[ WP ] When a person dies , they do not leave their body . They are sentient inside their corpse until it is destroyed/decomposed .

The pathologist hummed a faint, familiar tune as he worked. What was it? On the tip of my mind, but I just could n't place it. Man, this was going to bother me. Then again, I did have more important things to think about. Like how I was dead. And how his knives were cutting into my limp, lifeless body. 
 
 It was quite the shock when I realized it. One moment, I am slipping out of consciousness as my broken, bleeding body lay splayed over the wheel. Some truck had come out of nowhere, ignoring all traffic lights, and it was moving so fast and its headlights were so bright... did I have a last word? I ca n't remember. Maybe I tried to mumble something, but blood kept bubbling out of my mouth. 
 
 And then, I was awake again. My wife was standing by my side, crying. She was holding my hand with her strangely warm hands. A gang of doctors and nurses surrounded me, talking about something. I was too confused to pay attention. How did I get here? Why ca n't I feel anything? Oh God, was I paralyzed? 
 
 `` I'm sorry, Mrs. Miller. he's passed away. There was nothing we could do, it was a terrible accident.'' 
 
 *What? * That one single word screamed through my mind as my wife started bawling and nurses began moving out of the room. I tried to move. Could n't even wiggle a toe. Or blink. Or breathe. 
 
 The next few days were spent in a blur. All I could was think, and not very well. I drifted in and out of consciousnesses, always coming back dazed. It made no sense. How could I still be thinking when I was a corpse? At the funeral, I saw my parents, my wife and her parents, some of our friends... it made me incredibly sad and I wanted to hug them and say goodbye. But how could I feel sad - or feel anything? I had no hormones or blood or spinal fluid. What held my thoughts? 
 
 Maybe those left-field physicists were on the right track, I mused. Maybe it's a quantum thing. Or something. There was a small thud as my coffin bumped the bottom of the hole. Someone closed the lid, and I could feel the world get heavier as dirt covered the top. Very soon, the sounds all stopped, and I could see nothing. Too dark. I panicked for a moment, thinking I would go crazy to exist like this, but the thought melted away as I drifted off. 
 
 Soon ( poor word choice, really. I had no idea how much time had passed ), I began to sense again. I saw the worms and beetles enter my coffin through little holes they had bored. I could hear their little hearts beating fast as they crawled over and inside me. Hell, I could feel the flesh ooze off my bones. I had no idea how. Actually, I was more amazed at how nonchalant it all seemed. I actually felt sort of cheerful whenever I drifted back into consciousness and felt little teeth pulling at sinew. Bizarre. 
 
 Eventually, I began to talk with all the little critters - but not just them. The dirt and rocks and gases, too. OK, maybe *talking* is n't quite the word I'm looking for. More like... feeling them. Understanding them. It's hard to explain, but everything seemed to have their own form of consciousness. Like a spirit or a soul, for lack of a better word. And as my body decayed to bone, I sort of began to tune in with all of my new `` friends'' down six feet under. 
 
 One bright spring day ( nah, I'm kidding, I have no idea what season it was ) I knew it was almost over. I rarely got the chance to think anymore, mostly spending my `` time'' in a weird, dreaming state. But I knew this was the last time I would get to think. I concentrated on all my senses, and felt the world all at once. It was kind of beautiful. I know, that's pretty cliche. But there was no other word for it. I felt so at peace. I was becoming something else, something greater than my old single human self. I missed my family and friends, but not too much. After all, I would see them all again, someday. We will meet again when we were all one and the same. The thought of that gave me great pleasure and for the last time, I slipped away into the Earth.
