A flickering lone light, with a frayed string for a switch, illuminated the small room as it hung fastened to the ceiling. Worn shoes littered the floor. Clothing draped upon old metal hangers coated in dust and rot. Garments that held nothing of value for their former wearers, yet still acted as food for the moths. There were boxes stacked about whose contents held things of the past. Years were written along the sides, ordaining them with swift black sharpie. The undead thing reached down and pulled the top from one of the boxes; revealing a small black tablet inside; the kind that school children used in combination with chalk.

Picking up the tablet, the creature took its boney, filed down finger and began to etch and scribe. The screeching was far worse than human nails on a black board. And even after all this time, the girl still shuddered and clenched her teeth when she heard it. Once finished, the animated remains flipped the tablet around so that the girl could see.

“Truth?” she read. Sighing as she said it.

“No. At one time that may have been possible, but not now. Not ever.” The somberness that trailed along with her explanation was proof that she indeed believed what she said.

A knuckled finger came up as the corporeal entity scratched its head, obviously thinking while it stood. After a moment, it reached over and used the sleeve of a hanging coat to erase the board. The cloth held barely enough integrity to remove the markings before eventually disintegrating. Beginning again, the being wrote and marked the tablet. Turning the board to face the girl, it shrugged its shoulders as it revealed the newly written word.

 “Why?” the girl breathed the word as she spoke what was written. It was such small word, but was now wrapped in painfully apparent complexity.

 “Come on Endo, we have been over this.”

There was affection surrounded in sadness as she spoke. In the beginning, when they had first met, she used the nickname all the time. But as the years wore on, and the bizarre turned into the normal, the moniker had faded. The girl could not remember the last time she had used it.

“I understand. You want out. But if I do as you ask, how will I ever be loved? Who will have me should they know you exist?” The shakiness in her voice seemed to cause the creature to hang its head. Lacking muscle, its skull swung back and forth on an unsupported neck, vertebral column clicking while it did. Finally, reaching out, the undead being patted the girl’s hand in comprehension. For it had always acted with compassion and never anger.

Removing the hand, the entity’s attention once again returned to the writing tablet. This time it took much longer to scrawl what it desired. As it made harsh movements with its finger on the surface. When finished, the undead being glanced at the girl and then down at the board, repeating this several times. Looking very uncertain as to whether it should allow her to read what was written. Finally, it slowly pivoted a corner, and swung the board around so that she could see.

On the tablet’s face, the girl noticed that the prior question had been crossed out. Below it, there were four shaky words.

“Want. Life. Please. Free.”

The girl’s eyes could be seen filling as she read them. And for a time it appeared that they may indeed spill. But they didn’t. Instead, the ocular tide pools eventually receded and a vacant compassion returned.

“I am sorry Endo. It can never be. Don’t hate me. Not you.”

It was the girls turn to reach out then. She stroked the side of the creature’s jaunty face with a lover’s affection. Exactly where the flesh of the cheek used to be and could be again, were its wish granted. To be freed and given life renewed. But, as they both had found, secrets age differently than humans. And bones were now the only thing that was left.

“Please, would you-“ she sputtered.“Could you still-“ continuing with a choke.“Can you do this for me?” she finally managed to ask.

Even without lips, the undead being’s jaw lifted ever so slightly. The girl knew that it was offering a toothy smile. So she smiled, leaned forward, and kissed the beautifully hideous thing’s forehead. Then, pulling her lips away and removing her hand, she reached up and grabbed the string. Jerking directly downward so as to break the circuit and cut the power to the bulb. Darkness descended and then surrounded the creature. All except for the slivers of light that wrapped themselves around the girl’s silhouette standing solemnly in the doorway.

The former corpse gave a haunting wave while it stood waiting. But the girl did not return it. For the closing ceremony had already concluded. And with the remaining light fading, she closed the closet door, and allowed the vacuum black to once again envelope her skeleton.