Perspective

Chapter 5 : Memory Lane

"Alright so can you run that whole "stuck here till I'm at peace" thing again?" This dude talks so fast when he explains things it's like hearing a Cuban speak spanish. "Like I said Shaun, you are stuck here in this middle state like me. We can't leave here until our souls are at a state of peace." I understood what he said but I had this question in my head and I didnt want to be an ass and ask him something that's a bit too personal. I mean I literally only met him a couple of hours ago. "Donny can I ask you something?" He nodded with a grin. "Do you know why you're stuck here?" His grin slowly went away into a kind of thought processing kind of look. "Yeah I know why I'm stuck here kid. I've never been the kind of guy to hide bullshit from others so I'll be honest with you." I could feel that this was gonna get kinda touchy. I mean I hope he doesnt get mad at me for bringing this up. I'm just a bit curious ya know. "Well before I died I was a trolley conductor for the town. After work I would come home and spend time with my wife Gloria. God you should have seen her. She was a goddess amongst men. Well anyway, I used to save up money so I could take her out and show her how much she means to me. After a day of hard work I told my wife to put on her best dress cause I would take her out on a night of epic proportions. After a dinner and movie we were walking home when some dude came up to us and asked for some change. I was gonna give him a dollar when I felt a sharp pain. He stabbed me a couple times and I blacked out. When I woke up I saw my own dead body and a bunch of cops surrounding it. I freaked out for a bit, then decided my best bet was to head home. As I was approaching the door I heard my wife talking to someone else. I ended up finding my wife in the arms of that fucker that killed me. They were just smiling, talking about going to the insurance company to pick up the life insurance on me." I noticed Donny started to clench his fist and space out from time to time. I mean damn, that's fucking rough to have some chick pretend to love you only to have you killed for money. Man and I thought our generation was fucked. Donny began to speak again. "I ended up going to my funeral. Man that was such a surreal moment. Not only that, but seeing Gloria pretending to be sad about my death pissed me off. She was right there acting while my mom, who was just in such a depressive state; was crying her heart out. And that bitch had the nerve to bring that fucker who killed me to the funeral. Well after that I tried to move on but the pain was too strong. Even now I cant get over it. So now I'm stuck here. Cursed to relive that thought over and over again. I'm sorry if that was kind of a buzzkill story kid but that's the truth." I'm not gonna lie, it was just kind of awkward. I feel bad for Donny, but I'm just not used to handling emotional conversations like this. So I did the only thing I could do. I put my hand on his back and patted him to let him know that it was ok. He looked up at me and with a little smile. "Thanks Shaun, I know this may have been a kind of strange but your one of the few spirits that have been here that didnt leave me to revisit this memory alone. You really are something kid." This was seriously one of the nicest things anyone has ever told me. I couldn't help but feel all warm inside. If I had an inside to begin with. But something did get me thinking. How many other spirits has Donny been surrounded by?