Vital

 

Marvin Haskins never liked paperwork. So when a letter arrived from Vital Records declaring him legally dead, he shrugged. Probably a glitch. Then he noticed the date: he’d been dead for three weeks.

He laughed. No more taxes. No jury duty. No bills. For the first time in years, he felt free. Why fix it?

He binged TV, ordered takeout, ignored the world. But days later, the phone rang.

“Mr. Haskins?” a woman said. “We’re prepping your body for organ donation.”

“What?” he choked. “I’m alive!”

“We need official proof. Otherwise, the procedure continues.”

The call ended. Marvin stood frozen. Organ donation?

Panicked, he rushed to his doctor, who waved him off. “You’re dead in the system. No forms to fill out.”

He begged. Argued. Nothing worked until, finally, a new physician agreed to examine him.

Two frantic days later, he reached the hospital just as surgeons prepared to harvest his organs.

It took a young records clerk to dig through the files and find the mistake.

“You’re back,” she said, stunned. “Clerical error. You’re officially alive again.”

Relief hit Marvin like oxygen.

That night, in bed, he realized life isn’t just a status on paperwork. It’s a choice.

The next morning, he filed his taxes, went to work… but ignored the jury duty notice.

Some things were too vital to forget. Others, not so much.

***

226 words

Talk about living off-grid... I think I could use a vacation like that, what about you? (Honestly, I'd be fine with just pressing pause for a week and trying to catch up on sleep and everything else!)