DD10: Death

Originally published in 2020 in Dirty Diamonds 10: Death under my previous pen name, Rica March.

We're back in my childhood home, previously featured in Dirty Diamonds 7. One day I'll finish digging into all the complicated feelings I have about that place and that day will be my funeral.

The first page of a black and white comic. The author is holding a photograph of a beautiful two-story house, well-maintained, lush vines climbing up the porch. The photograph drops, showing the same house in a much worse state. A ghost child runs out the front door.
Second page. The author enters their previous home, going into the kitchen. Ghostly images from their childhood follows them, mundane things like cat shit and soup and birthday cake.
Third page. The author makes their way through the living room, haunted by every awful Christmas, up the stairs they fell down when they were four, through the haunting memory of their parents fighting. A quiet ghost: 'Do you want mommy and daddy to stay together'.
Last page. The author has arrived in their childhood bedroom, dodging memories of teenage make outs, sneaking cheap rum, playing with stuffed animals. They speak, addressing a ghost child sitting alone on the floor. They wrap their arm around her. It's time to leave.