Thinking about Death

 This is the latest prompt in the Flash Fiction Marathon. One a day.

Day 5: He knew he was going to die.

 

When Jack was eight, he saw photos of the bodies frozen in ash in Pompei. After that, nights when he went to bed, he worried that a volcano would suddenly appear in the Iowa cornfields and he wouldn’t live the night. It was little comfort his body would be preserved forever in lava.

In high school, he was captain of his football team until he heard about a football player who died of a broken neck after being tackled. None of his friends understood why he quit the team.

His wife never understood why he wouldn’t go on airplane. He talked about plane crashes all the way to the airport to leave her off for her trip to Paris alone.

He always wore his seat belt in the car. Later he wore a helmet.

His doctor said, “Congratulations, I finally found something after discovering you had none of the known diseases?”

“Oh, my God. Will I die?”

“Not yet. It’s a sore throat. I’ll give you some antibiotics.”

He was too young to serve in WWII and too old for Vietnam. He was grateful. He had pictured his wife being presented with the American flag after the six marines folded it and “Taps” played in the background.

Once he had internet he followed every bit of advice until something else contradicted it.

At 91 he went to bed and didn’t wake up. During the night he had dreamed about the things he hadn’t done in his life.

244 words