The time I saw a dead body in the park

The other day a friend of mine called me while she was out running. I said hi and she said hi. I asked her how it was that she was running and talking to me on the phone at the same time. She said it wasn't a big deal. Then I asked her where she was running. She named a park that's around the corner from my house. I tell her, oh by the way, that's the park I found a dead body at a few months back. She tells me to not joke around about it. I tell her I am serious and that I truly did stumble upon a dead body there in that exact park she is running at. We banter back and forth about the details. While I was defending my sighting of a dead man to her -I don't blame her for not wanting to believe it- I was trying to recall his name. It still escapes me.

I'm stalling...I know. I've held on to this story because I wasn't sure how to approach it. I come up with ideas all the time for stories that are far worse off than this. This was real though. This was in front of me. I don't want this to be read as me trying to solicit my blog by taking on a topic that appeals to the dark part of people's minds. It's a literal thing. This happened to me and I want to share it. I want to grow and learn from it.

I remember calling my father and telling him that I had just crossed off seeing a dead body in person (outside any medical setting). He responded as he did (as any real person might do...with more silence than answers). I told him that Jessie and I had walked through the park earlier that evening on a walk with Lucas -my dog- and seen this man lying in the corner of the park. It was a sunny day so I paid very little attention to a sun bather. Anyways, it was about 45 minutes later and we returned to the park on the way back to my house when we came down the steps and stumbled upon the man still lying in the exact same position and spot. He was motionless. Jessie and I stood there for a number of seconds watching for his chest to move; that eerie feeling of what it all possibly meant creeping into my thoughts. When the realization that no matter how hard I stared, his chest wasn't moving, my mind went reeling for answers. Well what does this mean? What do I do? Who is he? Is he dead? How long has he been dead? WHY THE HELL IS HE DEAD IN THIS PARK RIGHT NOW?! The tingles in my hands became intense.

I can remember standing there with my dog and watching Jessie walk over to the body. She is in the nursing profession so this was nothing to her. For me, I kept thinking about this man springing to life. Maybe it was my mind coping in some weird way by telling me that life was still there. Right? At any second he would roll over and walk it off and I could go home and have a weird story to tell. Not a story like this one. Anyhow, she bent over him and checked for a pulse in his neck. She didn't have to say that it wasn't there. His legs were bent in unnatural ways, so there was that. His sweat pants were soiled. His skin was blue. His stomach was quite bloated.

The body had baked all day in the warm sunshine not more than 50 feet from the children's playground where kids were still hooting and hollering as children do.

I called 911 and as the parents of the children playing on the swings saw me on the phone and immediately heard the sirens coming, they all stood still and watched. I'll never forget looking up and seeing every adult face in the park looking directly at me. I could see what they were thinking. One mother gathered her kids and walked off. I don't blame her.

The police officer told me the man was homeless and had no family. He had been admitted to the hospital the night before for detox. Upon release, it was assumed that he went and purchased more alcohol and consumed it (he did have a can of Steel Reserve next to him). He came to the park to sleep it off and just never woke up. So now I can say that I've seen a dead body when I was least expecting it. In person.