Delaware’s Dead

Placemats featured the holly and Christmas berries. Orange zest wafted through the air. It underscored the scent of honey baked ham and turkey. A ziti also baked for Kalila. She had perished in a shooting in Wilmington, Delaware as an unintended bystander. Now, she sat at her place at the table. Her cousin, a fentanyl dealer, had been gunned down months after her. He dined on ziti as well.

The maker of this meal, Hezekiah Bands, ensured that the living guests could cozy up and get comfortable. The dead simply dined on Italian food. Then, the walking dead, fent fiends, came to the residence and filled out the table. They moved half-dead like the grave yearned for their presence, too.

This Christmas meal allowed everyone to relax. “So if you wish to sample all three of the main courses, you're free,” Bands reminded the dead children.

They looked up at him, smiled and continued to devour the pasta. The walking dead stuffed rolls into their pockets to sell on the street. Bands noticed this but said nothing. His wife, Glendia, had the complexion of buttermilk. She smiled at the two spirit children.

“Eat up, now,” she mentioned. “I don’t want a week’s worth of leftovers of pasta,” she said. The spirits looked up and chuckled. They cleaned their plates. The sense of holiday joy enveloped the occupants of the house. Bands acknowledged that he had fed the living, the half-dead, and the dead all in one meal. He sensed that the half-dead and the slain children had enjoyed his feast more than anything. They had been outside the land of the living or meeting it at the median these past few months.

“You all must stay for New Year’s Day,” Bands announced.

The walking dead addicts and children soon exited.