They exhumed an entire body from all the planters in the mall.
Well, except for the head.
Since this whole thing went down just two towns over, the coroner kept it under lock and key. There were armed guards too.
Some thought it was overkill for a few weird rumours but a few people volunteered.
Some weren’t convinced this was anything other than a really fucked up prank but I knew better.
I was at ground zero the first time. I dug up a finger in my community garden plot for fucks sake.
I was dreading going to sleep but I knew I’d have to eventually or it wouldn’t be my choice eventually.
I woke up in the mall. The body stands before me. It beckons me to follow. I refuse but then my feet start moving against my will. We get to the fountain. The next thing I know, I’m in the fountain. I’m sinking. I’m under water but I can still breathe. That’s not the comfort you’d expect it to be.
I wake up for real this time drenched in sweat. Or at least I think so. I think I saw a nickel roll away under the bed but I couldn’t find it.
My friend who did end up staying with us had the same dream.
The next night too.
And the next.
I was so god damned tired.
I guess I wasn’t the only one.
By the end of the month, the body disappeared again.
This time it was a relief. If only because the dreams stopped.
But like I’d been dreading, the body reappeared at the mall. It was laying down in the fountain, posed as though it was lounging in the pool.
The dream changed that night.
I woke up under water. For some reason, I was all right with this. I step out, refreshed. But I’m missing something.
I need a head.
I wander looking through the mall. It’s empty.
Help.
I wake up again, in my bed this time. I know what I must do. This sounds insane but so was what actually happened last time.
I’m going to give it a head.
Something a lot less terrifying than a god damned elk skull.
Thank god for build a bear. I had to drive a few more towns over but I was ready.
My friend thought I was crazy but thankfully agreed to help anyways.
I mean, worst case scenario, we look like idiots and have to pay a fine, right?
With them playing ‘crazy self proclaimed psychic and exorcist’, I managed to sneak past security and put the head on the body.
They must have been just as tired as I was since nobody tried to stop me inside the mall.
I was turning to head home when I tripped over something and fell back into the fountain. I looked down to see what I’d tripped over.
A waterlogged stuffed bear. Missing a head.
The body was gone.
I was waiting for the other shoe to drop.
I’m sitting at the fountain again. There’s people here. I don’t know if I’m awake. The body with the plush head is beside me. It has the shiniest dollar coins where the shiny blue eyes used to be. I don’t know if I’m awake.