THE WAR ON DRUGS

5/9/2019

Fred Gustave laid on the stainless-steel examination table in the morgue located under the county hospital. Brought there 3 days ago by a contract ambulance service, the body is slowly decaying, retarded by a crispy, 36°F temperature. The organic assemblage that held the essence of who Fred once was is now on display like a birthday cake for cannibals. Naked with a dirty white color except on the lowest part of the body, the coagulated blood has turned the skin into a brownish, burgundy color. The dieners call this phase the Raspberry Sundae stage and laugh when the body is rolled overexposing its fruity enhancement in a bowl of vanilla ice cream. In order to distance themselves from daily death, these workers have coined many monikers to instill humor. The term, Misfortunate Moby, is used for an overweight cadaver that requires a crane to move the body. Activated Charlyco is the term for a severely burned corpse. The unfortunates who are crushed in industrial accidents or are twisted up into moving machinery are known as Peppermint Pancakes. Those who succumbed to extreme falls from heights or who came too close to high explosives are affectionately known as Hydraulic Salads. The bursting tissue that’s been collected from the accident site and shoveled into a body bag is dumped onto a large pan on the Silver Hearse. Facial identification is impossible, but the tissue will have DNA aboard. A couple of cheek swabs from the surviving family members will yield an accurate ID of the protein pudding vibrating on the table in sync with the freezer compressors. Intact bodies go down the list for visible determinants, such as blunt trauma, bullet holes, knife wounds, or an intact skin covering that shows facial distortion with a severe grimace. These are usually the signs of the Gripping Gladiators who succumbed to heart attacks. Fred Gustave was a drug veteran known as, Private Pain Killer. He died of an overdose of 96 % China White in a booth at McDonalds. 

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