Cold

There needs to be more zombie love stories. The lore needs some tweaking, though…zombies, as they currently stand (or slouch), won’t cut it. I’m not talking about a zombie apocalypse kind of zombie, but more of a Dr. Frankenstein kind of zombie; only completely sentient, despite being reanimated. Perhaps it could be supernatural? Do we really need a scientific explanation? Eh, I suppose we do. How about a religious explanation? Occult rituals, perhaps? Depending on who you talk to, this could be more or less plausible than the zombie apocalypse. I want a story of someone who dies prematurely, but is dragged back to life after the fact. As far as how they behave, I’m willing to be surprised. Forgotten personality, different personality, malevolent personality– doesn’t particularly matter. I remember this short story I read as a kid, from one of those Scary Stories books, called ‘Cold as Clay’ I believe. I want the zombie love interest in this story to be similar to the ghost in that one– cold to the touch, and slowly decaying. I want to feel what it’s like, for both parties; to watch what happens as time slips by them.

After writing the above, I sat a moment and wondered where it came from. Why the impulse? I know the zombie thing came from something I was watching, but why the profound linkage to the veiled subconscious? Dawned on me, just now. Almost made me chuckle. Since around the time of my forgotten birthday in mid January, just about everyone I know has gone cold on me. Something I did? Said? Not sure, but probably. I’m sure I can’t be an easy or convenient person to know. I do know that I haven’t gotten closer to someone in years…yet all the while folks have been drifting farther and farther away. I haven’t received an unprovoked friendly message in a long time. Hell, these last couple weeks I couldn’t even find anyone to have coffee with– and it’s not from lack of trying. I even broke out the big guns, and took a long trip to see a very old friend; one whose company has always been reliably warm and inviting; only to be stonewalled by something that apparently wasn’t subject to conversation. No inquisitiveness, either. No accommodation. Just distracted silence, for the most part; fake smiles, and face down in cell phone text messaging. Rude and disheartening, cold as fucking clay. Jesus, listen to me…well, I guess I have to whine to someone. And since all of my real ears have drifted off, I’ll have to settle for this…though all my readers have more or less done the same thing, so….shit. That’s enough rambling, time to stoke the fire up. It’s down to embers and antarctica out there.