GHULEH

 “Ghuleh … Ghuleh …,” the hushed voice calls. A scraping sound replaces the gentle voice. The lid is being pushed from the cold marble sarcophagus that encases you. Once opened, the scent of aromatic spices wafted upwards from your tomb. Your chest heaves; life breathes into you once more. You inhale cold air, tinged with smoke, and open your eyes slowly to realize you’re blind on the left. Mildly panicked, you hold your arms and hands above you, waiting for feeling to creep back into your fingertips. Turning them over and back again, you’re bewildered to see the tinged green skin that has replaced the warm hue of flesh.

You sit upright and then grasp the sides of the cool stone tomb to slowly stand to look around you, unsure of where you are. The moonlight glows against the white marble of gravestones and monoliths of a cemetery, as nectar drips from magnolia flowers, a welcome scent on the breeze. In a nearby mausoleum window, you catch your reflection. Hazy yellow right eye, decaying flesh; you hold a bony hand to your cheek as you begin to transform and shapeshift into something more regal, more powerful. “Ghuleh …,” you hear again, louder this time, just next to your ear. Your love has called you back from the stygian darkness to rise to the throne of the undead, the seat next to him. Venerated and diplomatic, you balance omnipotence with gentle finesse, for you are the Zombie Queen.