Some poor housewife is decaying in her kitchen, and it's all LeftyMom's fault.

[Orrex]

Abra cadaver!

[dawgmom]

1. Omigod...

I don't know the inside joke on this thread, but it made me think of a horrific true story concerning a friend of a friend. Want to hear it? I've always thought that if I were a better writer, I would build a story around it.

[Orrex]

2. After a teaser like that, I have to hear it!

:popcorn:

[dawgmom]

4. Dupe

It's something of a morality tale (we reap what we sow) and a horror story, all at the same time.

My best friend has a friend who is originally from the Czech Republic. Their family came to the States in the late 60s, I think after the Russians invaded Cz. Her father was a terrible person; cold, manipulative, abusive both physically and sexually. The parents divorced, and the kids had very limited contact with him in later years. However, one of the daughters had started to reach out to him in small tentative ways in the 90s, and so contact had been re-established perhaps once or twice a year. Anyway...she happened to know that he was planning an extended trip back to Europe, and so when six months passed without hearing from him, it wasn't that unusual. After a year passed, however, she grew concerned. And after about 18 months, she went to the house, peered in the windows, could see nothing. She spoke to a neighbor, who said he had been mowing the lawn for her father, and had thought it odd that he hadn't seen the guy, but just figured he'd stayed longer than expected in Europe.

So, she called the police. They came out and met her there, and entered the home. The cop backed up onto the porch the minute he stepped inside, and made the daughter stay outside. She said that the stench of death was so strong, she could smell it even with the door open for just a moment. Anyway, to fast forward -- her father was dead on the kitchen floor, and had been dead for probably a year (although there was so little of him left, it was just an estimate -- the remains were nearly skeletal). The place was overrun with mice (use your imagination). We all learned a new term -- "unattended death" -- which is used by the police. Evidently, a fairly common occurrence.

The thing about it that always resonated for me was that this miserable man died on his kitchen floor and rotted there, and there wasn't a soul in the world other than the daughter he had abused when she was a child who even cared enough to wonder where he had gone, or to check on him. Gives one pause, no?

[Orrex]

7. It's a shame that he didn't have student loans

Sallie Mae would have found him after about 48 hours.


Great and creepy and thought-provoking story! And you told it just fine, too. Thanks for sharing!


One of my wife's friends owns several apartments, and last year a tenant died in one of them. The body wasn't discovered for a while (until this friend's husband found it), but by that time enough of it had liquefied to destroy the carpet and the underflooring, as well as seriously damaging the concrete floor of the basement beneath.

Human bodies are freaking disgusting!

[dawgmom]

8. Yes...all kinds of health regulations that kick in

They had to spend thousands of dollars on clean up -- first to fumigate and de-mouse and de-bug the place, then to rip out the kitchen floor all the way to the joists and all the drywall down to the studs. Again, I learned about companies I didn't even know existed. They found a company that actually specializes in cleaning up after unattended deaths -- they suit up in biohazard suits and everything, and use special chemicals to clean everything.

What's funny is that they ended up selling the house to the guy who owned that company. It was a charming old house, and he knew he could get it under market value. He offered them a sum and they took it, just to be free of the whole thing and move on. I guess since the guy deals with this kind of stuff every day, it didn't creep him out at all to live in the house.

You're right about the student loan people, though -- if they don't find you, the college alumni organization folks will. :)

[dawgmom]

5. OK...this really happened in Denver, about 10 years ago

It's something of a morality tale (we reap what we sow) and a horror story, all at the same time.

My best friend has a friend who is originally from the Czech Republic. Their family came to the States in the late 60s, I think after the Russians invaded Cz. Her father was a terrible person; cold, manipulative, abusive both physically and sexually. The parents divorced, and the kids had very limited contact with him in later years. However, one of the daughters had started to reach out to him in small tentative ways in the 90s, and so contact had been re-established perhaps once or twice a year. Anyway...she happened to know that he was planning an extended trip back to Europe, and so when six months passed without hearing from him, it wasn't that unusual. After a year passed, however, she grew concerned. And after about 18 months, she went to the house, peered in the windows, could see nothing. She spoke to a neighbor, who said he had been mowing the lawn for her father, and had thought it odd that he hadn't seen the guy, but just figured he'd stayed longer than expected in Europe.

So, she called the police. They came out and met her there, and entered the home. The cop backed up onto the porch the minute he stepped inside, and made the daughter stay outside. She said that the stench of death was so strong, she could smell it even with the door open for just a moment. Anyway, to fast forward -- her father was dead on the kitchen floor, and had been dead for probably a year (although there was so little of him left, it was just an estimate -- the remains were nearly skeletal). The place was overrun with mice (use your imagination). We all learned a new term -- "unattended death" -- which is used by the police. Evidently, a fairly common occurrence.

The thing about it that always resonated for me was that this miserable man died on his kitchen floor and rotted there, and there wasn't a soul in the world other than the daughter he had abused when she was a child who even cared enough to wonder where he had gone, or to check on him. Gives one pause, no?

[XemaSab]

3. .

:popcorn:

[dawgmom]

6. Really happened, about 10 years ago in Denver

It's something of a morality tale (we reap what we sow) and a horror story, all at the same time.

My best friend has a friend who is originally from the Czech Republic. Their family came to the States in the late 60s, I think after the Russians invaded Cz. Her father was a terrible person; cold, manipulative, abusive both physically and sexually. The parents divorced, and the kids had very limited contact with him in later years. However, one of the daughters had started to reach out to him in small tentative ways in the 90s, and so contact had been re-established perhaps once or twice a year. Anyway...she happened to know that he was planning an extended trip back to Europe, and so when six months passed without hearing from him, it wasn't that unusual. After a year passed, however, she grew concerned. And after about 18 months, she went to the house, peered in the windows, could see nothing. She spoke to a neighbor, who said he had been mowing the lawn for her father, and had thought it odd that he hadn't seen the guy, but just figured he'd stayed longer than expected in Europe.

So, she called the police. They came out and met her there, and entered the home. The cop backed up onto the porch the minute he stepped inside, and made the daughter stay outside. She said that the stench of death was so strong, she could smell it even with the door open for just a moment. Anyway, to fast forward -- her father was dead on the kitchen floor, and had been dead for probably a year (although there was so little of him left, it was just an estimate -- the remains were nearly skeletal). The place was overrun with mice (use your imagination). We all learned a new term -- "unattended death" -- which is used by the police. Evidently, a fairly common occurrence.

The thing about it that always resonated for me was that this miserable man died on his kitchen floor and rotted there, and there wasn't a soul in the world other than the daughter he had abused when she was a child who even cared enough to wonder where he had gone, or to check on him. Gives one pause, no?

[Jamastiene]

9. ...

Sounds like a great story idea to me.
:popcorn:

[dawgmom]

11. Has a lot of good plot elements, doesn't it?

AND a moral....

[crispini]

10. I know this is a copycat,

but boy, is it off to a nasty (and VERY entertaining) start.