Awakening

I saw a dead body today.

The body was of a man, wearing only shorts and dark socks. He had jumped out of a high rise condominium unit and landed on the gutter across the street.

Many thoughts came into my mind when I first saw his mangled body. It felt unreal. His skin was yellow. His arms and legs were no longer distinguishable from the rest of his body because his bones looked like they all collapsed and no longer supported his flesh. The back of his head was facing our direction…thank goodness I didn’t see his face – if he had one left at all.

The carefully posed bodies in the movies and on TV were nothing compared to this. In my naïveté, I thought all the CSI I’ve been watching would prepare me to see an actual “db.” I was wrong.

It’s my fault I looked. I allowed my morbid curiosity to take over.

I can still see the body lying on the gutter…mangled and lifeless.

The thrill of seeing a “db” is not worth the trauma after...too late for me. The image is seared into my mind.

Next time, I will look away, like I used to.