“It’ll all make sense in due time,” Claude with the long, scraggly beard piped in, propping his bare feet on the seat just before him as he added, “but for now, do you have anything to say on your behalf? Any comments about what you just saw up on the screen?”
My shoulders drooped. All of me drooped. I was done with words and out of excuses. I just wanted it to end. To learn my place, and move on.
They gazed at each other, communicating in a way that was completely blocked from me, finally coming to some sort of mutual agreement when they nodded toward Celia, who turned to me and said, “Based on your accumulated history and your strong attachment to the earth plane, you will train as a Catcher. Any questions?”
Train as a—what? A question that was soon followed by a gazillion others just like it.
“A Soul Catcher,” Samson said, pushing his long silver hair off his face and settling his violet eyes right on mine. Adding, “A catcher of souls.” As if that made any more sense.
And I was just about to ask the obvious, when Aurora cut in with her soft, soothing voice that made every word sound like the most perfectly chosen lyric to a beautiful song, and said, “Riley, your situation is not as unique as you think. There are plenty of souls who resist the call to come Here. Many of whom are still wandering the earth plane, unwilling to cross the bridge and move on. Some resist for centuries, ignoring any and all attempts to lure them Here, while some only linger for a short time. And while each individual soul is granted free will, every now and then we find they require a little extra . . . push, if you will. A little reminder that they have choices, better choices, than those that they’ve chosen. And that’s where you come in.”
My eyes darted between them, and even though I was brimming with questions, lots and lots of questions, it’s like I had so many I had no idea where to begin. All I knew for sure is that I was going back.
Back to the earth plane.
The glorious earth plane!
And as far as I was concerned, I couldn’t leave soon enough.
“We’ve no doubt that carefully guided and given the proper training, you’ll be a very successful Soul Catcher for us,” Royce said, granting me a smile that was made for spotlights, movie screens, and magazine covers as the others nodded their agreement.
“So, when do I leave?” I jumped to my feet, suddenly brimming with an abundance of energy that was lacking just a few moments earlier. “When do I get my old life back?” I asked, picturing myself moving right back into the old neighborhood and enrolling in my old school, not quite sure how all the logistics would work. You know, how they would go about fixing the fact of my being dead one day, and, well, pretty much undead the next. Then dismissing it just as quickly, figuring that to be their problem, not mine.
Me, I was fulfilling a mission.
A very exciting mission.
But my excitement barely had a chance to take hold when Aurora looked at me, her brown/red/black/silver/blond hair swirling around her in a whirl of waves and rivulets as she said, “You will return in spirit form only. Invisible to all but your fellow spirits, and the gifted few who are able to sense us.”
My eyelids grew heavy, my shoulders sank, and I sighed. Deflated, disappointed, disillusioned—not one of those words even begins to describe how I felt. And yet, I was still going back. There was no changing that. If the Council saw fit to send me packing, well, who was I to fight it, no matter what form I’d be in?
And from what I’d seen so far of this school, with the assembly and the singing and the glowing, and all the other accumulated weirdness, well, I figured I wouldn’t really miss it.
“When do I leave?” I asked, instantly ashamed when I realized I hadn’t given a second thought to what I would tell my parents and grandparents until the words were already out.
“No reason to delay,” Celia said, checking with the others who nodded their agreement.
“The sooner the better,” Samson chimed in.
“Now would be good,” agreed Royce.
And even though I was excited, I still had to ask, “But, what about my family? What’ll I tell them?”
Turning as Claude motioned toward the screen that was now split down the middle—one side showing my dad enjoying some kind of jam session with a bunch of other musicians, while the other side showed my mom painting in some brightly lit studio, her smock splattered with virtually every color in the rainbow as a smile lit up her face. And even though I had no idea what it meant, my insides started to do that weird clenching/curling thing again.
I pressed my lips together, trying to make sense of what I was seeing. Wondering why they weren’t where they said they would be, why they’d choose to lie and play hooky from what they’d told me. But then, before I could blink, the screen split again, and I saw each set of grandparents engaged in some pretty surprising activities of their own, especially once their age was factored in. Enjoying stuff like: surfing, and hiking, and ranching, and symphony composing, as well as overseeing a nursery full of brand-spanking newborns.
“They’ve already been placed,” Aurora said. “They’re enjoying their soul work now. There’s no need to worry about them.”
Soul work? I blinked. Things were getting weirder by the second. I mean, initially, I was worried about them worrying about me. But from what I could see, I’d be surprised if they even noticed I was gone.
“Your family already understands what’s just now becoming clear to you. Sometimes, back on the earth plane, real life gets in the way of who we are truly meant to be, but Here you can do what you’ve always dreamed of, you can fulfill your destiny.” She smiled.
And even though she clearly thought this was a Really Great Thing, and clearly expected for me to agree—I didn’t.
I couldn’t.
Knowing all of that just made me feel even more alone, completely unnecessary, and more than a little unwanted.