The Ghostly Awakening

Somewhere far ahead, the sound of the large waves crashing the on a sand shore echoed in her ear. Her body felt light- unnaturally light as though she could float away at any moment.

Her eyelashes fluttered. She opened her eyes.

Darkness. Deep, suffocating darkness. This was not her room; she wasn’t even lying on her bed. The ground beneath her was hard and cold.

She sat up straight

A flash of blinding white light seared her vision and a gasp left her.

Izumi screamed.

Her hands—

They were not solid. A ghastly blue shimmered where flesh should have been. She stared, horrified, at her translucent fingers. Her entire body was an ethereal glow.

And the most bizarre part? She was sitting up while her lower part remained hidden inside a box.

A coffin.

Her breath hitched. She couldn’t breathe.

Amidst her breakdown, a woman approached her, carrying a bouquet of flowers and gently placed them atop the coffin. Her hands passed right through Izumi as if she wasn’t event there.

No. No, no, no.

People surrounded her, clad in black, their faces grim. A heavy silence filled the air, broken only by hushed murmurs and muffled sobs.

‘This…. This looks like a funeral-‘

The realization wiped the blue out of her face.

It was her funeral!

She bolted upright, nearing toppling over. Her picture was at the altar, an incense curling fragrant smoke into the air.

‘I am dead?!’

Her hands trembled as she thrust her head into the coffin, her ghostly eyes widening in horror. There- lying motionless, a serene expression on her face- was her own physical body.

Her body, her own physical body, was in there lying peacefully.

A sharp ringing filled her ears. Her mind reeled. She was going to pass out-

‘Quite a surprise, huh?’

A voice, dry and rough, cut through the chaos.

Izumi whipped around.

A figure stood in front of her, draped in a long, flowing cloak. Only its skeletal face was visible, hollow eye sockets peering at her. A gleaming scythe rested in its left hand.

Izumi let out a choked scream and stumbled backward.

‘This can’t be real.’

‘Oh sorry,’ he reached his bony hand into his long black cloak, brought out a card, extending it toward her.

She hesitated before snatching it, her fingers trembling as she read:

Balsos, the Grim Reaper of the thirty-fourth ward.

Favourite food: Soup of rotten turnips.

Favourite powder: Cat-hair powder.

Her lips quivered. ‘G-Grim Re-Reaper? You?’ she jabbed a finger at him. ‘So that means, I am d-dead? Dead?!’

Though the truth was obvious, hearing it out loud made her stomach drop,

Balsos nodded solemnly.

‘How?....... Why?’

‘Brain stroke,’ he said gravely, sympathetically shaking his head. ‘Sorry.’

As the words sank in, Izumi collapsed to her knees.

‘I……am dead?’

Her vision blurred. It felt as though time had stopped. The weight of the world settled on her shoulders, suffocating, crushing.

She turned to her altar picture- her frozen, frowning face immortalized. She traced her fingers over the frame, her hands passing through it.

‘I am actually dead. This is me……dead.’

A chill settled in her chest. The silence around her felt heavy, cola and unforgiving. Like a nightmare she couldn’t wake from.

Izumi sank to her feet again; her spirit crumbled.

Dead. Dead. Dead.

Her whole body transfixed in horror.

‘Izumi,’ Balsos called gently.

‘I am dead,’ she whispered. ‘I am dead.’

More than speaking, it was as though she was trying to understand what those words truly meant.

Then, she let out a mirthless chuckle, and turned to Balsos, murmuring, her eyes stretched to a breaking point, ‘I am dead………from a stroke. Isn’t it hilarious?’

A hollow laugh escaped her lips.

‘It’s funny!’ she shrieked, rolling onto the floor in a fit of maniac laughter. People passed through her oblivious to her breakdown.

Then abruptly, she sat up. ‘I don’t like this picture. Couldn’t they have used a better picture?’

Balsos stayed nothing.

‘And these flowers?’ Her voice grew shrill. ‘I don’t even like these flowers. I like lilies!’ her fists clenched. ‘Do my parents not even know this?’

The grim reaper patted her on the shoulder. Izumi looked up at him, glaring in rage.

‘Since your soul is suffering quite the mental decline here, I will take you to devour the medicine to all cures,’ he spoke in a serious tone, while nodding his head.

Before she could respond, the scenery shifted.

They were standing in front of small ice-cream shop.

‘Which flavour would you like?’ Balsos asked her.

Izumi gave him a horrible incredulous look. ‘This is your ‘medicine to all cures?’’

‘It is my policy to treat the souls to ice cream before taking them to afterlife,’ he trilled cheerfully.

Izumi shot him a look. ‘Can we do that?’ she asked.

‘Sure.’

They stepped inside the shop; Izumi half-expected the cashier to scream at the sight of a walking skeleton, if she could see them at all, but Balsos merely waved a hand hypnotising her into a calm compliance. Moments later, he handed Izumi an orange popsicle, while he held a cup of strawberry ice cream.

To her astonishment, she could actually taste it.

Balsos took a bite, his skeletal face somehow stretching into a pleased smile. His hollow eyes seemed to sparkle. ‘I understand,’ he mused. ‘Humans do not like dying. Especially kids your age.’

‘I am not sad about it,’ Izumi said at once. ‘I am just…… surprised. Not particularly sad. There isn’t much to be sad about anyway. Can we just hurry up and go to afterlife already?’

Balsos tilted his head. ‘Hmm, interesting. Okay then, let me ask you something.’

‘Sure. Go ahead.’

‘What was your happiest day?’

‘……..None, I guess.’

‘What was your saddest day?’

‘Everyday?’

‘Who do you love the most?’

Izumi yelled, annoyed. ‘I don’t know!’

‘Okay, then what is your last wish?’

‘Last wish?’ Izumi repeated.

She fell silent, pondering. The ice cream in her hand started to melt, dripping onto the floor. She thought for a long moment before answering.

‘…… I think I’ll want to have one more day……To live.’

‘Just one?’

‘One would be enough.’

Balsos tossed his empty cup into the garbage bin on the side. Then stretched out his bony hands. ‘Okay. Granted.’

Izumi blinked. ‘What?’

‘I can give you one more day. But…...’

‘Huh?’ Izumi jumped to her feet, ‘Wait, Hold on-’

‘Okay, you have one more day,’ he said, spreading his arms wide. His scythe spun above his head on its own.

A blinding light engulfed him.

Izumi shielded herself with her arms. The world around her had gone dark, twisting and weightless. There was a loud, whooshing sound and Izumi felt herself getting sucked in a spiral.

And then—

Everything went dark.