Spirit Blues

"It's a terrible feeling, isn't it?" said Rosa's dad. Rosa nodded her head. Her dad sighed. "It will pass, my dear, it will pass."

Ten years later....

The door of the cafe jingled with a bell as the young woman, dressed crisply yet casually, walked in. She was wearing a T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers, all pressed and ironed, as to not leave a single wrinkle. She walked in inconspicuously, ordered a medium latte and an everything bagel, and sat down. That routine had been repeated meticulously every single day, without fail. Whether rain, hail, or sleet, she was always there at 9:00 AM. What she didn't realize, however, was an invisible spirit next to her, tapping her shoulder, doing everything she could to get her attention. They were the exact same. The hair, face, purple-rimmed glasses. If people could see her, they would easily take them for twins, but this was different.

No one could hear the spirit, and she knew what was about to happen. Crying, all the the spirit could do was sit back and watch as the man with the gun entered the store.

"Everyone here, give me your purses and wallets, and no one has to get hurt. Line up here, right now. If one of you try to call the police, you're off to the next world." The spirit nodded glumly. He wasn't bluffing, but the woman thought he was. One by one, all the patrons of the cafe gave him all their wallets....until the woman. "Hand it over, missy." The woman smirked. "I didn't know people said that anymore." The thief's expression changed from a smug smile to a tight-lipped, forced one. "Hand your purse over before you get hurt." The woman laughed at the gun pointed toward her. "Who do you think you are? Al Capone?" The thief now had the gun pointed toward her face, and his finger had turned white on the trigger. Meanwhile, the spirit had her eyes shut and was praying to let it all end. She knew what words would be spoken next, and started mouthing them. "I bet that's not even a real gun. You don't have the guts to shoot, do you?" "Oh, you bet I will..." The trigger tightened. It was a second away. "Duck. Duck!" muttered the spirit. The woman didn't duck. The trigger tightened...then released. It was a clean shot. 

The spirit buried her head in her arms. "Death...again..." She saw the aftermath unfold in front of her, like it had thousands of times before. The sirens of the police. The body slowly bleeding out. Her last wishes to her family. The mourning family in the house. There had been so many ways to prevent this from happening. So many ways....but her teenage, impulsive self had gotten herself killed...and for absolutely nothing. Her life had meant absolutely nothing.

She felt herself shifting, and….

Rosa woke up in a sweaty heap. She didn't even know ghosts could sweat, at least, not before coming here. The Spirit Realm. She had always thought that this place would have more...mystique, but no. Instead, when you died, instead of singing birds, glory, and light, you got a cross between a UPS warehouse and an airport terminal where the lines were really, really, really long. Rosa had been lucky to get in as a minor. Well, really unlucky, actually, to die as a minor, but at least she got a line skip in the Spirit Realm, which was huge, if that was any consolation. The actual Spirit Realm wasn't much impressive either, unless you were a hero or was really successful, in which case, congrats! You got a mansion, or some house of your choosing. Rosa technically counted as a hero, for technically saving those people in the cafe, but still got a basic condo (with a few perks.) They were dead already, so there was no food or water. You didn't have to pay rent or deal with any random problems life threw your way because, well, you weren't alive anymore. However, unlike any stories Rosa had heard of, there was a price. It sounds weird to have a price for being dead, until you realize the world is held together by one guy's power, and he's providing for your soul not to be cast into oblivion, so you should be at least a little bit grateful. Y'see, this guy feeds on memories, so the "system" makes it so your dreams every night are your final moments. Basically, he has your life for dinner. This was fine for those who died of old age, and stuff like that, but if you die as a minor....yeah. There's no good outcome there. Rosa had met people who died in a car crash, who overdosed on drugs, who died in a shootout. It really wrecks your mental health when you relieve the worst moments of your life, day after day, and ghosts barely had any mental health. 

Rosa got out of bed, brushed her teeth, and went downstairs. She ate a soggy piece of toast and opened the minibar. (That was a perk.) She ripped a Cola out of the container and went outside. Lots of people wonder what ghosts do all day. Well, apparently they visit the human realm and act like regular people, except no one can see them. They work. They commute. They wander. Naturally, there are rules. If you break them, it's a good-bye to you! (Meaning you'll be cast into the void forever, never to be seen again.) Rosa was wandering when a spasm happened. She happened to be near an old, abandoned building where no one was, and suddenly dropped to the ground. She tried to move her arm. No dice. The realization came with a sickening shock. She was paralyzed, in the middle of the wilderness, with no way to save herself. The words had barely sunk in when she was pulled into dreamland.

"Who do you think you are? Al Capone?" Rosa scrunched her eyebrows. This wasn't supposed to be happening! "I bet that's not even a real gun. You don't have the guts to shoot, do you?" Rosa screamed, but no one could hear her...except herself. "Help! Help!" Teenage Rosa turned around to where Spirit Rosa was. "Who was that?" Spirit Rosa grimaced. She knew the consequences for doing this...but it had to be done. By breaking the natural timeline, she was reversing everything. She would die, but there was a one in a million chance, that if she did everything right, if she got back into the real world how it's meant to be, with Spirit Rosa unscathed and Teenage Rosa dead, then maybe she would yet be conscious on the face of the earth, but first, she needed to pull it off. "Here!" Teenage Rosa whipped her head around. She locked eyes with Spirit Rosa. "Who are you, and why do you look exactly like me?" Spirit Rosa took a deep breath. She knew how her mind worked inside out, and knew the best way to take this was head-on. "Listen. I don't just look like you. I am you, and I am your ghost."

Teenage Rosa stumbled back. The thief and the patrons of the shop 

dissipated. It was just a memory, after all. "For some reason, I'm trapped here. Can you help me get out?" Like Spirit Rosa expected, Teenage Rosa took a moment, then slowly nodded her head. She'd always been superstitious, so her mind adjusted easily. Plus, she would do whatever it took to help someone. "Okay. What do I have to do?" Spirit Rosa took a deep breath. "Well, I sort of need you to die."

Teenage Rosa recoiled. "What!?" "Listen. When you die, you go to the Spirit Realm. If there are two Spirits of the same person, the universe will break. We don't want to do that, right?" Teenage Rosa nodded. "You're a memory, so when you die, you die, but I'll still harbor your spirit. When you die, the memory will end, I'll go back to the Spirit Realm, and you'll be within me. Sound okay?" It was okay, except she was lying. When Teenage Rosa died, she would float invisibly to the Spirit Realm, just like Spirit Rosa did. It would infinitely follow wherever Spirit Rosa went, because it was a memory. Teenage Rosa took a deep breath. "Okay. I'm ready. Just to be sure...I won't be wiped off the earth, right?" Spirit Rosa gave her a "reassuring" smile. "Don't worry, you won't." Spirit Rosa unlocked the part of her that she had been dreading. It was where her regrets lived. The regrets swirled around Teenage Rosa, and slowly made their way into her mind. Teenage Rosa fell to the ground, and the memory bayed with betrayal as it rose out of the body and into the Spirit Realm, unable to stop it. Spirit Rosa sighed. The hard part was over. All that was left to do was to possess the body, so that she could be Rosa again. Spirit Rosa floated up to the body, closed her eyes, and ducked her head forward...into the body, and her world went black.

Rosa opened her eyes. They immediately went wide. Who was she? Where was she? She looked down. Her hands...skin? Was that skin? It had worked! She had an urge to jump out of her bed and dance with joy, but simply sat up and examined that it really had worked. She got up, looked at herself in a mirror, and went downstairs, where she found her mother waiting for her. "Ah, Rosa! I was so worried about you! Luckily, the bullet only grazed your shoulder. Come, have some breakfast." Grazed my shoulder? Rosa thought. It went through my heart! She ate breakfast quickly, for she had school today. She got dressed, and went to school, trying to remember how she acted before she died.

At school, she received numerous expressions of worry and relief. The day zipped by, and she made plans with a friend-Trina-to go to the park after school. She went home happily, filled with elation that it had worked, and she was in her right soul again. She met Trina, who suggested they go this great café (It's really good, I promise!") They walked along the sidewalk, and Trina stopped. "Oh! We're here!" Something about this looked very familiar to Rosa. That distinctive marking on the side spoke volumes. "What's the matter, Rosa? Don't you want to go?" Rosa shook her head. "Nah, I heard their ambience isn't great."