Tully glanced down at his hand and reviewed the note that was firmly attached to his palm. The shade stared at the elegant text, yet the memory of his death snagged his focus. While it was hazy, he knew he’d attempted to save a little girl’s life. The only other solid aspect of his memory was the crushing coldness as the underwater current pulled him under. As a shiver ran down Tully’s incorporeal spine, he stared up at the looming building that some unseen force insisted he visit.
Unsure of what he should do, Tully eventually ignored the note and searched the surrounding streets, finding nobody. The solitude unnerved him more than becoming a ghost. Determined to discover anyone, the shade stalked the streets of the city that never slept. He knew it should have been teeming with activity, yet with each passing block, he still found nobody. As the sun drifted toward the horizon, he finally caught a glimpse of people while he drifted above the sidewalks. Unfortunately, despite finding the population, he couldn’t communicate with any of them, a side effect from having died.
Once he made the decision to obey the note’s command, he caught sight of a familiar face. However, before he could identify the person, his vision blurred, robbing him of his chance to identify the stranger. For an instant, Tully thought he recognized the woman, but as the individual disappeared into the faceless crowd, he dismissed the idle thought.
When Tully returned to the identified apartment building, a multitude of questions swirled about his chaotic mind as the structure loomed over him. The question competing for his attention was, what am I doing here? He drowned, that was an absolute fact, yet he was exploring the world as if nothing had happened, aside from the limitations of his ghostly existence. His sole anchor to the living was a scrap of paper guiding him to this very building. Specifically, to an apartment inside its walls.
After a few moments of internal deliberation, Tully drifted forward, determined to find his answers. Once he slipped through the front door, he searched for the specified apartment. It took him a while, but Tully eventually found apartment forty-five. He hovered there in the hallway, thinking about everything he’d seen. After several tense moments, Tully glanced at the note, hoping for new directions. However, it still bore its most recent command. Despite the ordinary door, the shade wondered why his unknown guide insisted he come to this apartment.
Tully’s fingers traced the numbers affixed to the door, and he knew he’d have to enter to claim his answers. But it felt wrong entering someone’s home unannounced. His ghostly existence wasn’t a valid excuse for being impolite. Yet as the seconds passed, the siren song of answers proved too enticing for Tully to ignore, and he strode into the apartment. Upon entering, the world became more vibrant, like someone had removed a piece of lace from his eyes. With his improved clarity, Tully explored the apartment, noticing little things as he went, none of which made any sense. Yet the most alarming thing was the newspaper clippings littered upon a desk. Since he couldn’t move it, he read what he could.
Based on what was exposed, the clippings centered around his death, a fact that shocked him. He didn’t have any family in the city. No one should have cared this much about his life, let alone his death. Yet the evidence disproving that point was laid out beneath him. Tully heard voices coming from deeper inside the apartment. He turned toward the sounds and rubbed his shoulders as he ventured onward.
As he drew closer to the sounds, he caught sight of pictures, with faces just out of focus. Upon reaching the source, Tully pressed his fingers against the door, blocking his path, and read the plaque bearing a single word, Heather. Obsessed with the clarity the name provided, Tully focused on the words just out of reach. As he listened, Tully caught a few words from a deep voice that he didn’t recognize.
“…glad… you’re here…”
Without thought, Tully drifted closer to the unknown voice as he itched his ethereal ear. But as he drifted closer, a second voice rang out inside his head.
“I love you, daddy.”
Despite the voice’s beauty and clarity, its intensity drove Tully’s knees into the floor. As his head pounded, he clutched his ears as if he were trying to protect them. Yet those efforts couldn’t keep a pair of words from a gentle and loving woman from burrowing past his defenses.
“…sweet dreams…”
The ghost rose off the flooring and drifted toward the strangers, when the trumpeting angelic voice rang in Tully’s ear.
“I love you, mommy.”
Curiosity compelled Tully to push his ethereal head through the door. On the other side, the shade discovered a child and her parents perched on the child’s bed. Despite his inability to interact, something attracted the girl’s attention, pulling her gaze toward his. The instant they locked eyes, Tully knew who she was. The knowledge had come as fast as light when someone flips a switch. It was the girl he had died trying to save, but he hadn’t remembered actually achieving that. Yet here she was alive, surrounded by family.
The girl smiled as she stared into his eyes and inched forward.
“Thank you.”
Tully’s own smile blossomed as he drifted toward the child he’d saved.
“You’re welcome, little one.”
With his journey now complete, Tully’s body began to fade. The note which had been secured to his palm fell, fluttering to the ground. He looked down at his silent guide and instead of finding the address, he discovered five words written in an elegant hand.
She lived, thanks to you.
Looking back up, Tully caught sight of the girl once more, as her angelic words filled his ears one final time.
“Thank you for saving my life.”