Siv the skeleton

Siv was a skeleton. Not just any skeleton, no. Siv was a sentient skeleton.

He awoke inside a box, a dark and dim and terribly lonely box.

Confused and scared, Siv began to panic and scratch and claw at the box, he scratched and clawed so hard that his boney fingers broke through the wooden and dark box, but no light greeted him on the other side as he had expected, dirt and grit began to fill his lonely and cold dark box.

Siv began to dig. 

Clawing at the earth filling his box. Siv pushed mud and filth to one side as he dug up and up and up, passing layers upon layers of cold wet earth, until finally Siv broke free. His hand or what was left of it reached out and grasped at the warm air above him. Holding onto the sides of his grave he awoke in, Siv pushed his light boney body out of the ground, leaving his cold and lonely box behind.

Siv, now outside, decided to sit down on the edge of the hole he had just emerged from. Bones shaking and fearful he sat and sat until Siv grew bored of sitting. He stood and looked around, first noticing how dark it was and realising that this is probably why the sun did not enter the box. The second thing Siv noticed was that he was surrounded on all sides by stones, big vertical stones growing from the ground. Siv noticed to his great horror and shock was in a graveyard.

He looks around and shivers, not from the cold, but from the great loneliness of the place he finds himself. He begins to think of how he could have possibly found himself in a graveyard. While lost in his thoughts, he sees something in the distance. A light, one of many colours fluttering with warmth and invitation. Siv now forgetting his lonely thoughts begins to walk towards the light on shaky legs and old bones.

Siv had never had many friends in life. Always alone and lonely with no one to talk to or have a drink and laugh with. Just him all alone. As siv approaches the light he begins to grow excited. Siv now closer to the light sees that it rests on the ground, flickering in the darkness. Around the light Siv sees three people, faces glowing from the fire light. On the faces he sees smiles and hears laughter. Siv, noticing this wants to join in and so stumbles closer hoping that maybe he can finally make his first friend. Each step Siv takes brings him closer to this group and his excitement grows. With a final step Siv moves into the light, a crunch of leaves under his foot draws the attention of the three new friends, they look at him in stunned silence, Siv opens his mouth to speak but nothing comes out, just a groan and a mummer. Siv raises his hands to greet them that way, but to his surprise, he is met with screams of horror.

The next few seconds confuse Siv even further. His three new friends all scream, quickly rise from a sitting precision to a standing one and all run off in different directions. Siv had always had trouble making friends but he had never been treated like this, he had never caused such terror in people that they would run away from him. Siv stands confused and frozen for a few seconds, but decides that maybe this is some kind of game. He really wants a friend so he scans the fleeing three and notices a girl. Small in stature and wearing a long black dress, she sat at the centre of the group holding many shiny and bone white things that are now discarded in her haste to play. Siv thinks that if he can catch her first and become her friend then the rest will be sure to follow. So on his shaky bones, siv begins to chase the girl.

He runs now on legs he is becoming more confident in using. His hands waved in the air to get the girl’s attention, hoping she would stop and just talk to Siv. He just wants a friend and grows excited as he realises he is getting closer to her. She looks back every few seconds and screams again, Siv believes this is just part of the game. He gets closer and closer and to Siv’s luck she stumbles on something that is on the ground and topples to a stop.

Siv approaches the now stationary girl. He notices she is shivering, but he thinks that it is a very cold night so it doesn’t surprise him that she would be cold. Siv gets closer and reaches out a hand to touch her and declare victory in the game, but the girl whimpers and tries to move away. Noticing this Siv tries to talk again but still no words come out, just his mouth and teeth clacking together to make a very fun, empty, and echoing sound that Siv enjoys. The girl apparently doesn’t share the same opinion and tries to move further away from Siv, that is when he has an idea. 

Siv begins to think of reasons as to why the girl can’t understand him. He is doing all that he knows in how to make a friend but Siv thinks that maybe she doesn’t want to talk because they look different. Siv looks down at his own body and realises that maybe they can’t communicate because his bones are exposed and hers are completely covered by clothes and muscle and skin, why would she want to be his friend when his appearance is so different to hers? Siv decides that the best thing he can do is remove all the clothes and skin and everything that is hiding her bones, then they can talk and become best friends.

Some time passes. Siv isn’t aware of how much but he has been busy. He looks down at what he has done and stands with pride. He has removed everything that was preventing him from talking to his new friend, new bones now neatly arranged on the floor Siv looks down and waits patiently. A finger twitches and Siv shuffles in anticipation, he leans closer and waits. Suddenly all the fingers begin to move and the new skeleton of his friend sits up. Her head moving round and down as she notices Siv watching her and what he has done, her mouth opens in what looks like a scream or maybe a smile Siv thinks, Siv smiles back and clacks his teeth in excitement. 

The night is quiet. The graveyard is still and nothing moves. Two friends walk hand in hand toward the town proper, in search of more people to join in on the growing group of friends. Siv smiles at his first friend, she now walks with her head down, her hand fitting perfectly inside Siv’s. Siv nudges her shoulder and they both begin clacking at each other. Siv stops and looks at the night sky thinking of all the people he will make his friend.