ABOVE MY CASKET
ALM No.91, July 2026
SHORT STORIES
A car crash at 24. What a stupid way to go. My casket lay below me. My parents chose it. A wooden base with gold accents. My formal flesh under me nestled into the casket. In front of me were nearly every face I had ever met. Tears filled the faces of many. I scoured for a special one. I couldn’t have pissed her off that much. Could I? People continued to fill the seats in the church corridors. Finally, that special face entered my line of sight. A young woman in a beautiful black dress clutched a bouquet of red roses. My mother rushed over to her.
“Oh, Katie, sweetheart, how are you doing?”
“I’m doing alright, Mrs. Webber. How about you?”
“As well as one would expect for a grieving mother. No parent should have to bury their child… Oh…Will.”
My mother burst into tears; Katie embraced her. Once the tears slowed down, they made their way to their seats like the rest of the crowd. My eyes stayed locked on Katie, but she sat in a seat so far from my casket that I could barely read her expression. The sound of an unfamiliar voice filled the church. I changed my gaze to the podium. A priest stood behind it.
“Hello everyone, we have gathered here today to honor the memory of a wonderful young man, William T Webber- “
I never even knew this man, yet he’s acting as if we were family. How ridiculous. People are really buying his performative speech. I lost focus until I heard a special name exit his mouth.
“Katie, would you like to give your speech first?”
Katie arose from her seat. I stared as she made her way to the podium with her bouquet still clutched.
“Hello everybody, as you may know, I was Will’s girlfriend. We began dating 3 years ago- “
Abruptly, I felt pressure on my shoulder. I was locked in place, yet I knew what kind of authority lurked behind me. Its deep, macabre voice filled only my ears.
“William, it is time to go.”
“I know. Can’t I just watch the rest? I’m already here.”
“No, you aren’t supposed to be here.”
The weight on my shoulder shifted to a firm grip. My shoulder began to move back, but the rest of me stayed in place. I focused on the podium in front of my casket. Katie now stood behind it.
“I remember our first date. Will took me to a concert. Neither of us knew the band, but he had heard I liked rock music… that band became my favorite…”
The pressure was now on both my shoulders. My observation was getting foggy. Katie’s form blurred in front of me, but my hearing remained pristine. The looming forces’ chilling voice spoke again.
“William, don’t resist. Your body is dead. Your soul needs to as well.”
I ignored the voice in my ear. I was using all my strength to see the scene in front of me. Darkness was clouding my sight, and my hearing was getting muffled. Katie’s voice still graced my ears.
“The moment Will died… I was listening to that band, but the lyrics just disgusted me. It was ear-bleeding…It felt like I had never heard it before…”
“Enough, William. We are going,” said the voice in my ear.
My vision vanished. I felt the heaviness of an object placed on my chest. A delicate force was added to my forehead. I heard Katie’s voice, and it was clearer than before.
“Over the past few days… my feelings shifted. I learned to love that band again.”
As those words graced me, my remaining senses depleted. I didn’t need to be here anymore.
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