him. 

"What are you talking about?" 

"I asked if you wanted to see a dead body. Do you?" 

"That's not funny, man," I said. 

"I'm not joking. I found a body yesterday. I wasn't gonna tell anyone, but I figure it's all right to tell you. You'd never snitch about it." 

I still thought it was some kind of sick joke, but then I saw the look on his face and knew that it wasn't. I was unsure of what to say. Yes, I admit it, I was scared. But, being twelve years old, I was also curious. Some part of me wanted to see what death looked like. 

"Okay." 

He took me into the woods on the east side of town. We walked for what seemed like an eternity. I forgot to take off my shoes when we crossed the small creek that ran through the woods, and each step brought a weird squishing noise from my wet shoes. We walked on and on, and I was beginning to think that the whole thing was a prank when Jake stopped suddenly in his tracks. 

"What is it?" I asked. 

"It's right about here." 

He looked around for a minute, and then walked over to some bushes. He parted them and disappeared. After a moment he called to me. 

"Come on, I found it." 

I hesitated for a moment, then parted the bushes and made my way through. There was a small, murky pond on the other side. 

"There," Jake said, pointing to the other edge of the pond. 

I looked, and saw what I at first thought was a bundle of discarded clothes floating at the edge of the water. I squinted my eyes to get a better look. There was someone wearing the clothes, and that someone was floating facedown in the dirty water. My stomach felt like it was doing a cartwheel. 

"I told you," Jake said triumphantly. "You didn't believe me, did you?" 

"Who is it?" 

"I don't know. Come on, let's get a closer look." 

He made his way around the pond. He looked back at me and saw that I was not following. 

"Come on, already. It can't hurt you." 

I reluctantly followed him. I stopped ten feet away from the body, but Jake walked right up and stood over it. It was a woman. She was wearing a pink t-shirt, the short arms ruffled at the edges, and her jeans had been stained a dark shade of blue. The skin of her bare arms was mostly pale, mottled with dark patches. Jake picked up a stick and used it to poke her upturned back. 

"Want a poke?" he asked. 

"No. Let's get out of here." 

"Hold on. I want to see her face." 

"What? Why?" 

"I want to see if I recognize her." 

"But you can't touch her." 

"Yes I can. See?" 

He tossed the stick aside and bent to the body. He gripped her right shoulder with his left hand and the belt on her jeans with his right. He pulled and slowly turned her over. When I saw what had become of what had once been a woman's face I doubled over and vomited painfully. It felt as if my stomach were trying to exit my body through my throat. When at last I was able to stop throwing up I looked up at Jake. He was looking down at the body with something almost like reverence, as if he were looking upon some holy object.