wonder what'd happen?
maybe...
these are major components of conversations i'm apt to have.
supposing - the stuff of stories.
finding a body.
[a timed free-write - 10 minutes:]
how do people lose bodies? what does it mean to find a body? a body can be lost if one neglects it- the notion of a mind/body split. one can lose a body by having someone disappear from their lives - by their running away or dying. one can find a body by becoming aware of it, claiming it. finding a body can also mean discovering someone - sexually or in other emotion-linked ways. children and grandchildren - how they feel when you hug them and hold them close. how you can see or find parts of your body in theirs: your eyes, your build or structure, your cheekbones. you can find the bodies of other loved ones,too, in the bodies of your children or cousins or sisters. your husband's smile, his gait, his spatulate fingers. you can also find a body literally. discover a dead body, for instance. or one that is sleeping. what would it feel like to discover a dead body? to come upon one in an ordinary place? where would it be? what would you notice first? how do you answer questions like these from imagination? so, what if i got up right now and walked over to that history book aisle and discovered a body there? propped up against the civil war section in a sitting position, maybe. maybe i'd think they were reading at first, but then right away i'd likely notice the slumping, the strange melting of posture. i'd look around for confirmation of what i was seeing. or i'd hear myself screaming before i had any thought at all. i'd scream as loud as i could. or i'd clamp my mouth closed around the scream and rush to the information desk. i'm worried that something is wrong in history, i'd tell them. come look. oh, couldn't they just come look for themselves. and finally someone would follow me, take over, clear out the store. even i'd be asked to leave since i didn't really know anything. the whole time i'd be looking for the security cameras, wondering what'd they'd seen. and i'd wonder why i was the first person to see the body. and if i was. and what had the others before me done or thought? who were they? where were they? what kind of person would see a dead person and not do anything? not even report them to the information desk. and hadn't there been anything to hear? why hadn't someone heard something? a thud, a moan? had the person been poisoned? maybe they were dead when they got to the store but didn't know it. what kills people but isn't immediately apparent? what would i do the day after i discovered a dead body here? would i come back to this store? or would i stay away forever? who would i tell about what happened? what would the story i tell look like? would i distance myself with humor? i'd obsess, of course. that's me. and in the next days i'd create a thousand versions of what had happened and what might have happened and what could have happened. even if there were a published account or explanation, i'd have to create my own exclusive version of events. and if foul play had been involved, i would find the story that, no matter what, would give the killing a plausible motive, would make it personal, would cozy it up. after all,a person might be able to forestall a murder with a motive. anticipate it. guard against it. but a random killing? no. if i had to believe it had been a random killing, i'd likely never leave my house again.
this phenomenon seems directly related to the fear of finding a body in the forest.
finding a body - more:
- the why files and finding a body
- finding a body (or not) - via technical remote viewing - something apparently akin to a psychic security camera
- finding a body that bore rabbits - Mary Tofts, 1726
- finding a body by googling it
- finding a body by donating a body to tennessee:
If you donate your body, please send a photograph of yourself (via mail) to keep in our records. A frontal view of the face is preferred (similar to a passport or driver's license photo), but any photograph is acceptable. We request a photograph so research involving facial reconstruction and photographic superimposition as a means for identifying unknown individuals may be conducted on skeletal remains of known individuals. quoted from "Body Donation," Forensic Anthropology Center, University of Tennessee
why would a person write a blog entry on finding a body?
©2004
