He's Dead

Elle finds her abusive father has committed suicide and tries to figure out what to do.

         Oh my god, he's dead. 

        My first thought: Thank god. 

        My second: What the hell will I do now.

        It is 2:30something, I'm walking through the door, and the first thing I see is my father on the floor with a gun in his hand, bullet in his brain, blood congealed around his head.

        He's dead.

        Oh my god, he's dead.

        Third thought: What the f**k am I going to tell mom? 

        That he's dead. Why, she'll ask. Good question, I'll say. He shot himself. Right. 

        Should I call an ambulance? No point, he's dead, the police would just stir up unneeded anxiety, and besides, what would mom and Sarah think when they get home and there's a fleet of police cars lined up in front of our house? She'd get all freaked out. But coming in the house and seeing her husband on the floor isn't going to help much with anxiety levels. On TV they call the police, in books they call the police, I should really just call the f*****g police. 

        Now I'm kneeling on the floor. How did I get on the floor? I should call the police. Then I'm coughing up bits of bad school pizza. But the police can't do anything, They'll ask questions. Choking on the bile.        

        He's dead, he's dead, he's dead. A little mantra flopping around on itself, losing meaning as it repeats for like the millionth time. He's dead he's dead he's dead–

        At least now there won't be any more screaming matches late at night when I'm trying to sleep. There won't be any bruises or broken plates. There will be papers, yeah. Police (I should call the police, I know I should). Mom will cry, Sarah will cry. But things will be better.

        I hope.

Author's Note

What do you think? Be as harsh as you like.

Reviews

[Hannah!]

I really like this. It's weird, because it seems both finished and unfinished at the same time--on the one hand, I want to read more, find out what happens next and what happened before, but I also think that this is great where it is. Either way, it's a great piece.

[Angela]

I think that this is an excellent start to an even better longer story. Why not expand on it. Tell us what comes next. Bring home the mom and sister and add a little police drama into it. You seem to know where this is headed, but it leaves me wanting more also. Well, even if you don't make it longer, I still think that this is pretty darn good. Thank you for sharing it. Good work!

[Steph]

i just wish there were more to this. you've got me interested in the story, but there's not enough information. i want to know the background--what this abusive father did, if the narrator really cares that he's dead, or if it's just an inconvenience because she doesn't know what to do. on the one hand, i like the idea of the simplicity, but on the other hand, it leaves me wanting more...