The Bright Side

(Emily is on her laptop in the library stacks. She looks up and grins widely.)
Emily (whispering): Oh, hellooo!
Dee: ...Hi. What are you doing?
Emily (still grinning): Looking up stuff about you on the internet.
Dee: Oh. I got tired of that ages ago.
Emily (still grinning): Well, I looked up a little right at the start, but since then I've had the real thing to talk to, so...
Dee: Fair enough, I suppose. ... Um...
(Emily is still grinning.)
Dee: Ok why are you grinning like that? It's... freaking me out a little.
Emily: Have you ever looked up images for 'death and the maiden'?
(Dee recoils, shocked.)
Dee (sinking into the ground): Noooooooooo...
Dee (sinking further, covering his face): Nooo, why are you looking at those...
Dee (vanishing fully into the ground): Noooooo...
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Alt text:
mortify
verb (mortifies, mortifying, mortified) [with obj.]
1. cause (someone) to feel embarrassed, ashamed, or humiliated;
2. subdue (the body or its needs and desires) by self-denial or discipline;
3. [no obj.] archaic (of flesh) be affected by gangrene or necrosis