Michael stretched and felt a number of bones clicking unhealthily. Oh
well, age catches up with us all in the end. A ravenous hunger came over him,
after all, he hadn’t eaten for eleven years. Beyond the cemetery he saw the
lights of an all-night diner, what a lifesaver. Michael’s stiff movements aped
his old trademark dance moves. Fancy that, his choreographer had been more accurate
than anyone could have guessed.
It was slow, jerky progress, but finally he got to the diner. It took
all Michael’s strength to open the door and then he held his hands up, dazzled
by the electric lights. He was expecting a reaction from the customers and
staff, ‘Michael Jackson, back from the dead, call CNN!’, but unfortunately
his resurrection had coincided with Halloween. The place was populated with werewolves,
Vincent Prices and a variety of ghouls.
He staggered to the counter and sat on a stall, exhausted and even more
famished from his journey. Michael inhaled the coffee, cherry pie, pumpkin
fritters and ice-cream sundaes, but found he wanted none of these things.
‘What can I get you, Michael?’ the waitress asked. He smiled at her,
pleased to be recognized. She was dressed as a vampire and he enjoyed the curve
of her neck and her plump cheeks, so he leant forward and took a bite.
By the end of his meal, the diner was a bit of a mess, but Michael toothpicked
fastidiously and politely wiped his mouth and hands on a napkin. He carefully stepped
over some discarded entrails (too stringy in his teeth) to look in the mirror. Michael
smiled broadly, very happy with his reflection, his cheekbones, his chipped
point of nose and his fantastic, impossible thinness.
‘Still got it,’ Michael said to himself and moonwalked out the diner.
I have a vivid memory of Thriller being premiered before the six o’clock news when
I was about ten. I was terrified but a couple of months later performed a gymnastics routine to it
at a Croydon schools competition, where we danced like zombies. I’ve just re-watched
it and it’s extremely dated but is still nostalgic. Vincent Price lends his
voice too!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOnqjkJTMaA
