[Posted by Ted H]
Yeah, 2021 is just more of the same from 2020.
Same year, new, even worse flavor.
Same year, new, even worse flavor.
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She ran and ran and ran, not tiring one bit and too scared to stop. Charles would be on her if she stopped even for a second, or at least that was her belief as she ran. Without a sound, someone ran past her. Kristina sounded a desperate wail as she halted and was about to change directions when it registered in her mind that it was someone else and not Charles. A second figure, also not Charles went by after that and Kristina watched as they sprinted away until the second figure looked back and saw her standing, then called for his companion to stop.
Both males jogged back to Kristina while their eyes darted around. “Can they see me?” Kristina said to herself. “Why’d you stop?” the first man said. “Ummm...” Kristina tried to answer before the second man broke in “I don’t see anything. I told you it was probably a false alarm.”
“I wasn’t taking no chances,” the first man snapped back, then looked to Kristina “You gave us a scare, lady,” he said as he cracked a relieved smile.
“You can...” Kristina found herself at a loss for words “You can see me?” she finally asked.
“Sure as shit,” the man responded as he looked to his companion.
“We obviously see you,” the second added “We saw you running first, remember?”
“I ain’t ever see her before. You think she’s new?”
“Oh yeah, definitely new.”
“You sure?”
“As sure as I can spit through you.”
“Hey!” Kristina shouted for their attention “I don’t think you understand-”
“You die in the last 24 hours?” the first man asked bluntly.
“I, uh, I mean...”
“Less than 12 hours, I bet,” the second said “She still got that deer in the headlights look to her.”
“Not to mention that deathly pale complexion.”
“Well, that’s just natural for us.”
Both men laughed.
“I...Don’t even know what’s going on anymore,” Kristina said, tossing her arms in the air.
“Hey, don’t sweat it,” the first man said “We’re just having a laugh. We needed it after the scare you gave us.”
“You scared the shit out of us...metaphorically speaking, or course,” the second said.
“Only one reason ghosts run like that. We saw you booking it like a bat out of hell, we immediately thought Reaper.”
“That wasn’t a Reaper,” Kristina said with a nervous look behind her “I think that was the devil himself.”
“Jeeze,” the second man laughed “The dramatics with this one!”
“The devil don’t bother with being here unless it’s important,” the first man clarified.
“Thanks,” Kristina said “You’re the second person tonight to tell me I’m not that important.”
“Ha!” the first man exclaimed “Like I said, don’t sweat it! Name’s Clifford. The Napoleon complex beside me is Sammy.”
“I’m not short, you lanky prick!” Sammy said. Sammy wasn’t wrong, Clifford was well over 6 feet, making the average sized Sammy seem like a midget. Sammy still towered over Kristina. Of the weird cast of characters Kristina had been meeting so far tonight, she decided these two were far and away better company than Bob or Charles, even if they took some getting used to.
“How did you know I was a ghost?” Kristina asked, finally able to smile herself. “You mean besides the albino see through look you have?” Sammy snarked “Seeing you go through a fence without hesitation clinched it for me. Kristina closed her eyes and felt stupid. “Ok, sorry,” she said “It’s been quite a trip today and I’m still trying to find my center, you know?”
“Good luck with that. Some of us never do,” Clifford said with a wider grin.
“So, you’re also ghosts?” Kritina asked, immediately regretting the phrasing.
“Oh yeah,” Clifford said, waving his arm through Sammy’s chest like nothing.
“Get the fuck out of there!” Sammy yelled swinging his arms through Clifford for the invasion of space. Kristin laughed, thankful for that first authentic feeling of joy since this whole ordeal began.
“Sammy died in a nightclub fire back before they have required emergency exits or fire codes,” Clifford clarified “Or common sense to not smoke near combustible materials.”
“Fucker,” Sammy chided “You think that’s bad? Cliff here was a homeless who fell asleep during a polar vortex and died of exposure!”
“You could've left out the part where I fell asleep.”
“Yeah, but it adds such nuance to the tale!”
“So, what was it that did you in?” Clifford asked Kristina, ignoring his friend.
“Oh, uh,” Kristina felt nervous suddenly being put on the spot “Just a car crash. Wasn’t even driving.”
“Tragic,” Clifford said. Kristina shrugged. “Not much I can do about it now,” she said.
“True, true,” Clifford said “So what was your plan once you lost the Reaper?”
Kristina tried to think of something, but ultimately shook her head and shrugged again.
“Well, that settles it!” Clifford declared “You’re coming with us! We’ll show you around and introduce you to other runaways!”
“Your orientation of sorts,” Sammy added.
Kristina wasn’t thrilled about yet another person she just met telling her to follow them around, but she figured these guys meant well and could keep her away from Charles and perhaps even Bob. “Lead the way,” she finally said, forcing a smile.
There was a fair amount of walking they had to do, so much that the sun was finally creeping up in the east when the group reached a new residential area. Kristina had hung back while Clifford and Sammy led the way, lost in some back-and-forth discussion about sports and occasionally looking back to make sure Kristina was still following.
It was a surreal feeling for Kristina; the dawn of a day in which she would have no influence or impact on. Not that she contributed much to society in life, but now the world would truly keep turning without her. It made her sad, but she reminded herself that even the most renowned people of history had died and life went on regardless. It reminded her of a poem she read in high school.
“No one would mind, neither bird nor tree, if mankind perished utterly,” she recited from memory, causing a break in whatever conversation the men were having. It was the only line she recalled. “Oh boy,” Sammy mocked “We got another Ray Bradbury!”
“Bradbury didn’t write that,” Clifford said.
“Yeah, I totally read it from him.”
“The guy didn’t write poems! That’s a poem!”
“It was a poem in a story!”
“A poem he didn’t write!”
“He wrote it for the story!”
“No he didn’t! He used someone else’s poem!”
“That’s not allowed! That be plagiarism or something.”
“I bet he asked permission.”
“That’s not how it works!”
“Oh, so now you a literary scholar?”
“Do you two always argue about everything?” Kristina asked. Clifford and Sammy grinned at each other. “We ain’t got much else to do,” Clifford said “I sure hope you’re a conversationalist. Otherwise, it’s gonna be a long long looooong afterlife.”
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