Living the Day

Dylan Wise

Justin Fredricks sits in his home, making every effort not to leave his house and watching the disaster that is today. What is happening in front of his very eyes happens every year. The dead are no longer dead… for the next 24 hours. He sits on his couch, wide-eyed, as Elvis Presley stands on the stage at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia singing “Heartbreak Hotel” while standing in front of a red Tesla P90D. His hands are chained to the microphone and a gun is put to his head by a man wearing a Tesla T-shirt. Elon Musk sits in the upper section of the theater, laughing and pointing at Elvis while he smokes marijuana and talks to his friends Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffett. Justin immediately changes the channel, disgusted with what he just witnessed. He cannot believe that a country like the United States of America, a country in which he lived would allow something so horrible to happen. Once a year, every dead person came back to life for one day. Sadly, in a world that revolves around profit and wealth, this day was seen as an economic opportunity rather than a celebration that should be enjoyed by all. Anyone with money and power had one goal: purchase as many dead people as possible. They would hide their bodies in storage cellars, refrigerators, or wherever else they felt like doing so and then (once a year) brought their bodies out of storage and used them to make a profit, treating them like slaves and using them to entertain their guests. Now every year on June 5, Walt Disney World or Walt Disney Land (they alternate each year), would haul in twice as much as they do on any other day (including Christmas) because Walt Disney himself is waiting to greet guests, held at gunpoint by a resort employee wearing a t shirt bearing his name.

Justin can’t stand what happens on this day. Innocent people are being abused and taken advantage of in a circumstance that should be regarded as a gift and not a means to turn a profit. The thing companies love about this day more than anything is when it falls on the days of big events or sports competitions. It was reported that, this year, Michael Jackson would be performing at FedEx during a game between the Washington Redskins and the Cinncinati Bengals. This game would be particularly interesting because of the matchup between a deceased Washington Redskins safety named Sean Taylor and a deceased Bengals wide receiver named Chris Henry. Taylor, who had been a promising cornerback, had his life cut short when he was killed in a homicide.  Henry had died in a car accident. The problem is, none of these dead people wanted to be where they were. To force Michael Jackson to sing at FedEx field, the NFL had threatened to torture him until he died yet again. To force the two football players to participate, the NFL threatened to take all of the money that they had left for their families when they died. Jimi Hendrix would be playing the National Anthem at Daytona International Speedway before a NASCAR race in which legendary racer Dale Earnhardt Sr. would be featured (he would be driving on the same track and go around the same turn in which he died on February 18,2001). Though, NASCAR (in order to force Earnhardt to race) threatened to kill Earnhardt’s son in the same way that Earnhardt died by paying a racer to ram Dale Earnhardt Jr. into a wall and forced Hendrix to perform by placing a bomb right underneath the stage on which he was standing. Corporations were making billions off of something that should have never been seen as a means to make a profit. Justin is absolutely furious with those who allow this day to happen. What is being done, as far as Justin is concerned, is a complete sign of disrespect. He feels that those who participate in this horrible holiday should be ashamed of themselves. Justin flips the channel again… and again… and again. Every show on television today has a cameo from an actor or famous person who has died. Albert Einstein was a guest speaker for a physics class at Yale University today. In order to ensure our national security, the Navy SEALs were going to a compound Abbotttabad, Pahkistan today to kill a man they had already killed before. A man who the news was now calling “the most wanted dead man in the world”. Adolf Hitler was trying to rebuild his Nazi regime over the course of 24 hours. Not only was today pointless, it was also the most dangerous holiday on the planet. The return of the dead was not limited strictly to those who did good. Those who did bad also were returned to the world for a 24 hour period. From mass shooters to terrible dictators, So many horrible people had been brought back to life. Some of these people were bought by corporations just so they wouldn’t be released into society (every year that Hitler came back, he was taken out of the freezer in which the company that owned him kept him in and was hung by his neck in a room until the 24 hour period was over) (he would literally choke for 24 hours and then died). While other people were bought by terrorist groups or other horrible organizations and used to do their bidding. It was reported that right now Ghengis Khan was leading a terrorist group who were going to try to accomplish their goal in a matter of one day. Justin turns off the television. He can’t take it anymore. Everything about today was wrong. No matter who it was, dead people should not be allowed to just make their way back into society for 24 hours each year, at least that’s how he felt. Justin throws the remote at the wall, just a few feet from the television, lays down on the couch, and closes his eyes, comforted by the fact that when he wakes up from his nap, today will be over.