TITLE: Studying the Dead AUTHOR: Elanor G RATING: PG CATEGORY: 155 Words SPOILERS: Pre-XF SUMMARY: Again, it would be longer than the story. DISCLAIMER: Don't own these characters. Doing this for fun, not money. The body lies open before Dana like a book only she can read. Carefully she studies the mottled liver, noting the signs of alcoholism. No one else stays here this late. She likes the silence, the solitude. She is alone with the corpse but the dead do not frighten her. Here in the methodical, precise work comes clarity. Here she finds refuge from the critical voices outside and in, from other people, from the impossible standards she feels she must live up to. Here she can think clearly. As she cuts through muscle and sinew, she thinks about how tired she is of *pleasing* people - her parents, her teachers, her lover. Especially her lover. She sees now that he is just one more person she has to please. As she sews up the body cavity, she thinks of the application to the FBI Academy lying on her desk. And she feels ready to please herself. End Did anyone else think 155 Scully words were harder than 155 Mulder words? Elanor G ElanorG@yahoo.com http://www.geocities.com/elanorg