Children of the underworld

chapter 7

"There are loved ones in the glory

Whose dear forms you often miss.

When you close your earthly story

Will you join them in their bliss?

Will the circle be unbroken?

By and by? By and by?

Is a better home awaiting

In the sky . . . in the sky . . ."

Leo decided to sing in English for one simple reason: he could only remember the first and last verses of the song in Spanish. He could remember four of the verses in English. But if anyone asked, he'd claim it was because he'd thought it was more likely Hazel would take note if he was singing in English. Since presumably Hazel spoke English.

And "Will the Circle be Unbroken" was the longest song he had memorized. His ADHD made it hard for him to memorize most things, so even though he'd sung in a choir right up until his mother died, he only really had a few songs memorized.

His voice hitched at the thought of his mother, and how she'd drug him to choir practice every week. He'd hated it so much. Now he'd give anything just to have her drag him there one more time.

"You remember songs of heaven

Which you sang with childish voice

Do you love the hymns they taught you

Or are songs of earth your choice?

Will the circle be unbroken?

By and by? By and by?

Is a better home awaiting

In the sky . . . in the sky . . ."

Some of the ghosts were starting to pay attention now, Leo noticed. That fact made him a little nervous. Having dead people paying attention to you was never a good thing. He'd learned that from the movies. Many were ignoring him, but some were definitely turning their faces toward him. A few were even moving toward him as he wove his way amongst the crowd of souls. They were the ones in more modern clothes, he realized. Souls who'd been in the fields of Asphodel less time, most likely. The further into the crowd he went, the fewer souls there were paying attention to him, and the more outdated their styles of clothing were. He passed the dated looks of the nineties, then the eighties. The seventies and the sixties kind of blended together for him. He hadn't been a good enough student to be able to tell their differences, but he did start noticing a lot of soldiers in addition to the bellbottom-wearing hippies.

That made him sad, the sight of all those soldiers. He wondered what they'd done to end up there. Had they died before managing to do any great deeds in battle? Or had they done something awful, and didn't have enough good deeds to balance them out? He didn't remember much about the wars during that era, but he could recall one of his better teachers saying something about both sides doing terrible things to each other, because they were under orders, or they had to do them to survive. Leo hoped he'd never end up in a situation like that. It was a relief that very few of the souls of this era showed any interest in him, and none of them started following him.

"You can picture happy gatherings

Round the fireside, long ago . . .

And you think of tearful partings

When they left you hear below.

Will the circle be unbroken?

By and by? By and by?