The Message of the Ghosts
[665 words]
It’s only when you genuinely agree that they come. They’re very good about that. They don’t want your decision to be made from a sense of obligation. So it was after a few nights of restful consideration that I had my moment of clarity, and they appeared.
It was morning, which was alarming. I’d never seen a ghost in the morning. They’ve been associated with night in popular media for so long that I never stopped to think that there would be no real reason why they couldn’t appear during the day. But there they were, three of them, standing in my kitchen. They were translucent, the color of smoke, and their voices were faint when they spoke.
“Welcome,” the tallest, most humanistic of the ghosts uttered, “We’ve come to understand that you’d like to be in contact with us?”
I nodded, almost dropping my bowl of Lucky Charms. Luckily I didn’t though because those marshmallows really stick to the ground when they dry out.
It had been two years since the first ghosts made themselves known in a public space. A representative of the after-world came into being in the middle of Central Park. It allowed itself to be studied and tested by the world’s top scientists, who all agreed that the evidence is clear that there is an afterworld, an experience of post-life, and that ghosts were real.
The ghosts invited human beings to bond with individual spirits to learn more about death. But you had to want it because you truly wanted the information, not just because everyone else was speaking with ghosts and you were jealous. It’s a fine distinction of authenticity that the spirits could pick up on, even if we couldn’t.
“You might be wondering why we reveal ourselves,” the tall ghost continued, “Why we bothered to shift from centuries of invisibility.”
Once again I simply nodded. The shortest ghost, which had the fewest traditional human-like features, stepped forward to respond to my nod.
“The population of earth has increased exponentially, and with great population comes great responsibility,” said the abstract image of light, “We need to make sure mankind knows they share this earth with their dead selves, and that they must take that into consideration when living.”
The third ghost faded into view, a human-ish form with what could be long flowing hair. It took over.
“We come as a warning. Take care of your ill, take care of the planet for even in death the world you know is still your world, just on a different ethereal plane.”
I took a moment to absorb the message, then spoke for the first time.
“So this is a warning?”
“Yes,” responded the tall ghost, “A warning for all mankind.”
“Oh,” I said, “Well I work as an assistant regional manager at Best Buy.”
“We do not know what this is,” said the short, effervescent light, “Nor do we require to know what this is.”
“Okay sure, I’m just saying I’m rather unimportant. Not much I can do.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. You should speak to Senators and world leaders no? Maybe CEOs, but definitely not me.”
“To affect all minds,” began the human-ish form, “is to shift the outlook of the entire species.” The ghost was really proud of that line.
“No I hear you,” I continued, “I just think that’s really fucking dumb. Like 98% of the shit you’re warning about comes from, like, 12 people. Talk to them.”
The ghosts just stared at me.
“I’m going to be honest this whole thing is a big letdown.” I said as a final punctuation mark. The tallest ghost walked a step closer to me.
“We understand,” it said, “We apologize for your dissatisfaction.”
“It’s alright,” I replied, “Any chance I can see my childhood cat? His name was Benson. Died in 2001?”
“No.”
And the ghosts vanished. And I ate my Lucky Charms. And absolutely nothing about my life changed.
