SPARKS

6. LOST IN HER

The ad read:

Don’t believe in ghosts? Prove it and make $500. 

Jack frowned at the strange craigslist ad. A cook by profession, he was hoping to find a posting for a job on the north side of the island, instead the first thing he saw was that weird ad.

Maybe a drunk kid or an icehead, he thought. 

Out of curiosity he took out his phone and dialed the number under the ad. 

“Hello,” came a voice of an elderly woman.

“Hello, I’m calling about your craigslist ad,” said Jack.

“Yes,” said the woman, “What’s your name and how old are you?”

“Jack, thirty-three.”

“Any medical conditions? Weak heart? Heart attacks?”

“No.”

“Good. Meet me in the St. Catherine cemetery tonight at midnight. Come alone or don’t come.”

The phone beeped. The call ended. Jack smirked. He didn’t think much about it at the time. It was his day off work and his girlfriend was away visiting family in Seattle. Just before eleven that night, lying wide awake in his bed, his curiosity became stronger than his will and he decided to head to the cemetery, just for fun.

At quarter to twelve he pulled into the cemetery parking lot and his phone rang as soon as he killed the engine.

“Hello?” answered Jack.

“Is that you in the white pick-up?”

“Yeah.”

“Ok, here’s the deal. Walk into the cemetery and sit on the grave under the big pine tree. For one hour, I’ll try to scare you and if you survive, you walk away with $500.”

The call ended.

Jack walked into the cemetery and looked around; graves everywhere. The air felt cold and he was happy to have a jacket. The big pine tree was by the far end of the cemetery and Jack walked straight to it. He’d been sitting for about five minutes when he saw the woman walking towards him.

She stopped at about ten feet from him. He noticed her long white hair shining in the moonlight and before he could say hello, she started to hum and sway. Her body moved rhythmically with her voice and he admired her graceful hand movements. Fear was the last thing on his mind and he was curious to find out who she was. Soon, she started to sing in Hawaiian and it was the most delightful voice he’d ever heard.

Frozen, he listened to her sing. As she sang more, the moon somehow grew brighter. He could see her clearly, a woman aged about seventy, with the voice of an angel. Time became a blur and he lost himself in her hypnotic voice. He closed his eyes, lied down on the grave and felt as light as a feather. In a few minutes, he opened his eyes to find himself floating above his own body. Even though he craved to get back into his body, the breeze drifted him higher and higher into the sky.

Soon he was in a cloud surrounded by fog and the mystical voice. The words just came to him and he began to sing with the voice. Time flew by and he didn’t keep track. All that mattered was the song and its rhythm. He didn’t remember exactly when he fell asleep but woke up after a couple of hours to find himself alone in the cemetery. 

Thirsty and lightheaded, he got up and slowly made his way to the cemetery parking lot. The song was still fresh in his memory and he hummed the words. On reaching the parking lot, he noticed that his pick-up truck was gone. 

I can’t believe I got ripped off, he thought.

To call the cops, he tried to get his phone out of his pants front right pocket. The pocket was missing and so were his pants. He looked down and screamed in horror when he realized he wasn’t in his own body. He was in the body of the elderly Hawaiian woman.

His high-pitched womanly scream made a few wild chickens run for cover as he stood alone in the parking lot with the moonlight shining on his now long white hair.

THE END