26 November 2012
Part 2
The head is just like a sleeping person on a bed of compost. It is the head of a man. He looks clean shaven and literally looks as though he is merely sleeping. I begin to shake uncontrollably. Although my mind is resistant to want to look into the next tank, my legs are moving to my right regardless. There is another head, a females this time, her head is dirty and her hair is matted and greasy. There appears to be dried up saliva around her mouth.
The nausea is overwhelming me and I can feel the bile in my mouth. I swallow it back down and the bitter, acidic taste makes me cough and gag. I then move to the right once again and the vomit is not containable, it projects out of my mouth and it hits the floor, the wall and my trousers. I can't stop shaking, I feel cold and afraid.
This head is emaciated and I can barely look at the face as it's disturbing, I feel as though I am in a scene from a horror film. It's another female head, her hair is short and dark but she has big bald patches and there are sores all around her mouth and nose. I can see dark patches all over her face and her eyes are sunken in so much that I can see the outline of her bony eye sockets. I begin to sob, my mind is shouting WHY?
I tentatively go to the next tank and this truly terrifies me, I'm aware I'm actually screaming. I cover my eyes as the sight before me is too distressing to look at. This head is just skin and bones, there is froth around the nose and mouth, I think it's a mans head but I can't be sure as the face is barely recognisable. The head is dirty, and discoloured, almost like the head is covered in bruises. I'm hysterical and I am pacing back and forth, what am I to do?
My head is in my hands, I'm looking at the black floor and then I glance at the four tanks, I realise there is a final tank that I've not yet looked at. I rush over to it and to my relief, it is empty, except for the compost that is present in all the tanks.
I run to the first tank, then to the second, third and fourth. I run back to the first, I'm staring at this fresh looking head and that is when it hits me.
The heads look like they are in varying stages of decomposition. I go back to the first head and place my hands either side of the tank and I am just looking at the mans face, trying to think, trying to understand what the hell I have just found?. Then I see a slight flicker of movement from his left eye. I look closer, did I imagine it?......I don't know why, but I begin to tap on the tank. Almost instantly the eyes of the head try to open....I jolt backwards and lose my footing, I slip and fall into the raised compost bed. The tears are streaming down my face, my nose is running and my breathing is erratic. I'm frantically trying to get out of the compost bed and that is when I feel a warm, squishy thing. I quickly manage to get out and with my bare hands I begin to dig down into the compost, almost straight away I feel the warm thing, I begin to dig down some more with one hand and with the other I'm using my hand to brush the compost away. I lift out the warm thing and although the room is dark, there is no mistaking I am holding an arm.
To be continued........
©Kim Brown 26th November 2012
Sea Stone House • Opuss № I