"So, I've been looking into something," my best friend, Bianca said.
"What'd you find out?" I asked.
"well," Bianca said, showing me her laptop. "This website belongs to a group of people who gives each other near death experiences and they have out of body experiences. As they are living with the out of body experiences, they explore places they have never been before. They only just found out that they can travel to space and explore it."
"So this basically means... that ghosts.. can explore.. space," I say.
"Exactly. And that being said, we both really love space, so I have a proposal for you."
I stare at my best friend in silence urging her to continue speaking.
"When we both die," Bianca pauses, "we should go out sightseeing in space."
I just stare at Bianca for a few seconds before breaking out into a large grin.
"I absolutely do want to go sightseeing in space!" I pause for a few seconds rethinking my statement. "Just.. not anytime soon. I'm not quite ready to die yet," I say laughing.
Bianca laughs and agrees with me.
We decide to meet again at the café that weekend and write a pact for you both to sign:
We, Bianca Somerholder and Sam Willow, agree that when we both die we will go sightseeing throughout the universe as ghosts. We shall honor this pact for as long as we both remain alive. If one of us dies before the other for any reason whatsoever, she shall refrain from exploring space until the other has joined her in death. In the instance that one of us dies before the other, she shall explore any other part of the globe while waiting if she so chooses, but any exploring of space without the other will be expressly forbidden. Signed Bianca Somerhalder and Sam Willow
"Do you think that this is too serious of a pact? It almost feels like I'm writing my will or something," I comment to Bianca.
Bianca contemplates for a moment.
"I mean it might be a bit too serious, but it is describing what we're gonna do when we die, so it should be at least a bit serious. This pact states everything clearly too," Bianca finally concludes.
We sit in silence for a moment.
"Hey, since we're at a café, we should totally get some coffee," I say to Bianca. "I'm really craving something very chocolatey and sweet. And I definitely need a couple of espresso shots added in there too."
We get our drinks and begin sipping on them. After making small talk about nothing in particular, we finish our drinks and are hopped up on caffeine, we decide to go shopping.
Once we got back to my house with our new found goodies, I decided we can just have a sleepover and that I'd just drop Bianca off at her own apartment in the morning.
"Yannow, I wish we could be roommates," Bianca stated wistfully.
"Me too. I just wish I could afford some place nicer so we can actually move in together," I responded.
The next morning, I helped Bianca pack her stuff back up and decided to get groceries after I drop my best friend off. I stay there watching to make sure she gets into her apartment building okay, as she sometimes struggles with her keys.
After she gets the door open, she turns and waves to me before heading inside. I wave back and drive off.
As I left the parking lot of Bianca's apartment building I decide to get gas. I put the gas pump nozzle in my car and go into the station to get snacks that aren't at the store.
I pay for my snacks and gas and head back out to my car.
I start my car and head out on my way to the grocery store. Realizing that it seems too quiet in the car, I start fiddling with the radio.
"Ugh, none of the radio stations are playing good music... It's all talk shows or annoying music." I reach for my phone only for it to drop in between the seats. I sigh and lean over the center console to see if I can simply feel for it while keeping my eyes on the road. My fingertips brush the very edge of my phone and I adjust in my seat to attempt to grab the device. Grunting, I adjust in my seat once more and take my eyes away from the road to grab the phone.
Too distracted by trying to get my cell phone back in hand, I don't notice the stoplight turn red.
"Gotcha!" I exclaim, finally getting a good grip on the cell and pulling it up into my hand.
Looking up, I finally notice that the light is red, albeit a split second too late.
Honking.
The squeal of tires braking on asphalt.
Not soon enough.
Everything seems to be moving in slow motion.
The sound of crunching metal and my head whips to the side.
Then... nothing.
Slowly everything started coming back.
The first thing I noticed was the noise. There was so much of it. The second thing I noticed was... myself?
I could see my body... but not like I normally would. It was like I was...
"Oh shit."
I'm trying to put two and two together by using logic, but logic.. just.. doesn't seem... right at the moment.
"I got hit- or easier said 'T-boned' -by a speeding truck." I realized. "But then.. how can I see myself as if I'm looking through someone else's eyes..?" I thought.
"Oh my god I'm dead!" I said out loud finally figuring it out. "How am I gonna tell Bianca??"
*one week later*
"I can't believe she's gone!" Bianca cried into her pillow.
I'm just trying to get used to floating around and my newfound ability to pass right through things. Once I figured out how to do that with ease, I'll try to find a way to get into contact with my best friend and tell her that I am okay.
After several months of practicing how to be a proper ghost, I've mostly got the hang of it now. I'm sure there are still many things that I need to practice at and get better at, but I've go it all mostly perfected.
I had never really given much thought into how I'd die, but now that it's actually happened, there are so many options of what I could potentially do, that I don't actually know what I should do.
First things first, I should write a note to Bianca and tell her that I'm fine. But the energy that it'll take to actually write the note will need to be restored, so I will definitely need to rest for a while afterwards.
As I float (fly?) over to Bianca's house I begin to think of what adventures I should go on as I wait for my friend to join me in experiencing death (dark much?) and I start a mental checklist of things to do.
I finally get to my friend's house and I see an unfamiliar pickup truck in her driveway. Wondering who the pickup belonged to, I passed through the front door.
Deciding to first see who is in Bianca's house, I float to her bedroom and peek my head through the door. I see one of the guys from our class comforting her and I feel a twinge of jealousy.
"I should be the one comforting her, not you!" I mumble, knowing that they can't hear me unless I want them to. Then I feel a pang of intense grief shoot through me. I begin sobbing, but in my ghostly state I cannot produce tears anymore and begin sobbing even harder. I just sit there on my friend's floor feeling sorry for myself and then I finally get up and leave the room.
As I head to the kitchen, I begin scanning the room, looking for a notepad and a pen or a pencil to write my note.
I eventually find what I'm looking for. I bring the items to the kitchen and place them on the counter. I think for a moment then begin writing:
BIANCA-
It's me, Sam. I guess I'm dead? But I'm okay. I'm not in pain and I can do all sorts of stuff I could never do before!
But enough about that; I am going to honor our pact and not go to space until you are able to join me. Now don't go doing anything reckless so you can join me quicker, you hear?
That said, I'm gonna finally travel to all the places I could never afford when I was alive and see all of these places for free! And hopefully learn a few things!
So, manifesting yourself enough to write a note takes a lot of energy, so I'm gonna go rest for a while.
Don't forget: I'll always love you!
-SAM
"I'm just gonna leave this here now and now it's time for a really long nap."
As I fall asleep, I feel light as a feather. Warmth surrounds me like a soft blanket straight from the dryer.
I wake up and all I see is flowers. Did I accidentally fall asleep in someone's garden?
"No, you did not," a magical voice says gently. "You are in Heaven."
"But.. But I wanted to explore! I made a pact-"
"We know," a different warm voice interrupts softly. "and you can, we just need to see to a few things and then you can go wherever your heart desires."
I hesitate at first, but as I look upon the two kindly faces in front of me, I agree. I stand up from the bed of flowers, literally a bed made of flowers, (which "I'd found shockingly comfortable) and follow the two people (angels?)
As we pass through a brightly lit corridor the people (I later found out that they were guardian angels) began to explain what was going to be happening.
"To begin things, you are Here, which is what we call this place," the male guardian angel called Gavreel began explaining to me. "Every new spirit gets this special bracelet-" the angel produces a beautiful golden band from seemingly nowhere "-it is in a sense a sort of GPS. Your friend can find you and communicate with you wherever you are. No matter how far apart you two get, you will be able to find each other with this bracelet."
Gavreel helps me place the band around my right bicep.
The female guardian angel, Anaita, begins speaking. "Do you have any further questions, my dear?" After I think for a moment try8ing to come up with any questions, Anaita reassures me that the arm band allows us to communicate with them as well as they are our guardian angels. I then quietly tell her that I don't have any more questions.
The angels lead me to the end of the corridor, where instead of a doorway, there's just an opening. The opening was glowing a pale pink and blue.
This is where you can head off back to Earth. Have fun exploring!" Gavreel and Anaita said sending me off. I walk through the doorway.
I opened my eyes and I realized I was still in Bianca's house. I knew no one would see me, but I still got startled when I opened my eyes to see my best friend standing in her kitchen with her back to me.
I got up off the floor and I realized that I must have actually just passed out where I stood and collapsed.
I leaned against the counter and I contemplated where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do when I got there.
"Bora Bora! That's where I'll go first!" I exclaimed excitedly. "I've always wanted to go to the Bahamas. If I could teleport, that would be even cooler, but honestly, I'm okay with only being able to fly there because this is just as cool. Definitely no complaints from me."
As I was flying to Bora Bora I was taking the time to admire my surroundings. I decided to try and challenge my newfound abilities of flight and see how high I can go before I get too scared.
After several hours I finally make it to Bora Bora. I decided that the first thing that I'd do is go for a swim and go admire all the aquatic life in the ocean.
As I was swimming and admiring the fish, I was thinking to myself how lucky I was that I didn't have to pay like $11,000 to $20,000 just for a week long trip to Bora Bora.
I decided that while I'm visiting, I might as well learn the language of these places. So I decided to float from building to building to see if they were holding any classes for tourists who want to learn the language. Several cabins later I found where they were holding the temporary language classes and decided to join.
*One year later*
"Spending time in Bora Bora was so much fun! I learned so many interesting history facts about this place too and a new language! I've decided that I'm gonna spend a year in each place I visit and learn their history and language and then I'll move on."
*Twenty years later (because i dont know what to put as context tor twenty years)*
Today is Bianca's 40th birthday! I have to go back to her house and write a note to wish her a happy birthday.
I flew from France, where I've been staying for the last year and a half, to my best friend's house. As I floated up to the house I realized that my friend no longer lived there. I floated in place for a moment as I think of where she could be. She has always talked about wanting to live in Beijing, China. I decided that that would be my next destination so I can see another place I've never been in addition to wishing Bianca a happy birthday.
Suddenly I hear a voice to my right say my name. I turn toward the voice, but nobody is there. I hear the voice again and I continue to turn, confused. After several long embarrassing minutes later, I realize that the voice was coming out of the arm band on my right bicep. I had previously forgotten about the arm band.
"Sam?" I hear the voice sound once again.
I snap to attention and quickly responded.
"Bianca! Where are you?"
"Umm.. the hospital I think," Bianca responded slowly.
"The - the hospital? Why?" I asked concerned.
"I'll explain once you get here, okay?"
"Okay, I'm almost there."
I get to the hospital and Bianca flies out before I even get the chance to enter the building. My best friend collides with me in a huge hug.
"I cannot tell you how grateful I am to see you after twenty years!" Bianca says excitedly.
"Oh my god! Me too," I say clinging to my childhood friend. "So, why are you in the hospital?"
"I - " Bianca began.
"Also I'm sorry I didn't check on you very often; I feel really bad! I - " I interrupted Bianca.
"It's okay," Bianca reassured me. "I was in the hospital for the last year because I had a really rare form of cancer. As you can see the cancer won."
"Oh hun, I'm sorry. But I'm happy your hear."
"Me too," Bianca said with a smile.
Just then I noticed that she looked like her twenty year old self. I told her such and she told me how Gavreel and Anaita had explained to her that as a ghost, you can choose how you look and what you wear.
I stared at Bianca in shock.
"Wh-" Bianca started.
"Why did I not think to ask them questions like that?" I demanded rhetorically.
Bianca just laughs.
"So in the twenty years while you were waiting for me, what all happened?" Bianca questioned curiously.
"Well, I stayed at one place every year and while I was visiting I learned the history of each place and if they spoke a different language, I would learn that as well. When it comes to having learned languages, at the moment I mostly only know basic words and phrases," I explained to my best friend.
Bianca simply nodded, excited to hear all about my adventures for the last twenty years. I continued:
"Well the first place I decided to go was Bora Bora. As you now, I love all things tropical, so naturally you know that I absolutely loved it there. The languages there were mostly French and Tahitian, but they did know English s well. I learned a few Tahitian phrases and words and lemme tell you: it is such a beautiful language. Here are a few basic phrases and words in Tahitian:
La Orana which is pronounced yo-rah-nah means hello.
Nana, on the other hand, which is pronounced nah-nah means bye or see you later.
E, pronounced ay means yes and Aita, which is pronounced eye-tah means no."
As I continue explaining these Tahitian words and phrases I notice Bianca saying them along with me, trying to learn a few new things as well.
"Personally one of my favorite phrases is 'Uua here vau ia oe.' It's pronounced like 'oo-ah hay-ray ee-ah oh-ay' and it means 'I love you.' I enjoyed learning this one and maybe I can teach you a few more words or phrases later."
Bianca agreed and said how she'd love to learn more about the languages and history of these places. I also told her about how much trips like these would cost had we decided to travel like this when we were alive.
"Almost $20,000 for one week in a cabin in Bora Bora!?" Bianca asked in astonishment. "That is insane! you'd have to save up for years to be able to afford something like that! Wow."
I nodded in agreement. "That's why I'm thankful that I can make these trips now as a spirit."
Bianca and I sit in silence for a moment, grateful that we don't have to pay for these trips anymore.
After several minutes of silence pass by, Bianca then gestures at me to continue telling her about my adventures.
"Well, throughout all of my visits, I was pretty much all over the place; I kind of just zig-zagged between places. Basically, I went to whatever place came to mind next.
Anyways, the next place I visited was obviously Australia. As you very well know, I've always wanted to visit that place. To be 100% honest with you, I am actually very grateful that I decided to visit that place, because most of the animals there want to kill you. A lot of the animals in Australia are either extremely venomous or poisonous, or are incredibly aggressive in certain situations. Certain aquatic animals such as the box jellyfish (which is considered a 10/10 on the danger rating scale is actually said to be the most toxic animal on earth), the blue-ringed octopus (which are very beautiful, but they bite and are highly venomous. The sting from this animal is often fatal. As the body shuts down, it becomes paralyzed, making breathing no longer possible. There actually isn't any known anti-venom for this creature yet. Animals such as those and several other aquatic, non-aquatic, and reptilian (and others I'm sure) are animals best to be avoided.
There are also spiders that can reach up to a foot in length and they are terrifying. But there are also some very cute and not deadly animals that lurk around Australia.
For example, there are extremely cute animals such as kangaroos, cockatoos, sugar gliders, koalas, wombats, tree kangaroos, and probably many more cute and possibly cuddly animals out there."
I pause in my long spiel and ask Bianca if she has any questions or if she wants me to quit talking.
"No! This is really fascinating to listen too. And I love that you had so much fun discovering all these places," Bianca replies. "We could go exploring space while you're talking and we can get two birds with one stone that way too."
"That's a good idea," I agree and we stand up and start floating up into the sky calmly. I continue with my story:
"The next place I visited was the UK; while I was there, I went into the Buckingham Palace. Oh my God it was stunning! Such a beautiful place to see."
As we continued traveling skyward I continued talking about my travels. I described my trips to Jamaica, Africa, Antarctica (which I was super excited to see penguins and polar bears up close and personal). I then began talking about my descent into the ocean.
"I figured that since I was already so close to so much water I'd just explore that, so down I went. I watched as penguins fed on fish and I saw a polar bear cub catch a fish too.
Then I traveled to warmer waters closer to the equator and I admired all the brightly colored fish. I decided to go down much deeper into the ocean to see the deep sea creatures. I saw some really neat bioluminescent sea creatures down there!
Then I decided to go further up and try to find the Bermuda Triangle. Once I found it, I quickly began exploring the area. I had also found several shipwrecks and a couple airplanes that fell out of the sky and began exploring them, finding many cool gadgets and gizmos galore in the wrecks.
As I went deeper and deeper into the ocean again, I decided to simply pass right through the sea floor to see what would happen. I passed tons of undiscovered fossils millions of years old. I continued downward and realized that the sand, mud and clay surrounding me was slightly glowing. I paused mildly confused and somewhat intrigued.
I realized that I was basically in the Earth's core! That was definitely really neat."
I paused in my story to admire our current surroundings. Bianca and I had just entered space and were now surrounded by tons of brightly glowing stars.
"Finish your story and then we can explore space," Bianca demanded, still extremely interested in my story.
"But what about your story?" I inquired.
"Girl, we have till the end of time; we'll get to it later," Bianca laughed.
I chuckled and continued with my story.
"As I traveled through the earth's core, I realized that I had somehow made it into a volcano vent, so I decided to explore the vents and see how volcanoes worked up close. I threw a rather large rock into the volcano to see what would happen and it erupted!"
Bianca let out a loud gasp at that.
"But don't worry, there weren't any homes or towns anywhere nearby.
I then went on to describe my visit to the tropical rainforests, both Iceland and Greenland, which I found confusing because their names are the opposite of what they're actually like: that Iceland is actually green and Greenland is actually icy.
I continued talking about the places I visited like Greece, Russia, and Germany. I told Bianca about how I was getting homesick, so I decided to come back to our hometown for a year, then I went to Canada and saw a bunch of moose up close and how 'they're a lot taller than I originally thought.'"
Bianca laughed at that.
I then said how since I'd been practicing Spanish before I'd died that I would travel to Spain at least once.
"Since you've been practicing, can you say something in Spanish for me?" Bianca begged excitedly.
"Te quiero mucho, Bianca. Eres mi mejor amigo en todo el universo. No cambaria eso por nada." (I love you very much, Bianca. You are my best friend in the whole universe. I wouldn't change that for anything.)
Bianca simply stared at me with a small smile on her face. I knew she didn't understand a single word I just said, and she told me that she didn't want a translation because she already knew that I'd said something nice.
When I asked her how she knew that, she just shrugged and said, "Instinct. I could just tell you were saying nice things."
"The last place I went to was France. I stayed there for a yar and a half because I enjoyed it so much. I know that since we're ghosts, we don't technically need to eat, but you know that not even death will stop me from eating any sugary pastry I can find."
Bianca cracked up at that and I joined in with her laughter.
After we had calmed down, Bianca told me to say something in French.
"Not what you said before though... say something different," she clarified.
"Je ne sais pas ce que je dois dire. Le francais est une belle langue qui peut rendre quelque chose de beau." (I don't know what I should say. French is a beautiful language that can make anything sound lovely.)
Bianca gave a cheer and started clapping.
"I still don't know what you said, but that was absolutely lovely!?
I laughed out a 'Thank you.'
"Alright where should we start exploring first? Yannow, since there's so much space to go exploring and all," Bianca declared.
I suggest starting at the sun and then the planets in order and then just go from there.
"Good idea," Bianca flew in the direction of the sun and I quickly caught up to her and easily sped past her cackling.
We got to the sun, but as we were about to enter the surface of the star, Bianca hesitated. I nudged her.
"It can't hurt you. We're already dead, remember?"
That was all the reassurance she needed before floating through a sun burst into the sun's surface. I laugh and follow her.
"Oh my god it's so bright I can barely see you!" Bianca hollered.
"It seems to just get brighter the closer you get to the sun's core," I holler back.
"I would've thought it'd be the opposite," Bianca pondered thoughtfully and I agreed.
We continued floating through the large star and goofing around. We eventually passed through the opposite end of the sun.
"Now on to Mercury!" I declare as we circle back around the sun. "Did you know that the planet Mercury is named after the Roman deity Mercury, who is the messenger of the gods?"
"No, honestly I never would've guessed something like that," Bianca responded thoughtfully.
We finally get to Mercury and begin exploring its crater. Bianca disappears behind one of the large rocks scattered around the edge of the crater we are in. The bolder topples forward into the crater. Watching as a huge cloud of dust goes up, we start on our way to Venus.
Bianca and I float from planet to planet with me spouting off random knowledge about each planet and Bianca being mildly stunned that I know so much about them before remembering how much I liked my Astronomy class.
"Venus is named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty. This goddess' Greek name as I'm sure you know is Aphrodite," I explain as we explore the planet. "Its atmosphere is made mostly of sulfuric acid, which is why you smell rotten eggs."
"Mars is named after the Roman god of war. His Greek equivalent name is Ares. Mars is often referred to as the 'Red Planet' because of the red rock it's made of."
"What was the Greek name for Mercury?" Bianca asks curiously.
"Mercury's Greek name is Hermes. And I'd mentioned that he's the messenger of gods."
"Jupiter is named after the King of the gods, better known by his Greek name, Zeus," I explain as we explore the planet's red spot and its many moons."
"Saturn is named after Zeus' father Cronus, or as we often call him: Kronos," I continue explaining as we admire the planet's beautiful rings.
"Uranus is named after a lesser known god, Ouranos, meaning 'sky' or 'heaven'."
"Neptune is named after the god of the sea an earthquakes. His Greek name is Poseidon. He is the brother of Jupiter (Zeus) and Hades. Not only is Neptune my favorite planet, but Poseidon is also one of my favorite gods."
"Last but not least, this planet is not considered a planet by scientists and I will fight them on this: Pluto IS a planet!! Now Pluto is this god's Roman name. His Greek name is Hades and he is also the god of the Underworld. Hades is also one of my favorite gods.
"I had also forgotten to mention the names for the sun. The Roman name for the sun god is Sol and his Greek name is Helios. The god of light is Apollo, so they get stuck together in mythology stories."
Now that we've finished exploring the planets in our solar system, Bianca suggests that we explore a black hole.
... And so we head out on our next adventure.
~~~
Word count: 4701 words
one of my favorite stories I have written so far
*All of the information given in this story has been fact checked and all translations are accurate*