Page 14 of A Spell of Midlife Mayhem

I used to say the same thing to Rose. Now, she’s a young, independent woman. A warm sensation passed through me. I had done well raising her. ‘I better let you get back to finishing your assignment. Bye, love.’

‘Thanks for letting me know. Remember, stay positive. Talk soon, Mum.’

The screen faded to black. The warm glow inside me increased. Pride for Rose blossomed in my heart.

***

I WOKE LATE ON FRIDAY morning, got up, got dressed and headed downstairs. Would I find Terry sleeping on the sofa? No, he wasn’t there. Nor did it appear that he’d been in the house at all.

Good. At least he felt some level of shame.

The house was quiet. I stood still in the kitchen for a minute, enjoying it. No football blaring from the living room television. No shouting orders for drinks or food. Nothing.

I allowed myself a smile until a pang of pain in my abdomen hit me, and I reached for the drawer with the Panadeine. I’d been taking those painkillers twice daily since my operation. They worked well enough without making me drowsy.

I made a bowl of hot porridge and took it into the living room. A pile of class assignments lay on the dining table. They weren’t mine. I’d already marked mine. The principal had called and ‘suggested’ I mark Graham’s class’s assignments now he was doing deputy principal duties. I’d seethed at this, but he’d couriered them over to me.

What would Rose have done if she were me?

Halfway through my breakfast, a familiar shimmer appeared on the other side of the table. I let my spoon slip into the bowl and stared as the amorphous shape coalesced into the sharp image of my dead mother.

Her eyes held a sorrowful expression.

‘You said you weren’t coming back,’ I said, surprised to see her again. ‘It’s not that I don’t want to see you, of course. I thought you’d gone forever.’ Will my mother remain endlessly earthbound?

‘I have more to do before I can depart—like give you two more messages.’

‘Two?’

She nodded and pursed her lips. ‘I think something has happened to Ruth. I sense it in my bones.’

‘You’re right, Mum. Wait a sec—you don’t have bones!’

She shrugged. ‘It’s a figure of speech. I just sense that something has happened. I don’t know what it was.’

‘She had a serious fall. She’s in the hospital.’

‘Oh no! I hope she’s not too badly hurt.’

‘I think she is, Mum.’ I paused. ‘Can you visit your sister the same as you visit me?’

‘I can’t get there. It’s too distant. One thing I’ve learned since dying is that ghosts can’t travel too far from where they died.’

‘Really?’ I scratched my head. ‘Is it a rule? Or some unknown law of paranormal physics?’

‘Probably the latter. I call it spirit stickiness. All I know is that I start fading if I venture into the outer suburbs. Tell me about Ruth. I’m worried.’

I filled her in with what I knew, which wasn’t a lot. Then I went on to say I’d kicked Terry out of the house for cheating on me.

‘Good riddance to bad rubbish,’ she said, ‘but you were too gentle. I’d kick him in the balls, if I could. Sadly, an ethereal kick won’t do anything.’

‘I appreciate the sentiment.’

My mother’s ghost sighed. ‘I hope Ruth’s going to be fine, that’s it not as bad as the doctors warned.’

‘It’s too early to know for sure. I’m sorry you can’t visit her yourself.’ Mum was still here, albeit in ghost form, but there was no way she could visit her sister because she was tethered in some ethereal fashion to the local area. That seemed cruel.

There was a silence, which became awkward. What could I say to help my mother feel better? A strange thought struck me. ‘Um... Mum... as a ghost, do you still feel things?’

---