The Smell of Grief

Kirie Pedersen

The grieving are a danger to themselves and to others. Side effects include illnesses that mimic those of the deceased, difficulty eating and sleeping, nightmares and night terrors, relating to others as if through a screen or glass, and a craving for solitude coupled with a need to be held.

You might weep in public and howl while alone, take friends or lovers emotional hostage in your shrinking world, face your own impending death.

Face your urge to hasten it.

You might tell those yammering about how their own mother died: Please. Shut. Up.

See the full story The Smell of Grief by Kirie Pedersen in Pithead Chapel, an online journal of gutsy narratives.