Day 4 – The Smell of Death

I shouldn’t have gone out.

I told myself just a short walk, same as before. Duke Street to Cemetery Road, then back. Quick air, quick stretch. But I pushed further. Curiosity. Stupidity.

That’s when I found him.

Slumped against the wall outside an old takeaway. Not fresh. Half his face gone, like it had been scooped away. Skin grey, peeling. Teeth bared. And the stink… Christ, it hit before I even saw him. Sweet, thick, rotten. It clung to my throat, sat heavy in my stomach.

I don’t know how long I stood there. Couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. Just staring. The flies didn’t care. They swarmed his mouth, his sockets, buzzing like they owned him now.

I wanted to look away but couldn’t. Thought about Janice. About her face if I’d left her like that. Thought about how long until mine looks the same.

When I finally pulled myself back, I was shaking. My legs were weak, nearly gave out. I ran. Ran like a bloody idiot all the way back to The George, slammed the metal door shut, gagging on the smell that wasn’t even there anymore.

I can still taste it. Even now, sat here scratching this out, I can taste it at the back of my throat.

That smell will never leave me.

Keith