Above the Vaulted Sky - Page 22

My mum’s cry of anguish is still fresh in my memories as I turn the corner at the end of the road. But this time I try to keep it distant. I focus on the happiness I saw before it, and all the happy moments I can recall and revisit.

I’m shivering. I don’t suppose I have to worry about pneumonia, but dressed in just a hoody and a t-shirt, I feel like I need to.

Penny’s house isn’t too far from mine, so I set off at a jog to keep myself warm. I know desperation can make people do a lot of things which are out of character. I did an out of character thing this morning and ended up dead.

But I have to avoid the Edge at all costs. It brings the kind of danger I’m not accustomed to and I don’t want to know it any better. If I was to guess, trying to keep as much science as I possibly can to calm my questioning mind, I would say that though I’ve left my body, my mind, or consciousness has remained intact. A mind isn’t a tangible thing hence my invisibility.

I am clearly dead, considering I’ve seen my bloodied body, but it appears as though there is life after death. My continued interaction with the physical world is still a mystery to me. As a mind though, I am clearly prone to slipping into other areas.

I’m still scared to try and transport myself the way Benjamin said I could. The sensation feels so Edge-like, that I’d much rather walk, and experience the pleasure of still being able to.

I reach her house in a few more minutes. I wish I could have an hour in a Library. I could research all the accounts of ghosts, apparitions, poltergeists, spiritual visits and everything in between.

With a start, I realise that I can. I can visit any library in the world after hours and read to my heart’s content. I can do a little bit of haunting.

I want to know how I have come to be this way, but no more than my need to find Penny again.

I arrive at the front of her house. Her red front door is like an open mouth ready to accept me. I imagine the raven hair waiting  for me on the other side. All the things I love about her: the way she wears the same shoes every day despite their falling apart, the towering stack of books she keeps by her bedside in case she fancies something different.

Unable to contain my excitement, I dart towards the door and pass through.