A Ghostly Visit

“It’s that time of the year again. My favorite time.” Lucy floated past Bernie and gave him a ghostly wink.

“What are you talking about Lucy?” Bernie asked Lucy.

“Oh right. You are a new ghost and you don’t know about the legend of  All-Hallows, which most of the people who aren’t ghosts call Halloween.” Lucy said hovering over Bernie.

Bernie remembered Halloween of the past. When he was alive he and his wife, Taime, used to get costumes for all four of the kids. Sometimes Tamie  would even make the kids costumes. Their youngest son, Dillion, was Spiderman at least four years in a row. And after he got over his Spiderman obsession he went on to be Robin, Batman, Superman, and his last costume was an anime cartoon character, Naurto. Mary Olivia, our middle daughter, she was more into historical people and Tamie used to make most of her costumes by hand. One year she was Harriet Tubman, the next year she was Maya Angelou, and her favorite was  Daisy Bates, a civil rights hero. We knew that girl was going to be going places. Our son, Amar, always wanted to be Casper the Friendly Ghost. It’s kind of funny now looking back because I am a ghost. But, Tamie sewed so many ghost costumes for that one that she almost ran out of sheets. Finally, at the age of 11 he wanted to be something else besides a ghost and that something else was Herman Monster from the TV show. For his last two Halloweens of trick or treating he was Herman. Our last daughter Olivia, she was never really into Halloween much. She would rather just read a book on Halloween or any and every holiday. No matter how much we tried to get her into the spirit she never really was one for Halloween so she basically stayed home and passed out candy dressed in a shirt that Tamie made which said “BOO.” When she was younger her aunt, River, used to stay with her on Halloween while the rest of us went out trick or treating. When she got older she stayed by herself with her books and gave out candy to all the ghosts, goblins, witches and fairy princesses on Halloween. I spent many Halloween with my family and when the kids got older our friends, a bunch of old people sitting around in the backyard surrounded by orange and black lights sipping on cocktails and eating BBQ reminiscing about Halloween's past and how we got so old so fast. And now I am a ghost, apparently, the ghost of Halloween now. 

“Bernie? Bernie? Are you even listening to me? That is the trouble with men, ghosts they never listen to you.” Lucy said tapping Bernie on the shoulder.

“Oh, I was just thinking about when I was alive and not a ghost how I used to celebrate Halloween with the kids.”

“Yeah, those were the days. I had some kids too and we celebrated too. As a matter of fact, I look in on the kids every Halloween.” Lucy said.

“You can see the kids?” Bernie asked, looking confused.

“Yeah, I keep forgetting that you are a new ghost and have yet to learn all that we can do. I will show you all of that and more. But, first we gotta get you into better ghost clothes.” Lucy said laughing.

“Huh, what? What in the world are ghost clothes?” Bernie asked.

“You’ll see. Follow me.” Lucy answered by taking Bernie by the hand.

“I didn’t know that ghosts had special clothes.” Bernie said following Lucy.

“Well, usually we don’t. But, for special holidays and events we do. Just like when we were alive. Didn’t you dress up for Halloween when you were younger?” 

“Yeah, Lucy, but I was thinking that now that I am actually dead and a ghost, Hello? That those days are over.” Bernie laughed.

“Well, my ghostly friend, think again. Just come on.” Lucy nudged him on the arm.

They arrived a few minutes later at what looked like a store. This was unlike any store Bernie had ever seen. First of all all the clothes were only two colors, white and orange. There weren’t racks of clothes. The clothes floated in mid air on hangers. The hangers were all one color, off white, if that is a color. There were no cash registers, no sales people, and Bernie looked down and no floor. Bernie thought that this ghost thing is going to take a lot of getting used to.

“Well, what do you think?” Lucy asked.

“I don’t know what to think. What do we do?” Bernie asked looking around.

“Simple, you pick out your Halloween clothes.” Lucy laughed.

“But, umm…” 

“Oh Bernie, it is not that hard. You walk around, or float in this case and choose something. It will automatically fit you. You don’t have to worry about size or price or any of that other stuff you worried about in the other world. After you pick out your outfit you’re done.” Lucy interrupted.

“Afterwards, what happens?” Bernie asked while looking at a pair of bright orange pants.

“Afterwards, you put on the clothes and we leave.” Lucy said.

“Simple as that huh?” Bernie questioned putting on the bright orange pants.

Lucy chose a simple white dress with orange flowers and a big orange bow for her hair. She looked at Bernie and smiled and she knew that he had a lot to learn about everything.

“Ok, I am dressed and now what?” Bernie asked

“Now, we go to the next thing.” Lucy said chuckling.

“What’s the next thing?”

“Oh Bernie, you will see, just follow me.”

Bernie and Lucy left the store and walked along the busy streets in and out of crowds of people that couldn’t see them and didn’t even know they were there. Most of the people just went about their day as normal. Some went to work, others going to school and some were probably just going.  Bernie was thinking that is how he was before he died. He just went almost blindly through life and going about his business. He never thought about death or what it would be like after he died. He never thought of much of anything except making a living to take care of his family. After his last child was born Bernie was laid off from his job and it took months before he found another one. That day he vowed that he would never be unemployed again and that it was the day he enrolled in college again. He had never finished college. His first year of college his mom passed away and his dad needed him to help care for his brothers and sisters. By the time they were to the point where they didn’t need him he met his future wife and a year later they got married. After a year of  marriage the kids came. They had the four kids in six years. He went back to school and got his degree in engineering. He was an electrical engineer and loved his job until that fateful day. The day he became a ghost.

“Bernie, come on.” Lucy said when she saw Bernie daydreaming again. 

“Daydreaming? Lucy asked.

“No, just thinking about my life.” Bernie said.

“That’s normal with new ghosts. I did that a lot when I was a new ghost.” Lucy said.

Lucy was actually a teacher and a mother of two kids. She loved teaching first grade at the local school and one of the best parts was she could walk to work. She loved her kids in class and she thought of them as an extension of her own family. When she was not at work she was at home taking care of her family. She loved to cook and bake with the kids and loved to hear their laughter when they played in the backyard on long summer days. They took a few family vacations and she loved the beach. When the kids were asleep her and her husband Jersey used to open the windows at the cabin they rented and just look and listen to the waves and bask in the calmness that only the beach could bring. She was only 47 when she passed away.  That car ran the red light. 

“Where did you go?” Bernie asked.

“Oh, nowhere really. But, we gotta move faster.” Lucy said.

“Where are we going?”

“Bernie, just be patient we are almost there.” Lucy said as they moved through the unknowing crowd of people.

“One thing that I like about this ghost thing is that we can fly above these people and move fast.”Bernie said laughing.

“Yeah, and that is not even half of what we can do.” Lucy laughed.

“We’re almost here.” Lucy said.

“That looks like…” 

“Yes, Bernie, that is your old house.” Lucy said

“But, why are we here?” 

“It’s Halloween where else would you be?” Lucy smiled.

Why were we here? Bernie thought. All the kids are grown up and they all moved out. Even his wife was staying with one of the kids. This made no sense. 

“Lucy, nobody I know lives here anymore. After I died my wife sold the house.” Bernie said.

“No, but just look and listen.” Lucy said.

Bernie wasn’t sure what he was supposed to look and listen to but he did what Lucy said and took a seat on the couch and listened and looked.

The house had changed. Where Bernie’s couch was now there was a daybed in its place. Across from the daybed was a large screen television. A few feet from the TV was a faded green chair. It looked like it was a reclining chair and across from that was a small loveseat the same color of the chair. There was nothing else in the living room except those few pieces of furniture. As Bernie sat there he saw an old woman probably in her early 80’s pushing a walker strutting across the carpet. Even though she was using a walker she had an aura around her that said she was loud and proud and still had that spunk in her walk.

The woman sat on the recliner and a few minutes later a younger woman who looked to be in her 40’s brought over a tray, a TV tray with a platter of fruit on it. The younger woman smiled at the older woman and set the tray down in front of the older woman. 

“Wait, is that?” Bernie said.

“Yes, it is your wife and daughter.” Lucy said.

“But, we sold the house. How can that be?” Bernie asked.

“Yes, your wife sold it but your daughter brought it.” Lucy explained.

“She brought it and when she moved in to take care of her mom.” 

“Well, where are the rest of the kids?” Bernie asked.

“Bernie, just watch and be quiet. You always had the habit of talking too much when you are alive.” Lucy joked.

“You sound like my wife.” Bernie said.

“Where do you think I got it from?” Lucy laughed,

Bernie's daughter sat happily beside her mom and together they ate the fruit off of the platter and talked about the show on the television. A few minutes later the doorbell rang. His daughter got up and answered the door. Standing on the other side of the door were three kids. Two dressed up as Batman and the other one as a princess. His daughter smiled and gave them each two pieces of candy.

“Oh my goodness is that?” Bernie said looking closely at the woman. 

“Yes, it is.” Lucy said.

“That’s Olivia!” Bernie shouted.

“Yes, that’s Olivia. She is a nurse and took a leave of absence to take care of her mom.” Lucy said.

Bernie remembered when Olivia was in nursing school, her last semester, that was the day that Bernie got to see his wife and kids. The last day he was alive. 

“Bernie, look!” Lucy demanded interrupting Bernie’s thoughts.

“Mama, remember when Daddy dressed up with us one Halloween and he dressed up as a fairy princess because Amir dared him to?” Olivia laughed.

“I sure do. I took pictures. “ Her mom laughed.

“Mama, I miss Daddy. I miss his smile, his corny jokes and even him trying to make pancakes on Christmas morning for the family.”

“I know. I miss him too. He never could cook pancakes though. He always burned them and we all sat around the kitchen table eating burnt pancakes loaded with a lot of syrup and jam trying to make them taste good so we wouldn’t hurt his feelings.” 

“That’s right, Mama. It was so funny. I wonder if he ever caught on that those pancakes were nasty and we didn’t want to hurt his feelings.” Olivia said.

“I think eventually he did.” They both laughed.

“You burned pancakes?” Lucy laughed.

“Hey, at least I tried.” Bernie laughed too.

For the next few hours Bernie and Lucy watched the kids come and go trick or treating and listened to all the memories that Olivia and Tam shared about all the Halloween’s past.  

“Time to go.” Lucy said abruptly.

“Where are we going now?” Bernie asked.

“You’ll see.”

A few minutes later Bernie and Lucy were at another house. This time Bernie knew that he hadn’t been there before and after a few seconds he figured out that Lucy had though.

They looked down on a small family. The family consisted of a middle aged man, a middle aged woman, and three teenagers. The teens looked to be around 13,16 and 18. They were on various electronic devices and the parents were trying to get their attention to come to the table to eat dinner. Eventually, the family was all seated at the table and were passing food from one person to the other without much conversation. The parents tried to make small talk with the kids but they weren’t interested. The girl would utter a few words sometimes and the boys didn’t say much of anything. They all looked like they were in a hurry to eat and go back to what they were doing before.

“Lucy, is that your family?” Bernie asked.

“Yes, that’s my daughter, her husband and my grandkids. I never lived long enough to see them in real life.” Lucy said.

“I see.” Bernie said.

“But, I can see them now, in the after world and I love them all. When Buster, the baby boy was little he could actually see me.” Lucy said.

“They can see us?” Bernie asked.

“Not always but sometimes when kids are little they can see things adults can’t.  Buster told my daughter, Helen that he saw grandma, that’s me but she didn’t really believe him. But, Helen was not the type of person to believe in ghosts.”

“I think sometimes they can feel us though.” Bernie said.

“Well, Bernie, it is time to go. We have one more stop to make.” Lucy said.

Bernie and Lucy did make one more stop. They stopped at the hospital to the nursery where the new born babies were. They looked at all the babies dressed in little orange outfits and orange blankets and a sigh over the nursery read: Happy Halloween. One of the babies was special though. One of the babies looked just like Bernie.

“Lucy, that little one looks like me.” Bernie said.

“That’s right. You know why?” Lucy asked.

“Is that me?” Bernie asked.

“Bernie, my ghostly friend, you make me laugh. No, that is not you but that is your great grandson. He was born today on Halloween.” Lucy said.

“But…”

“Your son, Dillion, his son, River and his wife, Felicie had him.” Lucy explained.

“He’s going to be someone famous.” Lucy continued.

“Really? I guess we have to come back in 30 years to visit him.” Bernie said.

“Oh no, Bernie we will be back every single year on Halloween to see how they all are doing.”

“Ready to go?” Lucy asked Bernie by his ghostly hand.

“Oh what’s his name?” Bernie asked. 

“Look at the name. Look familiar?” Lucy said

Bernie read the name on the bassinet the baby was lying in and smiled the biggest ghostly smile he could. He still had that same bright smile everyone loved. 

“Named after me. Bernie Casey.” Bernie  kept smiling  and away they went to the place in the after-world where ghosts live.