Soul For Hire

2

I crossed the street, having three cars go through me in the process.

There was a bright glow from outside the alley. It was a kaleidoscope of colors, some blinking slowly and others continuously burning. Their hues hurt my newdead eyes. I peered around the brick wall and into the alleyway entrance.

An array of muffled sounds floated out past me. But, something even stranger: smells. Specifically, the delicious aroma of Asian cuisine. I closed my eyes, not having been able to smell anything for months.

I let the trail of pinks, blues, and greens guide me down the alley. A lonely translucent glass door embedded itself into the bricks, it's opaqueness filtering some of the light and sounds from the other side.

I continued to saunter towards it, hesitantly expecting someone to come barreling through from the other side.

Minutes passed and still nobody opened the door. Frustrated, I let myself lean against the bricks. You might not know this about me, probably because you aren't dead, but I can't move anything. I can touch a stagnant inanimate object, but I cannot move it. So, that's why I leaned against the bricks in case you were curious.

Finally the door was thrown open, ringing a bell attached to the inside of it rather harshly.

"Hey! Watch it!" snorted a short elderly lady.

This disheveled mass of shaggy brown hair and baggy sweats side-stepped past me, cussing under his breath.

"Don't go in there," he mumbled, half-laughing as he disappeared from the neon lights and faded into the darkness of the street.

I pity-laughed, peaking my head to try and get a glimpse of the angry lady once more.

Then, I screamed.

"Wait!" I whirled around, running frantically towards the street. "Wait! You can see me? Please stop!"

Tears welled in my eyes, as I glided through a group of people. I looked down Grant Avenue. Nothing. I looked down Cincinnati Street. Nothing.

I cussed at this emaciated cat on the street, licking its flea ridden paws. The clouds opened up and a light rain shower began. The cat ran for cover under a fire escape.

The wet dark sidewalks began emptying, as people plopped up their umbrellas and headed home.

I sat down outside an apartment building, pulling my knees to my chest as if I felt the cold. The white picket fest was almost comical next to the disheveled mess behind it. I looked into one of the windows. A young boy was dragging his fingers across the glass, drawing.

"You are a hard egg to crack Evelyn Ann".

"Do not call me that," I curled my lips at her as  she threw me the last of the boxes from inside the U-Haul.

"This place has character and pretty soon you'll have a place to yourself".

I stared up at the vines crawling on the bricks,  the broken attic window, and the crumbling gutter system and I wondered how Milly, my sister, could call it home.

"I won't be here long".

She pulled the door to the U-Haul closed and smiled, "stay as long as you like".

I woke up to the sound of the mail carrier tossing the Boston Times, which smacked against the fence.

I stretched on the lawn, turning my face to see the many legs walking up and down the side walks.

"That fucker saw me and just kept walking" I whispered, walking the short blocks back towards neon alley.

I had smelled something and someone had saw me. I figured I must be delusional as I neared the entrance of the alley.

I stopped dead in my tracks.

Nothing.

Well, not nothing. There was a homeless guy in there digging through a trash can. He found a pizza crust, which was hanging out of his back pocket.