Fic: Dead to be Alive, Fandom: original, Characters: Isabelle Haydon
Title: Dead to be Alive
Author: in_excelsis_dea
Characters: Isabelle Haydon
Fandom: Original
Rating: PG-13
Prompt: firstline_fic week 14 I didn't realize for a long time that I was dead., 31_days Dec. 11 dying is what, to live, each has to do and 64damn_prompts prompt 32 linger.
AN: This sort of got away from me and this is probably the prologue/first chapter.
I didn't realize for a long time I was dead. I know it sounds nuts, but honestly, being dead just never occurred to me. There wasn't just one day when I woke up dead, to find that my life had passed on by. I simply continued to wake up every morning, got up, did my routine, went to work, did my work, went home, chilled- apparently literally- and just...existed. It was a life, and nothing that really stood out. Heck, I don't even remember dying.
Apparently that's normal.
Or at least, that's what Sandy says. Sandy- Melisande Rosier- is my "spiritual" adviser. See, apparently- and yes, I'm aware I use this word a lot, but really I have to, because nothing else fits and Sandy says it's more important to get down the feelings than worry about grammar or spelling or the actual mechanics of writing- anyways. Where was I? Oh yes. Apparently, while not common, dying and, er, refusing to actually die does happen on occasion. Usually it's because of unfinished business, and Sandy- and her colleagues, the other spiritual advisers, help you figure out what it is, complete it (or have it completed for you) and then, viola, you can move on. Move on to where- I don't exactly know. Apparently it's different for everyone, at least that's what Sandy says, and she refuses to say anything more about it.
Spoil sport.
And quit reading over my shoulder!
God, I swear, sometimes...
Wait, can I say that? Oh geez, I hope so. I mean, I don't want to get like sent to Hell or anything. If it exists.
Which, Sandy has just informed me, because she keeps on reading over my SHOULDER!!!, it does. Exist, that is. Whoopee. Though maybe not. I'd really like to keep away from there if possible.
Okay, okay, I get it. Don't worry about a place that unless I really screw up big time, I'm not going to end up. Got it. Thanks for the reassurance...
Oh, and I can say God too? Great. What about other swears?
Not to push it?
Okay...
I think I'm getting on Sandy's nerves. This is probably not a very good thing, since she's the only person who actually has some idea of what's going on with me. As much as one can have with me, because my situation apparently isn't that normal...
Yeah, apparently among the freaks, I am a freak of the highest order. See, like I said, you have unfinished business, you complete it, viola, you're done. But even then, when you're working on the unfinished business, you're a bit more...incorporeal than I currently am. Usually. I mean, there are exceptions (besides yours truly, thank you very much), but the norm is you take on that pearly white/grey/shimmery form that everyone knows and recognizes as a ghost. Though you're not- not yet, at least. See, ghosts are formed when you've been on the earthly plane for so long that you can't remember what your business is. I mean, well, that's what spiritual advisers are for. But sometimes it takes so long that you forget it- again, forget it after death, that is- and there's nothing a spiritual adviser can do about that. Generally ghosts aren't the best to hang with, to be honest. I don't have personal experience, but Sandy says that they're...just there. Sometimes they're lucid for a few moments, and that's how some ghosts actually move on. Or they get "guided" on, with help from the "other side"- which other side, depends. Other side being either earth or, well, Heaven, I guess.
I'm not sure. Again, Sandy's not exactly being forth coming.
See, we're stuck in this In Between. Seriously, it's called the "In Between". Capital letters and all. It's like a separate layer- another dimension- of the mortal world. Mortals can't see us. Or at least most can't. There are a few mortals who can see the In Between, which is then a problem, because the In Between operates on pretty strict rules that Sandy has even made me memorize, that witch and-
Yeah, yeah, I get it- you weren't a witch.
Wait...does that mean witches actually exist?
Really? Ooh, that's cool. I always wanted to be a witch when I was a kid. But-
Yeah, yeah, getting back to writing. Not reminiscing- though I thought that was what I was supposed to be doing?
Oh, I see. So "childhood fantasies" of mine aren't important? Just the regular details of my life? Except, and I will say this once more, loud and clear: my life is- was- boring. BORING. Got it? That's why I don't get this whole "unfinished business" thing, because there is no reason to have any.
Anyways, we (generally) can't interact with Earth/the Human Realm/whatever, and they can't really interact with us. There are times and places when the barrier is thin, but on a general basis, we keep to our world and they keep to theirs. But ghosts- and wraiths and echoes and spirits and shades- will generally have a certain time or place or person or emotion or something that allows them more access to the mortal world. It all really depends on various factors and there's no rhyme or reason about it.
At least- that's how things normally are. Like I said, I'm a bit of an exception. Because instead of waking up and realizing I was dead, (which does happen on occasion), not only did I completely ignore my death, but I also carried on with my life. As in, I stayed in the mortal world. With my body. And everything. No funeral for me. Heck, my friends and family still think I'm alive. My boss still thinks I'm alive. My cat still thinks I'm alive. And animals are supposed to know these things apparently. Then again, my cat was never the brightest in the bunch. She was kind of a gift/dumped on me and we aren't exactly close...
Anyways- the whole "carrying on with life" thing, with body? Being able to interact with the mortal world? Yeah. That's not so normal. There has to be a reason for it- Sandy is big on the natural order of things and that there is an explanation for everything (I think she was studying to be a scientist or something when she died, though I don't think they were big on woman scientists in the sixteenth century...)
Oh. I see. Yeah, sorry about the witch comment then.
Man, talk about putting my foot into my mouth. Turns out that Sandy? Was a victim of the witch burnings under Elizabeth the First. Foreign, a woman, beautiful, smart, and apparently she preferred to diddle in her father's experiments instead of court guys, so they decided she was a witch and burned her. Harsh.
So, yeah, erm, after the not-so-lovely interlude into Sandy's former life, the point is that I am a freak and I don't know why. Heh, that rhymes. And so I'm kind of stuck carrying on with my (former) life while I also have to adjust to the fact that not only am I dead, but that 1) I have no memory of the event, 2) or why it happened, 3) I have to figure out what's keeping me here and 4) I have to deal with it. However it needs to be dealt with.
And with that said- I've really got to get to work. And after work I'm hanging with Lissy from the office, meeting up with her and a few other girls for drinks and a chance to badmouth our boss, who is a complete jerk, I must add. You know what the entire irony of this whole caught-between-life-and-death thing is? It's that I have more of a social life now than I did when I was alive. Seriously. Before I practically was wasting away from going to work and then going to class (I take the occasional class from the Community College in town) and going home and rarely if ever going out with other people. And now I actually (gasp) hang out with other people.
And yes, Sandy, I promise that after I get back from hanging with Lissy and company that I will write about my latest memory. Though I could basically summarize it here: got up, went to work, boss was an ass, went home, slept, woke up and repeat cycle.
See, I told you I was incredibly boring...
Little did I know how that was going to change- and not necessarily for the better.
Author: in_excelsis_dea
Characters: Isabelle Haydon
Fandom: Original
Rating: PG-13
Prompt: firstline_fic week 14 I didn't realize for a long time that I was dead., 31_days Dec. 11 dying is what, to live, each has to do and 64damn_prompts prompt 32 linger.
AN: This sort of got away from me and this is probably the prologue/first chapter.
I didn't realize for a long time I was dead. I know it sounds nuts, but honestly, being dead just never occurred to me. There wasn't just one day when I woke up dead, to find that my life had passed on by. I simply continued to wake up every morning, got up, did my routine, went to work, did my work, went home, chilled- apparently literally- and just...existed. It was a life, and nothing that really stood out. Heck, I don't even remember dying.
Apparently that's normal.
Or at least, that's what Sandy says. Sandy- Melisande Rosier- is my "spiritual" adviser. See, apparently- and yes, I'm aware I use this word a lot, but really I have to, because nothing else fits and Sandy says it's more important to get down the feelings than worry about grammar or spelling or the actual mechanics of writing- anyways. Where was I? Oh yes. Apparently, while not common, dying and, er, refusing to actually die does happen on occasion. Usually it's because of unfinished business, and Sandy- and her colleagues, the other spiritual advisers, help you figure out what it is, complete it (or have it completed for you) and then, viola, you can move on. Move on to where- I don't exactly know. Apparently it's different for everyone, at least that's what Sandy says, and she refuses to say anything more about it.
Spoil sport.
And quit reading over my shoulder!
God, I swear, sometimes...
Wait, can I say that? Oh geez, I hope so. I mean, I don't want to get like sent to Hell or anything. If it exists.
Which, Sandy has just informed me, because she keeps on reading over my SHOULDER!!!, it does. Exist, that is. Whoopee. Though maybe not. I'd really like to keep away from there if possible.
Okay, okay, I get it. Don't worry about a place that unless I really screw up big time, I'm not going to end up. Got it. Thanks for the reassurance...
Oh, and I can say God too? Great. What about other swears?
Not to push it?
Okay...
I think I'm getting on Sandy's nerves. This is probably not a very good thing, since she's the only person who actually has some idea of what's going on with me. As much as one can have with me, because my situation apparently isn't that normal...
Yeah, apparently among the freaks, I am a freak of the highest order. See, like I said, you have unfinished business, you complete it, viola, you're done. But even then, when you're working on the unfinished business, you're a bit more...incorporeal than I currently am. Usually. I mean, there are exceptions (besides yours truly, thank you very much), but the norm is you take on that pearly white/grey/shimmery form that everyone knows and recognizes as a ghost. Though you're not- not yet, at least. See, ghosts are formed when you've been on the earthly plane for so long that you can't remember what your business is. I mean, well, that's what spiritual advisers are for. But sometimes it takes so long that you forget it- again, forget it after death, that is- and there's nothing a spiritual adviser can do about that. Generally ghosts aren't the best to hang with, to be honest. I don't have personal experience, but Sandy says that they're...just there. Sometimes they're lucid for a few moments, and that's how some ghosts actually move on. Or they get "guided" on, with help from the "other side"- which other side, depends. Other side being either earth or, well, Heaven, I guess.
I'm not sure. Again, Sandy's not exactly being forth coming.
See, we're stuck in this In Between. Seriously, it's called the "In Between". Capital letters and all. It's like a separate layer- another dimension- of the mortal world. Mortals can't see us. Or at least most can't. There are a few mortals who can see the In Between, which is then a problem, because the In Between operates on pretty strict rules that Sandy has even made me memorize, that witch and-
Yeah, yeah, I get it- you weren't a witch.
Wait...does that mean witches actually exist?
Really? Ooh, that's cool. I always wanted to be a witch when I was a kid. But-
Yeah, yeah, getting back to writing. Not reminiscing- though I thought that was what I was supposed to be doing?
Oh, I see. So "childhood fantasies" of mine aren't important? Just the regular details of my life? Except, and I will say this once more, loud and clear: my life is- was- boring. BORING. Got it? That's why I don't get this whole "unfinished business" thing, because there is no reason to have any.
Anyways, we (generally) can't interact with Earth/the Human Realm/whatever, and they can't really interact with us. There are times and places when the barrier is thin, but on a general basis, we keep to our world and they keep to theirs. But ghosts- and wraiths and echoes and spirits and shades- will generally have a certain time or place or person or emotion or something that allows them more access to the mortal world. It all really depends on various factors and there's no rhyme or reason about it.
At least- that's how things normally are. Like I said, I'm a bit of an exception. Because instead of waking up and realizing I was dead, (which does happen on occasion), not only did I completely ignore my death, but I also carried on with my life. As in, I stayed in the mortal world. With my body. And everything. No funeral for me. Heck, my friends and family still think I'm alive. My boss still thinks I'm alive. My cat still thinks I'm alive. And animals are supposed to know these things apparently. Then again, my cat was never the brightest in the bunch. She was kind of a gift/dumped on me and we aren't exactly close...
Anyways- the whole "carrying on with life" thing, with body? Being able to interact with the mortal world? Yeah. That's not so normal. There has to be a reason for it- Sandy is big on the natural order of things and that there is an explanation for everything (I think she was studying to be a scientist or something when she died, though I don't think they were big on woman scientists in the sixteenth century...)
Oh. I see. Yeah, sorry about the witch comment then.
Man, talk about putting my foot into my mouth. Turns out that Sandy? Was a victim of the witch burnings under Elizabeth the First. Foreign, a woman, beautiful, smart, and apparently she preferred to diddle in her father's experiments instead of court guys, so they decided she was a witch and burned her. Harsh.
So, yeah, erm, after the not-so-lovely interlude into Sandy's former life, the point is that I am a freak and I don't know why. Heh, that rhymes. And so I'm kind of stuck carrying on with my (former) life while I also have to adjust to the fact that not only am I dead, but that 1) I have no memory of the event, 2) or why it happened, 3) I have to figure out what's keeping me here and 4) I have to deal with it. However it needs to be dealt with.
And with that said- I've really got to get to work. And after work I'm hanging with Lissy from the office, meeting up with her and a few other girls for drinks and a chance to badmouth our boss, who is a complete jerk, I must add. You know what the entire irony of this whole caught-between-life-and-death thing is? It's that I have more of a social life now than I did when I was alive. Seriously. Before I practically was wasting away from going to work and then going to class (I take the occasional class from the Community College in town) and going home and rarely if ever going out with other people. And now I actually (gasp) hang out with other people.
And yes, Sandy, I promise that after I get back from hanging with Lissy and company that I will write about my latest memory. Though I could basically summarize it here: got up, went to work, boss was an ass, went home, slept, woke up and repeat cycle.
See, I told you I was incredibly boring...
Little did I know how that was going to change- and not necessarily for the better.