Over Under

Charlie could not do it any longer. He carefully marked his place, sat his book down, and headed out of the room. He had been trying to read the same book for nearly six months. The noise had become far too distracting. Almost nothing would help anymore. They always came at the worst of times. He quickly checked his outfit in the mirror, and he went through the front door. As he was getting into his car, he noticed that he forgot to put on his tie. He considered going back inside to get it but decided he would rather not waste time on something as silly as a tie. He didn’t think anyone really noticed it anyways.

Charlie was a middle-aged balding man with thick round glasses and currently had a navy-blue suit on. He had bags under his eyes that suggested months if not years of restless nights and the distinct demeanor of an elderly man. People often assumed he was much older than he genuinely was.

Charlie was on his way to work as the city's senior undertaker. It was his job to transport the recently deceased and perform the delicate procedure of getting them ready for burial, and he hated it.  He hated everything about it. The morgue, with the cold empty atmosphere, the tight expensive suits he had to wear to all the funerals, and most of all the spirits that called to him wherever he was.

He had first acquired this ability the day he turned 21. It had seemed like a blessing at first. Like he finally had a purpose in this world. He had liked to think of himself as a sort of afterlife therapist. Helping the recently deceased with whatever was keeping them back. His work had been full of wonder and adventure. He woke up feeling excited each and every day. What could be better than that?

He also found out a lot of things he never knew before. For instance, one day he was working with a particularly difficult spirit in one of his “sessions” as he liked to call them, and the spirit just wasn’t paying attention. Finally, he got so fed up that he grabbed him to shake some sense into him and the spirit just faded away never to be seen again. From this he found out that he could exert a sort of energy into the spirits and that was all it took. There was another time he attempted to bring one back to his house for another session. He had driven all the way back and had just gotten inside when he realized that the spirit had up and disappeared on him. It had taken him all day to retrace his steps. He had finally found it waiting patiently where he first discovered it. As it turned out, spirits could not move more than a block away from their bodies. Because of this it had started to become more and more difficult to get to them whenever they called. More often than not they were in some stranger’s house and he would have to come up with a ridiculous story to gain entry. So, in order to get better access, he took up the job of assistant undertaker.

However, after a few years the novelty of his newfound ability wore off. He had become calloused and less deliberate. It had also become apparent that they did not care about him. Did not care that he might be sleeping, or eating, or who he might be with at the time. They did not thank him, and they were always miserable. He was now left stuck in this position. He did not want to do it anymore, but he feared that if he ever stopped the noise would multiply to a level that would leave him permanently deaf or insane or something. He had to accept the fact that this was life whether he liked it or not.

Finally, there it was across the street. The house where he was sure all the noise was coming from. He got out of his car and approached the door. When he rang the doorbell, a small elderly plump man answered. His eyes were red, and his nose looked rubbed raw. “Can I help you?” he asked. “Yes, I am the undertaker, here to collect the body.” He looked a little puzzled. “Oh, but we haven’t even called anybody about it yet.” Darn it, he arrived too early. In his eagerness to get this over with he forgot to wait a while to let the proper people arrive first. He was about to come up with something clever when the man said, “Well, you might as well come in anyway, I’ll show you where she is.”

He followed him along the narrow passageway deeper into the house. He could’ve found his way alright, but Charlie let him guide anyway. They finally made their way to a bedroom that looked like it had been converted to an at home hospice care facility. He was used to seeing this whenever he did house calls, so it no longer shocked him to see wires coming out of machines and regulators of different kinds filling the entire room. The room also housed a giant hospital bed. Finally, he caught sight of a faint apparition in a dark corner that, of course, only he could see and hear. The spirit appeared to be an elderly woman with a kind face. It was the kind of face that could only be made by a grandmother. One that filled you with memories of gingersnap cookies and chocolate milk.

He quickly looked away pretending not to see it. Whenever the apparitions found out that he could see them they would immediately rush over and try to speak with him. He found this quite annoying most of the time. He usually waited until he got to the morgue or until he got in the hearse to finally acknowledge them. “Mr. uh” Charlie was mentally hitting himself. He forgot to ask his name. “Timmons” he finished. “Right, Mr. Timmons. It might take me a while to prepare her for transport. Would you mind stepping out of the room for a moment.” He looked a bit puzzled at this request but stepped out of the room anyway. Now that he was in the room alone, he started unplugging and unhooking the hospital machinery, surreptitiously glancing over to the corner where he knew the spirit was hovering. He started making notes on the notepad he kept with him. This was all for later record keeping. 

About half an hour later he was ready. He started rolling the bed out of the door. He looked back one more time to the dark corner before leaving, and unwittingly looked it right in the eyes. He quickly averted his eyes. Now he had done it. He hadn’t even made it so much as out of the room. He braced himself, sure he was about to be bombarded with annoying questions, and pitiful moans, but nothing came. Had he only imagined it? No, he was convinced they had just locked eyes. As he left the room and turned the corner he chanced another look. Yes, there she was looking straight at him. Was she blind? No, this couldn’t be right. He had met tons of ghosts who had bad eyesight in life, but they were perfectly lucid in death. He decided not to question it as he passed by the elderly man who let him in. He seemed to be engrossed in a serious conversation on the phone, so he decided to leave without speaking to him. He would talk with him at the funeral anyway. When he got to the curb, he folded up the hospital bed and put it into the hearse. Then he got inside and drove away.

He had just reached the end of the street when he was startled by a voice that came from behind him. “Now that we are out of the house, perhaps we should make a formal introduction. My name is Maggie Timmons, but everyone just calls me Granny Marge.” He looked in his rearview mirror and noticed she had appeared from the back of the hearse and was sitting quite comfortably in the backseat. Thrown a little off guard he answered “M-My name is Charlie Hoover.” However, he quickly gathered himself and switched over to his elevator speech. “And I bet you are wondering what is going on?” he was about to continue when she astonished him by responding, “no, not really. I had been seriously ill for some time. Although, I am confused, is this supposed to be heaven?” Charlie turned a corner at a stop sign and said, “No, it's still Earth, and you're a spirit living between this world and the next.” She took a moment to process this for about a quarter of a mile and said, “I see.” Then she asked, “so, why are you here? And why are you the only one who can see me?” He had been dreading this question. He hated being reminded of this, but he put it out of his mind and took a moment to collect himself before saying, "I can see you because it is my job to help souls like yours move on from your old lives.” Anticipating her freaking out at being told his position would determine her entire eternity, he shrilled, “but you don’t have to worry. I am very good at what I do. I've been doing it a long long time.” However, instead of freaking out, she said to him: “Oh my, you poor thing, I should offer you some chocolate. I usually give my grandkids sweets when they are going through something rough, but alas they must be in my other soul’s pocket.” This surprised him and he chuckled at this joke as they approached the ramp onto the highway. 

“Forgive me for asking, but you seem to be taking this very well. Aren’t you terrified about leaving this world?” She took another moment to answer and then said, “My grandmother instilled in me that I should always be poised and calm in front of strangers.” He waited for another answer, but none came. He made his way around a slow car and said, “but we are not strangers anymore are we? I am Charlie Hoover and you’re Granny Marge.” 

He didn’t know what was making him want to talk to her more. Usually he would just stick to the elevator speech, grab their hands, and watch them disappear. However, there was something intriguing about her. Like she genuinely cared more about him than herself. She laughed at this and remarked, “yes I suppose we’re not strangers anymore are we. Well I can’t lie to you I am scared. I am excited though that I will eventually get to where I must go, and I have complete confidence that you are able to do the job properly.” She left the sentence hanging for a little while. “But, there is still a part of me that remains afraid even though I know for certain where I am going. It is a different kind of fear. One I don’t think I have ever experienced before.”

Silence hung at the end of that last sentence for what seemed like forever. They had gone another couple miles when Charlie broke the silence by saying, “How do you know where you are going? I thought nobody really knew that.” She looked at him from the mirror and said, “I know because I have always known. There was a period when my own grandmother was dying. We siblings were called one by one to say our goodbyes. I was terrified of losing her, but she told me she was heading to a place where there was peace beyond peace. Where every tear was wiped away and all chaos ceased forever. I did not understand it at the time, and did not believe such a place existed. However, I feel I always knew it was there. It wasn’t until I was close to death that I fully accepted it.”

 He was left momentarily stunned at her certainty in this matter. A place where there was peace beyond peace? How could this be. He'd been doing this job for quite some time; he couldn't imagine his chaotic life ever being peaceful. Of course he had heard of this place before, but he had never heard it described quite like this. As they crossed the bridge into the downtown area, he reflected on this as the sun now bloomed over the horizon, bathing the city with a warm orange and yellow light. 

They did not speak again until they reached the tall building where Charlie worked. By then it was about 9:30 and the sun was fully in the sky “Well here we are. Would you mind stepping out with me?” She looked at him kindly and said, “Of course Charlie.” They both got out of the car. Now I need you to take my hands. She looked hesitant. Charlie said, “What’s the matter? I thought you said you were ready.” She didn’t look at him, but instead was staring at her own hands, “I am ready, but I was just thinking about all the people I was going to leave behind, and I just realized I never met my granddaughter's child. They were supposed to have a baby shower today, and I missed it. I missed it all.” She looked like she would be on the verge of tears if it was possible to shed them as a ghost.

Charlie was battling with himself at this moment. Just take her hands and be done with it, but he did not. Instead he found himself saying, “What if I helped you see it. The child I mean.” If she could shed tears now Charlie guessed her face would be covered in them. “Oh that would be fantastic. Thank you! Thank you so much God bless you!” He thought he must be going crazy, and he found his legs moving of their own accord back into the car. There was no turning back now. “Her house is just across the street from mine. I don’t know if we are going to make it.” Charlie with a newfound surge of energy gunned it. It wasn’t until 10 AM until they arrived back at the house. He parked a little ways down the street so that the man in the house where he picked Maggie up didn’t notice him. He was across the street from where there was clearly a party going on in the unusually spacious front yard. He looked back at Maggie and said, “you go on ahead. I don’t want to draw attention to myself.” But she did not seem to hear this, as she did not speak on her way out. She was drawn to the party across the street. He saw her glide into their midst and settled herself behind the young woman holding a bundle in her arms. Charlie watched as Maggie’s expression changed from worried to blissful as she looked at the swaddle of clothes that was a young baby. Then she looked back up, locked eyes with Charlie a smile creasing across her face, and disappeared. 

Well that was out of the way now he thought. He started his car and drove back to work. He worked at getting her body ready for burial that day without ceasing. He did not even take lunch. In fact when he was done he was very surprised to see that it was already time to go home. Maggie left him feeling different. It was a feeling he could not describe. He drove all the way home in silence trying desperately to pinpoint it.

 He got ready for bed; still not sure what it was that was different. He thought through everything that had happened that day. Then he thought about what Granny Marge had said about her grandmother. The peace that had come over her face as she talked about that place. The place of peace beyond peace. Where every tear was wiped away and every worry in the world ceased. He also thought about how genuinely kind she was, but also so real were her feelings. He laid down on his bed; somehow seeming lighter than he had before. Then he closed his eyes and had the best night sleep in years.