244 of 366 (2/3 through!): Death Unawareness

One in five dead people don't know they're dead.

This is a startling statistic. Death Awareness, or specifically, recognition of the lack thereof, is a common affliction, making the living uneasy but the dead feel foolish.

How do we raise Death Awareness in the Death Unaware?

The living have no trouble accepting the reality of death in the risks we take daily. It's why we don't point guns at police, drive without seatbelts, or walk into an ethnically concentrated neighborhood shouting anti-ethnic slogans that pertain to said concentrated ethnicities.

Anyone having major surgery knows they could die right there on the table, hence the devotional send-off by loved ones...just in case.

Ah, but the dead.

Often clueless, their Death Unawareness comes from the natural postmortem biochemical reaction of denial that brews during brain fizzling in the acidosis from the lactic acid buildup inherent in fatal hypoxia.

Eighty percent of the dying realize things ain't so great when they see that light. But the one-in-five fail to make the connection. These are the very stiffs for whom Death Unawareness proves so problematic.

Most forensic explorations in the literature (i.e., Book of the Dead) hypothesize that these feckless, newly dead wonder why they're hovering over their bodies, whether it be in a hospital emergency room or at a busy intersection after an accident.

Those who have the "beautiful death," after a long illness—with loved ones by their bedsides—"get it" right away. In fact, usually, their wish has been granted.

But those dying unexpectedly, too young, accidentally, inopportunely, or because of some stupid, foolish death-defying stunt...

Famous Redneck last words: "Hey! Watch this!"

...these are the ones around the death scene wondering what all the commotion's about. And when a sneaking suspicion dares raise its ugly head in their unconsciousness, they usually double down on denial. This makes for one really pissed-off ghost.

Forget Casper! There are no friendly ghosts. These wraiths are bitter and resentful. They're still trying to argue the point that they just can't be dead—nuh-uh, no way!

Thus, for ghosts, "living" in denial is the only way they live—a pun as cruel as it is a joke; but they're not laughing. Stay away from them.

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AUTHOR'S NOTES:

For Saturday, August 31, Day 244 of the 2024 Story-a-Day Challenge

Today is #244, meaning I am 2/3 of the way through the full 366 days. (My cup is MORE than half-full!) Another milestone!

366 WORDS (without A/N)

Accompaniment photos were AI-generated but the spirits were not.

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THIS CHALLENGE HAUNTS ON, 366 EPHEMERALS AT A TIME.

There are currently three surviving, living, breathing, breathy, warm-blooded, able-bodied Vocal mouth-breathers still spurnong out-of-body experiences in the 2024 Story-a-Day Challenge:

• L.C. Schäfer, (Ghosted)

• Rachel Deeming (Spirited)

• Gerard DiLeo (Ghouled)

Read them. Support them. Make them feel at home where you are.