Figuring Out Life*

Chapter 1 - Not Ghosts

I closed my ears and turned my head around to avoid them.

They appeared where I was staring and said something.

But I was way too panicked to hear them.

One of the ghosts, a man wearing a box shirt from the 40s, held a paper that read "Not Ghosts".

That gave me a pause, I took my hands off my ears.

"We are not ghosts," he said.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my heart, "O-okay. So, what are you?"

"We're your past lives," he said. "I am Lesmana. Next to me is..." and he introduced me to the rest of the group; Barathi Nair, an elderly woman draped in Keralan sari and hair in a side bun; Santosh Iyer an Indian man dressed in a regency-era outfit; Selvi, a middle-aged woman with a mean look; Chea Chantrea, a quiet woman from Angkor Thom; Dharmaprasadottungadewi or Dewi for short, a literal queen; and Aryabhata, a scholar.

"Wait, how are you talking to me right now?" I asked.

"We just open our mouths and sound comes out?" Lesmana said.

"No, sorry, I mean, if I'm existing here now, and you all existed at a different time, then how am I talking to you?"

"We've always been talking to you?" he said, as he looked to the other past lives like he was unsure.

Bharathi Aunty nodded at him. And he smiled proudly while giving me a nod.

"What?" I asked.

His proud smile dropped a little. He thought for a second and said, "Do you remember when you wanted to jump to a floor below to see if you could make a superhero landing?"

I did think of that embarrassing thing.

"We're the ones who reminded you of what would happen if you did that," Lesmana said.

"So, you're my conscience?"

"Partially, yes," Queen Dewi said.

"Your conscience is based on what you experienced. Since you are us, you get to have what we have experienced as well as what you have experienced as the basis of your conscience," Aryabhata said.

"First of all, very cool, thank you for what you have done throughout the years,"

Some of them nodded their head pleased, some looked intrigued, while Selvi and Santosh looked annoyed.

Sensing their rudeness, I just looked at the others.

"Second of all, why can I see you now if I didn't before?"

"Well, because, uh, how do I say this-" Lesmana started

"You all are taking too long," Selvi said rolling her eyes.  Her bored eyes turned to me as she continued, "You could see us now because you're about to make a very dumb mistake and we only show up for very stupid mistakes."

"Selvi!" Bharathi Aunty shouted.

"Ah, what Selvi means is that we tend to show up when you're about to make a difficult decision that might be counterproductive towards achieving your life goals," Queen Dewi said.

"So stupid mistakes?" I asked.

"Yes! Very clever," Selvi said in a tone very much like talking to a dog that made a trick.

And that's the person I needed to avoid, I thought.

"Anyway, let's talk about your decision," Lesmana said

"Okay..." I agreed slowly.

"Do you want to leave?"

"Yes...," I said hesitantly.