Dead Things in the Deep End

The pool hadn't been drained in three years. Green scum crowned the waterline like a rotting halo. Elena stood at the edge, holding her husband's shirt—still smelling of his cologne, of the car ride home, of the argument that never finished because he'd swerved into oncoming traffic.

She was thirty-four, a widow, and the walking dead. A zombie in a floral dress, moving through the motions of a life that no longer fit.

The security guard found her there. David, with his sad eyes and the scar running through his left eyebrow. He worked the night shift at the apartment complex, watching over nothing, walking the grounds with a flashlight that cut through darkness like accusation.

"You can't be here," he said, but his voice lacked conviction.

"He proposed beside this pool," she said, not turning around. "Twelve years ago. We were young and stupid and convinced love was enough."

David stepped closer. The orange glow of the security light caught his profile. "My wife left me three years ago. Said I was emotionally unavailable. Said I was like dating a cable box—always there, but mostly just background noise."

Elena laughed, a rusty sound. "That's the most honest thing a stranger has ever said to me."

They stood in silence, two broken people at the edge of a dead pool. The air was thick with humidity and unsaid things. Somewhere distant, a dog barked. A car alarm whooped once and died.

"I don't know how to live," she whispered. "Without him, I'm just... existing."

"That's the hardest part," David said. "The mornings. Waking up and remembering all over again." He reached out, his hand hovering near her shoulder before pulling back. "The zombie thing gets easier, though. Eventually you remember how to want things."

Elena turned to face him. The security light painted half his face in copper shadow. "What do you want, David?"

He hesitated. Then: "To swim. In a clean pool. To feel something besides tired."

She took his hand. His palm was warm, alive. "Tomorrow," she said. "We'll drain it. Together."

Behind them, the green water reflected an orange moon. Some dead things needed to be brought into the light before they could live again.