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BY JOHN CONNOLLY

I

He wakes in darkness, constricted by bonds There is stone beneath him, and the air he breathes is rank and still He see his naet to his feet, but the bonds around his He cannot see, and he struggles to breathe through the cloth on his face He begins to panic

Insects buzz around hihout his body, as of s into his flesh, yet he feels no pain His body is bloated with gas and fluids, the liquids forced from his cells and into his body cavity

There is a sound, stone upon stone Light breaks, and he shuts his eyes against it as it pierces the cloth Now there are hands on hiently res He feels tears upon his cheeks, but they are not his own His sisters are kissing hi his name

&039;Lazarus! Lazarus!&039;

Yes, that is his name

No, that is not his name

It was once, but Lazarus is no more, or should be nobefore him, bearded, his robes covered in the dust of nizes him, beloved of his sisters, beloved of him, but he cannot speak his name His vocal cords have atrophied in the torave wrappings are torn from his body and a sheet is thrown over him to hide his nakedness He looks behind him at the stone that had been removed from the mouth of the cave

Sickness He was ill His sisters mopped his brow, and the physicians shook their heads In time, they believed hies and laid him in a cave Yes, a mistake was made, but it has been rectified

But this is a lie He knows it even before the thought has fully for has been conized, the beloved, touches him and calls his name Lazarus&039;s lips move, but no sound comes forth

What have you done? he tries to say What have you taken from me, and from what have you taken me?

II

Lazarus sits at theof his sisters&039; house, a plate of fruit untouched before him He has no appetite, but neither can he taste any of the food that has been given to hiots have been ripped froun to repair itself He still struggles to walk, even with the aid of a pair of sticks, but where should he walk? This world holds no beauty for him, not in the aftermath of the tomb

Lazarus does not remember what happened after his eyes closed for the last ti very ih a roomful of memories has been sealed up, and as once known to him is now forbidden Or perhaps it is all merely an illusion, just as it seeauze, a consequence of the four days spent lying on the stone, for his eyes now have a rey

His sister Martha comes and takes the plate away She brushes his hair froer kisses him His breath smells foul He cannot taste the decay in his mouth, but he knows that it is there from the expression on her face Martha smiles at him, and he tries to sathered to gaze upon he as once dead but is dead no longer They are amazed and curious and-

Yes, fearful They are afraid of hiers to his bed

III

Lazarus can no longer sleep He is terrified of the darkness When he closes his eyes, he sht around his chest and the cloth blocking his mouth and nostrils

But Lazarus is never tired He is never hungry or thirsty He is never happy or sad or angry or resentful There is only lethargy and the desire for sleep without the necessity of it

No, not sleep - oblivion Oblivion and what lies beyond it

IV

On the third night, he hears footsteps in the house A door opens, and a woman appears It is Rachel, his betrothed She had been in Jerusalem when he woke, and now she is here She runs her hands across his brow, his nose, his lips She lies beside him and whispers his name, anxious not to wake his sisters She kisses hiershi in confusion and disappointment

After a time, she leaves, and she never returns

V

The priests suht before their council and h priest, Caiaphas Lazarus&039;s voice has returned, but it is an irit and dirt

&039;What do you recall of the to but dust and darkness&039;

&039;In the four days that you lay dead, what did you see?&039;

And he replies, &039;I do not remember&039;

There is a murmur of disappoint Voices are raised, questions falling like dead leaves upon his head They are the priests, and they ards the youngin the discoloration on his skin, the marks of putrefaction that have not yet disappeared With a wave of his hand, Caiaphas dismisses the rest, so that only he and Lazarus remain Caiaphas pours wine, but Lazarus does not drink from his cup

&039;Tell one, tell me what you saw Did you see the face of God? Does He exist? Tellto offer him, and eventually Caiaphas turns his back on him and tells him to return to his sisters

It is not the first time that Lazarus has been asked such questions Even his sisters have tried to find out what lies beyond the grave But in response, he has been able only to shake his head and tell the, or nothing that I can remember