Psychosavvato

Fog was the only thing I saw. Nothing else was visible. I tried to look around me. My sister, Barbara, was next to me, and behind us was our house, which was easily the only visible thing within a radius of three meters. What were we doing here? Ah! It must be Psychosavvato* today; that's why I was holding a tray of koliva*. We must be on our way to the church; that's the only reasonable explanation. "Have you got the list with you, Kathy?" my sister asked. "Which list?" "The list of names of our dead. The one we need to take to church, to be read by the priest." The LIST! Why did my sister always assume that I forgot something or that I wasn't responsible enough? It was always like that with her; she was keen on underestimating me ever since we were little - I think. The problem was that I wasn't really sure I got it. Think, Kathy, think! There it is. I do recall writing the damn list... "Of course I've got it, Barbara!" I replied and, with that, we headed for the church.

A few metres down our street, some other houses started popping up from between the thick fog. "These houses used to be booming with life!" Barbara said, looking sceptical. "Look, you'll have to choose your personality," I interrupted her. "When the kids are noisy, you complain. When there is no noise, you complain again. You grew to be an old hag, sister. I pity you." She did not comment on that, so we just kept on walking. Point made! I mean, I love my sister, but the older she gets, the grumpier she becomes.

A big grey house emerged from the fog. Laura's home. An old lady had her back turned to us while cleaning her spotless porch. "It's Laura!" I said, happy to see her. "Let's go say hi!" "Wait!" My sister tried to stop me, but it was no help. I was too excited to see Laura again, and my sister was fat, older and slower, so... "Hey, Laura," I screeched, though my old voice was not as efficient as it used to be. Speaking of lack of efficiency, Laura's deafness must have gotten worse because she didn't seem to react. Meanwhile, my sister was now well behind me, almost lost in the fog. When I got closer, Laura finally seemed to listen to me and started turning. I started going for a hug, only to stop abruptly, gasping for air. This wasn't my dear friend Laura. This was whatever was left of her. Her face had been sucked in. Her eyes had a milky color and no pupils, and her skin was pure white but looked grey with all the dark veins showing like that. Before I got to say anything, a hand grasped me, scaring my whole existence off. I screamed (and partly peed myself in the process) while turning to see to whom the hand belonged - half expecting to see dead-Laura teleported behind me. Thank God it was my sister!

Before I got to think about it, Barbara was already dragging me away. Still in disbelief, I turned my head to peek at my old friend while our steps were taking us away fast - well, as fast as our old bodies could manage. Good-as-dead-Laura was still standing there, waving at us and smiling? That was the creepiest thing I've ever seen in my life. "What happened to her?" I finally said. "Cancer," Barbara said. "What, since when?" "She had it for 5 years. Didn't tell anyone, didn't go to the doctor. No treatment, nothing. Her family was devastated." "What a horrible thing. Why did you take me away like that? It's not like cancer is contagious," I objected. "Do you hear that?" Barbara's attention seemed to have shifted towards an imaginary sound that slowly made its way into my ears as well. There was a constant melody, clicking and clanking somewhere behind us. We simultaneously turned towards the melody and hesitantly walked this way. The closer we got, the more we started seeing where we were going. It was the village's cemetery. A familiar place I visited once per month for my dead, that I was now hardly recognizing with all this fog. "I want to see who plays this music," I said. "We better not, Kathy," Barbara started saying, but I was already on my way to the tall perimeter wall of the cemetery. "Can you lift me?" I asked Barbara, who had given up and followed me. "Kathy, I don't think we really want to see whatever is making this music IN the cemetery!" "Ah, come on," I laughed. "Don't tell me you believe in the supernatural. How bad can it be?" "Famous last words." "Can you lift me?" "Why me?" "Because I definitely cannot lift you! You are taller and, well, heavier too." "No, Kathy, I cannot lift you. I am 95, God damn it!" "Okay, good point. Can you try to stand like that?" I said, and I positioned her with her face towards the wall, standing against it. "I will try to climb on you." "You are going to do what?" She started complaining, but I was already climbing.

Lots of grunts and huffs later, I managed to balance my ass on Barbara's shoulders. My head was hardly reaching a bit above the wall. I didn't see anything, or at least I thought I wasn't, until I noticed some movement among the white gravestones and squinted my eyes. It was SKELETONS. Real skinny skeletons. I screamed. "What happened? You scared me!" Barbara shouted from below me and tried to shift. "Barbara..." I whispered. "The dead are dancing. Just bones, all in the air, moving around the graves." "This is madness, Kathy!" She moved even more this time. "I am..." I tried to balance once again. "I am telling you the truth. The melody is created by their bones." It was at that moment they all stopped simultaneously and turned to look at me all at once. I froze, but only for a second. My next reaction was to reflexively push myself away from the wall, completely losing my balance and falling on my sister. "Run!" I screamed as soon as I regained my breath and took her by the hand and started running as fast as our knees would allow. She did not complain. She was either equally terrified or completely out of breath to react. I hope her heart will make it.

As soon as we turned left at the corner, we had to finally stop running. It was either that, or we would be dead by natural causes before the skeletons got us. We were catching our breath when I saw another house nearby, just visible in the fog. A woman in her 40s was sitting on the window, only her upper body was visible. "Let's ask for help from this lady, or I am going to pee myself (again)." "NO, Kathy, no. Please don't go there." Again, it was of no use. My sister was being left behind, swallowed by the fog, and I was heading towards the house. "Excuse me, lady. Excuse me! Can I use your bathroom, please? We were going to Mass for the Psychosavvato, but I won't be able to make it without peeing myself. It's honestly an emergency. I wouldn't ask you if not." The woman slowly turned her head to look at me, smiling. She had luminous eyes and was beautiful. She did not utter a word. She just laughed, slowly. "Ha ha ha." "Eh, I am sorry, do you think an old lady peeing herself is funny?" I reacted, annoyed. And then she laughed a bit more, a bit faster, a lot louder. At the same time, the voice of my sister was edging closer, but I couldn't tell what she was saying until it was too late. "She is a curse!" Barbara said from behind me, grabbing me and pushing me onto the street. At that moment, perfectly synchronized, the laughing woman's lower body started appearing little by little, but it wasn't a human body. It was a humongous snake tail. The woman balanced outside the window while more of her tail was emerging from the house every second. There was so much snake tail in that house that the windows broke and the roof started moving as if in an earthquake. I was looking in utter disbelief. "Go inside, beast!" a male voice sounded from behind us, and we turned our heads to look in his direction. It was the priest of the village, holding a huge cross against the snake woman. It appeared to greatly affect her because, in a matter of seconds, she was back in the house and was closing the now glass-less windows and looking at the priest and his holy cross.

"Father Alexander," my sister started. "We are so lucky you found us before the curse eats us." "Worry not, Barbara child, I am glad this house is next to the church. This way I can control Charis every time she gets out of control. That was her name before, you know, she became the curse she is." "What happened to her?" I asked, unable to remove my eyes from the house. "Her husband killed her inside this very house. A tragedy, really." "Horrible," Barbara said, and then I remembered. "My tray! The kolyva! They must have fallen when we were at the cemetery. I need to go back!" I started to go, but this time my sister was faster and decisive. "Enough, Kathy!" she shouted, mad at me. "What!" "What what! You haven't given me a break all day. Everyone you see is dead. Some more tragically than others. We are better off not going near them because the dead just want to be in their peace!" She was still shouting. I was, well, confused would be an understatement. "If everyone is dead, Barbara, then why do we see them?" "Because we TOO are dead. As dead as it gets. This is our one night in the world of the living!" "But I don't remember dying..." "You never do! You are amnesiac, Kathy!" Barbara scoffed. Was I? I don't think I am. "Child, do you have the list with the names you were supposed to give me with the koliva?" the priest asked me patiently. I reached for my pocket and pulled out the piece of paper. "Read it to me, please," he said. I unfolded the paper and opened my mouth to start reading. Then closed it for a moment, not taking my eyes off the names, and opened it again. "Barbara Papadopoulos. Kathy Papadopoulos," I read.

Definitions:

*Psychosavvato: Known as "Saturday of Souls" is a bi-annual designated day of general prayer and remembrance for the dead in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

*koliva: ritual dish prepared in honor of the dead according to Eastern Orthodox tradition.