Orpheus - Haunting the Dead.pdf - Dice

HAUNTING THE DEAD
SETH LINDBERG
“So, do you ever think of it anymore?” Lila had
asked him late one night, right as they both were falling
asleep.
“Think of what?” he had replied sleepily.
“You know, suicide.”
Anders peered up at the ceiling. “Yes, but… not
really.”
“Not really?”
“No, it’s not a driving thing anymore.” He said this
slowly.
Lila turned, leaning on an elbow and inspecting
him dubiously. “Why do you think that is?”
Anders frowned. He thought for a while. “I really
don’t know.” But he did, he just couldn’t quite bring
himself to say it. It’s because I’ve finally found out why
I’m here.
***
The ringing phone brought him out of his reverie.
He struggled to grab the phone before it went to voice
mail.
“Hello?”
“Um, hi. Anders?” It was one of the project leaders.
What was her name? O’Farrell. Her voice had a strange
timbre to it. Anders had always been good at reading
tones in voices, slight inflections. With something as
strange as emotions, you could often be slightly off in
your interpretation, so it was definitely more an art
than a science. Still, his intuition brought the hackles
up on the back of his neck.
“This is he.”
“So, ah, how is your allotted required recuperation
time going?” She sounded distracted.
Anders thought of that blurry image on the television,
back in the mini-mart. A spectre haunting
Orpheus. “I can’t really complain.”
“Good.” Pause. “Ah, well, what I mean is…” Another
pause. Her voice grew strained now. “Are you
sitting down?”
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