Rising the Dead

Boredom produces strange things. No species could ever escape it. Three young immortals were quick to discover this. Summer brought nothing to do in the countryside. The three youths sat by an empty riverbank.

“I think I feel sad,” the oldest of the three said. His friends looked up with strange looks on their faces.

“No,” the only girl of the trio said. “You are just bored.” The older shrugged his shoulders.

“Well, I’m sad and bored,” he said. The girl turned back to the still river. The youngest of the trio’s face lit up when an idea came into his head.

“Hey guys,” he said. “I want to show you something.” His friends gave him a rather curious look.

“What?” the older boy asked. The younger one rose to his feet.

“Follow me,” he said. The young man walked towards the thick woods. The other two immortals looked at each other. Where is he going? Curious, they got up and followed him.

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The youngest of the three led his friends into a clearing. The girl’s eyes shifted left and right as she followed behind.

“What are we doing out here?” she asked. The kid immortal turned around with a grin on his friends.

“Come and look at this,” he said. The boy walked up to a rusty gate and used his powers to open it. His friends watched as it slid open. It didn’t take long for them to realize where they were.

“Why are we in a graveyard?” the older boy asked. The younger boy grinned as he walked over to a random grave.

“Let me show you,” he said. The boy rested his hand on the grave and let a soft hazy light float into the ground. Suddenly, an old man froze up from the grave. The kid’s friends began to panic.

“Ichiro!” the girl said. “What are you thinking? We can’t go around bringing back the dead!”

“Why not?” the boy asked. She struggled to give him an answer.

“It’s not right!” she said.

“Why?”

“It just isn’t!”

“Why?”

She turned to their oldest friend for help. Instead, he shrugged and shook his head. The girl had her mouth agape as she sighed. The younger immortal gave her a devilish smile.

“Come on,” he said. “Aren’t you curious to see what would happen?” The older immortals had different reactions.

“So we can do this with any grave?” the oldest asked.

“Yeah,” the younger boy said.

“Shinzo, don’t!” the girl shouted. It was too late as the oldest boy walked over to another grave and touched it. A small child sat up, looking around.

“Where am I?” he asked.

“The woods,” the oldest immortal said.

“Why?”

“You just are.”

Ichiro turned to the immortal girl. “Come on, give it a shot.”

She frowned her uneasily as he walked over to another grave and touched it. This time, a young woman rose up and looked around. The boys went around bringing back more dead people. Their female friend clenched her fists at her side as she pressed her lips together.

“Fine,” she muttered. The girl looked around at a random untouched grave. The boys were taking up the good ones. She decided that she had to move fast. The female immortal put her hand on a random grave. It took only about one second for a strange thrill to take over her as she felt a pulse run through body into the ground. The immortal girl jumped back when another girl her age sat up, groaning.

“Holy…” she murmured. The former dead girl looked up at her.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“Uh…” the immortal said. “Nobody?” She turned to her friends. “What do we do with them now?” The boys looked at her with blank eyes.

“Uh…” the boys said.

“Excuse me,” an old man said, raising his hand. The immortals turned their attention to him. The old man pulled himself to his feet.

“Some of us would like to see our families again,” he said. The youngest man narrowed his eyes at him.

“Okay…” he said. “Where are they?” The old man broke into a smile.

“Follow us,” he said. The immortal children followed the sea of the dead into a local village. Their loved ones were surprised to see them again at first. Some hid inside their houses in fear. Ichiro knocked on the doors.

“Come out!” he said. “Your loved ones want to see you!” It took one small living child to come and see the old man in lead.

“Grandpa?” he asked. The newly alive old man held out his arms and picked up the little boy.

“My child!” he said. The boy’s parents didn’t know what to think about this. The female immortal looked at her friends. Her younger friend smiled.

“See?” he asked. “Wasn’t it worth it?” His friend sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, yeah,” she muttered. The youngest of the trio clapped his hands.

“We should do it again!” he said. His friends gave him different reactions.

“Yes!” Shinzo said.

“No,” the girl replied. The youngest of the trio only heard yes and then an idea was born. He snickered and rubbed his hands together.

“You know something?” he asked. “We should make a business out of this!” The oldest of the trio clapped his hands together.

“That sounds like a great idea!” he said. The girl pressed her hand to her forehead. Why do I even bother?

On that one day in a lazy summer, three bored immortals started a business of letting the dead see their loved ones again in this one particular village. It would take years to perfect, but the youths weren’t too worried about that now. After all, what could possibly go wrong? Well… Give it a couple more years to see…

The Dead Will Rise