Five phantoms lurked invisibly in a tiny corner of the sky. On stormy evenings, they shed tears that added to the rain that splashed over the Earth. Sometimes, on the gym windows, rivulets of water streaked the clear glass panes, like tears rolling down the cheeks of an unhappy child.
Five marauders, seeking athletic human hosts, and a place for ghosts to take care of unfinished business, a state basketball championship.
They longed for a chance to bounce a basketball once more, to shoot a jump shot, or to make a steal again. They craved to feel the sweat and excitement that human beings feel as they run up and down the court.
Sure, they played games in the airless environment that all athletic ghosts float around in, but something was missing. The sweaty aroma of athletes and the noise of a cheering crowd filling a high school gym on a cold Friday night were essential elements. The Phantoms missed human emotions the most.
Five Ghosts, young basketball players who died too early, too soon, and with unfinished business wanting desperately the opportunity to return to life and the game.
They wanted to ramble some more, find fulfillment again as real athletes with raw human emotions.
Dreams stimulated their restless souls.
They wanted to run up and down a basketball court and feel it.
These five phantoms wanted to leave their corner of the eternal athletic sky for a little while – if only for a moment to sprint up and down the court and win that elusive high school basketball state championship.
They didn’t ask where they were going. They only wanted to be alive again. Playing basketball in the flesh would let their spirits run free. Each individual ghost would exist, simultaneously, in the body of a living basketball player; each ghost would inspire, motivate, and help that player navigate through life’s obstacles.
Some of the phantoms were not good people, but would still be given a second chance. Second chances would come in many names, faces and places. Others would have to redeem themselves with a more difficult human challenge.
Their destiny was a special place on Earth to live and win that state basketball championship so their souls could finally rest. What they wanted couldn’t be found in a restless death, but fulfilled only by returning to life.
Everyone has a dream that sticks to their souls until that dream is fulfilled. The five marauders sang eerily to the dawn of a new existence with a chorus, the chorus based on a chance to be free....
