Return From Beyond

Monica couldn’t believe that Michael was dead. It shouldn’t have happened. He was too young, he was too needed, he had too much left to do. She needed him. The grand babies needed him, too. But the fact remained that he was dead and dead he would remain.

         Unfortunately, for Monica life had to continue in a somewhat normal fashion. She still had bills to pay, errands to run, and things to do in her day to day existence. Monica dreaded running errands. She hadn’t cared for it very much when Michael was alive, and she liked it even less now that he was gone. When he was there, he could help her with her panic attacks. Now she had to help herself.

         This day started out just like any other. Her check had come in, which meant making a trip to the grocery store. Monica made her grocery list. She liked to make sure that everything she needed was written down so she could get in and out as quickly as possible. 

         Monica reluctantly left her house, got into her car, and drove to Wal-Mart. After taking several deep breaths to stave off a panic attack, she stepped out of her car. She wasn’t paying much attention to anything around her, as she was busy pulling up her list and putting away her keys. 

         Suddenly, she sensed someone in front of her in the parking lot. She looked up and nearly fainted. There stood Michael, smiling at her! This was impossible – Michael was dead. It couldn’t possibly be him, but it was. 

         “Hey, babe,” he said. “Sorry if I scared you.”

         Swallowing past the lump in her throat, Monica stammered out, “But…you’re dead! You can’t possibly be here.”

         “But Honey, I am here.”

         “How is this even possible? I saw you die. I identified the body. I selected the urn, planned the funeral, and suffered through it. There is no way you are here. Wait, I know – I’ve finally completely lost my mind. That’s what this is. I’ve gone crazy and this is all in my imagination.”

         “No, Baby, I’m here. I’m back for you – to be with you. No matter how nice Heaven was, I missed you too much to stay gone.”

         “Let’s get in my car and go someplace where we can talk.”

         The two of them got into Monica’s car and she drove them back to her house. They went in and sat down. Michael told her all about how nice Heaven was, and how he had seen so many people. He had even gotten to meet her dad, who had died long before Monica and Michael had even met.

         Monica had so many questions – and concerns. She had no idea how they could explain to anyone that Michael was back from the dead. Michael had some crazy ideas. His first idea was that of going back to work. Monica explained to him that his job was no longer his. He had been dead for ten months. His position at work had been filled. It had actually been filled by one of his cousins. 

         Michael also wanted to go out and do all the things that they used to do, like eat out and go to the pawn shops around town to look for movies. But the first thing he wanted to do was see his grand babies. He told Monica that he had missed them almost as much as he had missed her.

         Monica found this very touching, and she knew how ecstatic they would be to see him back, but again – how to explain this? Then there was the matter of the insurance money. Whatever would the insurance company have to say about all this, and how would they ever be able to pay that money back?

         Michael assured her that she didn’t need to be so concerned about all of those things. They would take each issue as they came to it. 

         Monica went and picked up the grand babies and brought them back to her house, telling them that she had a huge surprise for them. A surprise that was better than any toy they could imagine.

         When the kids walked into the house, there was Michael, standing there and smiling at them. Of course, being young, they didn’t care that he was supposed to be dead. They were just beside themselves that their Paw-Paw was back. It had been so long since they had seen him, or gotten one of his big bear hugs, or heard how much he loved them from his own mouth.

         Watching the kids with Michael brought tears to Monica’s eyes, and Michael reached out and gently wiped them away, but they kept coming for quite a while. Michael, Monica and the kids spent a wonderful afternoon together. They took the kids to the park, the movies, and out to eat. Monica kept waiting to run into somebody that knew Michael was supposed to be dead. She had no idea how they would explain this miraculous phenomenon. 

         When they brought the grand kids home, they asked them not to say anything just yet. The kids agreed. Back at home, Monica and Michael snuggled up on the couch to talk about what to tell people. Neither of them had any good ideas, but Michael said it was okay, it would all work out. They talked well into the night, and when dawn came, they were still talking. They had so much to catch up on.

         When the sun came up, Monica reluctantly rose and made breakfast for the two of them. They ate, and then made a list of all the people they needed to notify, in order of importance. Michael said maybe his job could find him another position, and that he would get hold of them later to discuss that possibility.

         When lunch time rolled around, they went out to a nice restaurant to have lunch, and again Monica was waiting to run into someone that would question the situation. Once again, they encountered no one. Monica knew that their luck would run out eventually. After lunch, they went around to the pawn shops, just like they used to do, and once again their luck held out. 

         Monica awoke from this beautiful, painful dream with tears streaming down her face. She touched the urn containing Michael’s remains and whispered, “I will always love and miss you, Baby.” Then she rose to start her day alone.