For the month of November, my Short Story Sundays will be excerpts from my NaNoWriMo novel, Second Chances. Please keep in mind that while this has been proofread for my blog, it is still first draft material.
You can also read Excerpt One and Excerpt Two that I have posted.
“Now listen to what I’m about to tell you…” he said cautiously.
My eyes grew wide. I had no idea what he was about to tell me, but judging by his even tone and somber face I had a feeling he wasn’t going to tell me any good news.
“I am going to send you back down to Earth.” Ezekiel began. “You are going to be nothing but a ghost, do you understand?”
I nodded and then raised my hand as though I was in school.
“What?” Ezekiel asked annoyed.
“If I’m a ghost, does that mean I’m able to walk through walls and stuff?” I asked seriously, but by the end of the question a grin formed on my face. I had to admit, that would be pretty exciting if I was able to walk through walls and haunt people. Though I didn’t want to say that to Ezekiel.
Ezekiel took another deep breath. “No. You do not get any powers. You’re a ghost, not an Angel.”
“What’s the difference?” I furrowed my brows. Ghosts and Angels were both dead, so what did it matter?
“Angels have been accepted to Heaven. Ghosts have not. Therefore, you have no powers. Once you get accepted into Heaven, then you will become an Apprentice. Once you pass that, you’ll get your wings and became an Angel. Later, if you want, you can fill out an application to become a Guardian Angel. Need I go on?” Ezekiel frowned seeming bored with the conversation.
“Yes. What’s the difference between an Angel and Guardian Angel, exactly?” I wondered.
“Is that really important at the moment?” he glared at me.
“Fine, can you at least tell me what I’ll become if I don’t get into Heaven?” I wondered.
“You’ll still be a Ghost.” Ezekiel stated. “You’ll just move from Purgatory to Limbo.”
I furrowed my brows in confusion.
Ezekiel rolled his eyes. “Purgatory is where you are now. You have a chance to get into Heaven. Limbo is when you’re stuck in between Heaven and Earth with no hope of getting into Heaven.”
“Where does Hell fit into all this?”
“We do not speak of that place!” Ezekiel grew a little taller looking down on me with narrowed, angry eyes.
“Sorry,” I said gently.
Ezekiel shrunk back to his normal size and took a few deep, cleansing breaths. He looked back up at the clock and let a squeak escape his lips.
“We are really running out of time!” he panicked. “On Earth, you are going to be a Ghost. Like I said, you get no powers. You cannot walk through walls or people and you cannot touch anything or pick anything up. You cannot speak to anyone. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” I nodded, “but what happens if I try to talk to you? What if someone hears me?”
“No one will hear you. You can talk to me. I’m just telling you not to bother talking to others. They won’t respond. They won’t even know you’re there.” Ezekiel clarified.
