I'd Rather Not Be Dead Read Online Free PDF Page A

state was a colony.”
    Long time ago, if he can be
believed. I want to ask him history trivia, to see if he actually
knows the era he's claiming to be from. But I never paid much
attention to history, so I wouldn't know if any of it was right or
not. “Were the Sex Pistols popular before the Revolution?”
    “Punk might not have been around
yet, but the spirit was alive long before anyone first bellowed
lyrics about the queen's fascist regime.” His grin is downright
devilish.
    “Maybe the words didn't occur to
you back then because you had a king and no one knew what a fascist
was.” Which is about as far as my knowledge of Colonial culture
reaches.
    “Likely.”
    We look at each other, the
stranger bouncing energetically on the balls of his feet and me
wondering if his body's going to fade and leave just that taunting
grin floating in the air. Clearly, if I'm Alice and this is
Wonderland, I've stumbled across the Cheshire Cat. I always thought
of myself as a cat person, but now I'm not so sure.
    “Why would you want to help
me?”
    Laughter makes his eyes dance
all the more. “Suspicious one, aren't you?”
    “I'd be stupid not to be.”
    “True.” He gives me a crooked
smile. He's too attractive for his own good. People that pretty
just aren't trustworthy.
    “Anyway, I'm leaving town.” My
actions match my words as I shove my jacket over my arms and start
walking again.
    “Ah,” says Fray. “Good luck with
that.”
    He vanishes like guy in the
hardware store and I curse myself. I should have asked him if I
could get to Philadelphia that way. Too late now.
    There's a lot of traffic on the
Parkway today. It is, after all, peak tourist season. People come
from all over to gawk at our changing leaves. Apparently other
places don't have them.
    My steps keep to the edge of the
road. The trees are solid, so I can't just walk through them. I
don't understand why trees are solid and people aren't, but that's
the way it is. If I had to guess, I'd say it has something to do
with trees standing still for centuries. Maybe saplings aren't real
here, but I don't see any to test my theory on.
    A few cars hit me. The feeling
isn't great, although it's more emotionally painful than physically
so.
    My steps get progressively
slower. Each one takes more energy. The world sways and little dots
of darkness dance on the edge of my vision. When Fray materializes
beside me, I spend a second thinking he's a hallucination. “If I
were you, I'd stop.”
    “Why?” I don't stop, even though
I'm now dragging my feet along in weariness.
    “Because if you continue with
this, you'll fade out of existence.”
    The explanation's calm,
matter-of-a-fact. It makes me stop. And stare. “I'll die if I keep
walking?”
    Fray nods. “We can only get so
far from the place of our death. You're already further away than
most people can go.”
    I stare at him some more. “Why
didn't you say that when I told you I was leaving?”
    “Didn't think you'd believe
me.”
    And I wouldn't have. But I do
now. I've been feeling myself fade for the last half mile, I just
didn't know what it meant. Fabulous. I crash onto the ground and
bury my face in my hands. “I'm stuck in Mayberry forever.”
    “It's not that bad a town.”
    I let out an ugly snort. “Bet
you're just saying that because you founded it.”
    He laughs, a long and somehow
accented laugh. “No. But I robbed the man who did.”
    “Robbed?” Looking up, I see him
looking down at me, his eyes dancing with mischief. “You were a
thief?”
    “That's one of things they
called me when they hanged me.”
    “Hanged?” That's kind of cool.
“You were hanged?”
    “Oh, yeah.”
    “What was it like?”
    The corner of his mouth quirks
up. “I wouldn't recommend it.”
    “But it's quick, isn't it?”
    A darkness passes across his
face. “Only if your neck breaks.”
    Something tells me his neck
didn't break.
    “I'm sorry.”
    “It was a long time ago.” He
shakes his head. “The thing