The Cadaver: A Halloween Tale

Simon sprinted his way down the hallway of the Science Building at the University. “This is utter insanity ! It’s college, not a track meet. I mean why did they schedule my classes so far apart !”

Simon dodged an opening door and a spot of slick floor before approaching the Gross Anatomy Lab. Regrettably, he was ten minutes late and was expecting hard stares from his professor.

Simon entered the lab breathless as the professor played him the cold shoulder.

Simon prepped for the dissection of the cadaver. He roughly scoured his hands, placed on protective clothing and a double layer of powdered latex gloves. He joined his team of five medical students who were already working on the cadaver.

Simon swiped a scalpel and was about to make an incision, but his team prevented him from making any contact. They also acted strange by ignoring anything he had to say. He thought they were upset with him being late so he kept quiet. When the class ended Simon realized he had not laid one finger on the cadaver. Simon was furious.

“ Who comes out of Gross Anatomy squeaky clean ! I mean come on……..where’s the sweet smell of Formaldehyde and splattered gastric juices !”, Simon complained.

Simon flung his bone dry gloves and protective clothing,that still smelled like mountain fresh dryer sheets, into the bio-hazard container. Simon approached the professor before he left to see what the h*ll was going on. Before he could peep out a word the professor spoke.

“ I know you are wondering why you were not allowed to participate in the dissection today……I didn’t want you to freak out”.

“ Why would I freak out? I have been cutting into cadaver flesh for over a month”, Simon questioned with a dumbfounded look.

“ The truth is…that was you on the table today”, the Professor confessed with a frown.

“ What !”, Simon yelled.

“ I’m sorry to have to break it to you kid, but you died exactly one year ago today on Halloween”, bluntly stated the Professor.

“ If I am dead then how can you see me?”, Simon smartly asked.

“ Lets just say I have a gift”, the Professor admitted with an honest smile.

“ I don’t believe you !”, Simon laughed.

“ Take a peek under the head sheet and you will see yourself”, the Professor suggested.

The Professor left the lab quietly.

Simon didn’t believe it. Simon could remember what he had for breakfast at Mackey’s Diner this morning; two eggs over easy, home fries, dry wheat toast and two cups of decaf coffee with cream. The waitress had to take his eggs back because they were overcooked and they buttered his toast. The guy sitting next to him with a red trucker hat complained that his short stack pancakes were not done in the middle and the coffee tasted burnt. The jute box was playing “Let’s Twist Again”, by Chubby Checker. He also remembered his Biology Class that morning and being called out while day dreaming about a girl he met the night before. Furthermore he recalled interacting with several of his friends and joining a study group. There was just too much evidence that he was alive.

To humor the professor and to be a good sport, Simon pulled the cadaver back out.

Simon heart raced a bit…as he peeled back the veil covering the cadavers head. Suddenly he collapsed and fell into convulsions. His heart fluttered until it stilled.

A few minutes later the professor came back into the lab with his team classmates who were a sneaky part of the little Halloween prank for Simon, but they were horrified when they saw him lying lifeless on the floor next to the cadaver.

The professor looked at the Cadaver and gasped in disbelief. The cadaver’s face looked just like Simon's.

After time came to pass the story all started to make sense. The cadaver was tagged as a John Doe…come to find out it was Simon’s twin brother he never knew he had. Unknown to the pranksters, Simon had a heart condition and died of fright when he thought he saw himself as the cadaver. Just when things couldn’t get creepier, they did….the John Doe cadaver went missing and so did the body of Simon. Happy Halloween!!!