Jack said he saw a dead body under the bridge. We’d all heard the cliche story about “hey, wanna see a dead body?” But curiosity got the better of us and we took a trip to the old train bridge. We should have stayed home.
The five of us walked in silence through the autumn forest. The colors had changed, showering the forest floor in reds, yellows, and oranges of dying leaves. Jack, Fred, Dean, Macy, and myself.
The crunching under our feet was the only sound for most of the walk. Until Jack finally broke the silence. “Did you guys say anything to your parents?”
Macy shook her head. “Is there even a dead body under the bridge or are you pulling our legs?” She was ever suspicious of Jack. He was known to participate in a prank or two. Unfortunately the last one had forced Macy to spend a day in a hair salon, trying to free her golden curls from the gooey slime Jack had put on her while she slept. It had failed, and she now wore a beanie to cover her shaved head.
Jack shoved his hands in his pockets. “Yeah.” His voice was quiet, as if speaking too loud was dangerous. His eyes shifted back and forth over the worn path before he continued. “It was all green and…well, it was dead.” He seemed at a loss for words to describe it. I scratched my cheek. I had a pretty bad itch. I wiped my face on the sleeve of my white TMNT hoodie.
Dean clapped his friend on the back and laughed. “I hope it’s dead! Otherwise this might get awkward!” Fred nodded. He had his gameboy pressed to his nose as he walked. He hated wearing his glasses but he was nearly blind without them. “Fred, why are you playing that now?”
“I have to beat King Dedede before I can turn it off. You can’t save the game.” He said in a rushed voice. The sound of the Kirby theme music became audible as he switched on the sound. “I’m nearly there! It has taken me hours to get this far.”
Dean took the system from him and turned it off. “You’ve beaten him three times this week. Come on, take a break. You’ve used up all the batteries at our house.” Fred crossed his arms and pouted, but let it go. He’d been staying with Dean over the past week because his mom had to go on a trip for work. His dad drove trucks and was rarely home anyway. I was staying there too. My parents were at a funeral a few states away. I chose to not go. I didn’t know anyone who was going to be there anyway.
Jack tugged his windbreaker tighter around his chin. It was fairly cold in Massachusetts this time of year. “There’s the bridge!” Dean shouted as he pointed to an old train bridge farther ahead. It wasn’t big, maybe 500 feet long, connecting two sides of a small river that cut through the hillside. He ran ahead of us and turned to wave. “Hurry up slowpokes!”
We all picked up our pace and met him just as he reached the end of the bridge. “Where is it?” He asked, looked left and right with his hand over his eyes to shield the sun. Jack pointed to the left, under some cardboard. Dean slid down the hill and reached for the edge of the cardboard.
“Wait!” Macy cried, covering her eyes with her hands. “If there really is a dead body…should we really be out here alone?”
“You’re asking that NOW?” Fred exclaimed, exasperated. “Lift it up Dean.”
The cardboard was soggy, but maintained its shape fairly well as Dean lifted it from the leaves. He tossed it off to the side. What greeted their nostrils first was a rotten stench of decay. Macy shifted her hands from her eyes to her nose. “Ew!”
“Look!” Jack said. Fred and Macy leaned forward to examine the body. I took a step back instead.
“It’s so gross!” Macy cried as she looked over the purifying remains. It was green and bloated, with maggots and flies. It was in an advance state of decay. The clothes were barely recognizable as body fluids had soaked in. “It’s…kind of small. Is it a midget?”
Dean squatted down and grabbed a stick. He poked the corpse’s face. I instinctively scratched my face again. “No…it’s….” He squinted.
They all stood and looked down. Recognition hit them at the same time. They took off, running back the way they came. I didn’t follow. Instead, I stared down at the lifeless body, wearing a formerly white TMNT hoodie.