Shorter Than Short Stories

Immy Sole

"I need you to listen to me. Like, properly. No interruptions, always looking at me, focusing on every word I say, okay?"

"Okay."

"It started  a few months ago when Ari came home... She said that she was getting married. Her fiance walked in and I nearly had a heart attack. This was Marlo. You know, the one who supposedly got killed in the explosion?"

"Yeah."

"Well, he was there. He grinned at me. He said hi and long time no see. I ignored him. Over the next three hours, he kept on trying to get me to talk. Eventually, I excused myself and left. I went to Anna's house and there was another supposedly dead person there. Her father. He died in Afghanistan a few years ago. But he was there. I was confused, so I went to Wiki's house. His mother was there, holding a two year old. The two year old who she gave birth to before she died. This two year old was also a still born. But they were both there. So, four dead people had showed up so far. I went into town and saw a few supposedly dead people. Mr Wickerson, for example. I investigated his death. But he said hello and thanks for the help, even though we had never met. Abi and Shaun. Aidan and Edward. Issy and Ells. All of them. There. All the people who had come with me on dangerous adventures and died. I was happy at first, happy that they were okay. Then I thought: What if it's a dream? So I tried to make things appear. Nothing. I went to sleep that night in a state of pure confusion.

"Over the next few weeks, I found out just how many dead people there were. 142. Alive people? Me, you, Ari, Ma, Pa, Parker, Ally, Sam, Anna, Wiki, Wiki's dad and brother, Anna's mum and sister and Jackson. 16. There were several others who I wasn't sure about.

"So I decided to investigate. This was six weeks ago, now. I was in the library, looking up old newspapers and the obituaries. Everyone was surely dead, due to evidence. I looked at the buildings. All of them had been burnt to the ground, knocked down or exploded in some way, according to my knowledge. What is your theory so far?"

"Honestly? I have no clue. Maybe we were all in a coma in which that happened, but that wouldn't explain the papers."

"Okay... So, I started talking to everyone. You know how Abi used to say Yike a lot? Yeah... She says Yikes now. With an 's'. Also, Parker usually says Bowza when he feels accomplished. Not anymore. He says Wowza. It all changed in a night. Why do you think that is, Doctor?"

"I told you to call me Steven now."

"At first I thought something desperate: Maybe there was a freak accident and me and all the other living people amongst the dead were actually dead. I was thinking that this was the 'life after death' Shaun used to speak so fondly of. But then my rational side took over."

"So we're not dead?"

"I said, no interrupting."

"Sorry."

"Anyway, remember four months ago when you were saying how you had made a delusion room. You said how you were going to use it to see how people reacted to certain situations programmmed into the room?"

"Yeah..."

"You're going pale, Doctor. I think you just confirmed my theorem."

"Which is?"

"The game's over, Steven. I've figured it out. we are currently in the delusion room. You were seeing how the great Immy Sole reacted to all the dead people coming back to life. You can shut the computer down now."

"Fair enough. You really are as smart as I thought. Maybe smarter. I kind of expected it to take longer, what with the realism and all. COMPUTER SHUT DOWN."

The room turned back to the endless grey dome it was, revealing the door that was only ten feet along, right where a graffitied door had been on the fake wall they had been leaning against. The pair walked out, Immy wondering when he would next pounce an experiment upon her completely innocent self.

I guess we'll just wait and see.