Mom, Trust Me One Last Time

The phone suddenly rang. Mom answered immediately. "What? There's a problem with the experimental data? Alright, I'll be there right away."

The door had barely opened a crack before she shut it again. From outside, she called impatiently, "Jessie, you've been eating, sleeping, and living in that attic. If you don't shower soon, you'll grow a whole forest on yourself!

"Get out here, take a bath, and reflect on what you've done. Don't disgust us anymore! If you haven't cleaned up before I get back from work, you're writing a ten-thousand-word reflection essay!"

I froze.

Just a little more, and she would have found me.

I didn't want to keep rotting like this.

I liked being clean. I liked being pretty. I didn't want to smell like a decaying corpse.

All I could do was stare helplessly as she walked away.

Ryan had somehow read that wet clothes could absorb odors. He had actually soaked every piece of clothing in my closet and stuffed them into the crack under the door to block the smell.

However, the stench of a corpse was far too strong.

The weather was unusually hot that day. By the time Mom came home from work, the entire house was filled with the foul reek of decay.

Neighbors were already gathered outside, pointing and whispering among themselves. Some complained that Mom was polluting the neighborhood. Others threatened to call the police.

Everyone had something to say, but no one heard me screaming.

Mom apologized politely to the neighbors before storming up to the attic in anger. "Jessie! Are you trying to kill me? Isn't embarrassing me at home enough? Do you have to make sure everyone knows what a failure I am as a mother?"

She shoved the door open forcefully, only to stagger back as the smell of decay hit her. The attic light was broken. Mom pinched her nose and stepped inside slowly. Only then did she notice that I hadn't moved at all.

"Jessie? Jessie?"

Mom turned anxious. "Don't think you can scare me like this. The chip just sent me a devil signal. Get up and go take a shower…"

The moment she touched me, Mom froze. I was cold, stiff, and decayed in a way that no living being could ever feel.

"Jessie!"

With a single push from Mom, my corpse slumped to the side, still fixed in the same pose.

By the attic's leaky corner, the moonlight finally revealed my bluish-white, distorted face.

Mom's scream tore through the night.