Nothing is playing on the iPod - I am writing in silence. Write the date down, that does not happen often.
This is a freebie. I have been fairly involved in character development and Jared has a lot more story than what is told in Rebecca's story. So, I have started developing short stories to tell more of Jared's tale. I have said it before and thought it countless times - I would love for him to be real because he would be a great friend.
I hope you enjoy this little blurb into Jared's life, or unlife as it may be.
Getting to Know Jared
I have been dead for almost two years. The exact anniversary was a little over a month away. The otherwise uninformed would think that with no job restrictions, no bills sitting in the mailbox and no relatives to check in with, a person with this much freedom could float around anywhere. See the pyramids, the rainforests, Easter Island, watch the first sunrise of the day and the last sunset of the evening.
Ha.
Time really is a relative thing. On one hand, it seems like just a couple of blinks ago, I was being taken from the car at the accident scene to be told of my assignments, more specifically who my assignments are. On the other hand, I am only now starting direct work with the first assignment so I have felt every single nanosecond of those twenty-three odd months. Loneliness can make you feel every tick of the clock.
The time is close for me to meet Rebecca, my first assignment. Keeping that in mind, my spiritual liaison arranged for me to spend a day in public, about an hour away from my home so I would be less likely to run into someone I knew in life. That is how I find myself as a shadow dweller in Kiwanis Park in Sanford, North Carolina, approximately an hour away from Raleigh where I was living. Looking around at my surroundings, I started to laugh. I was standing under a tree with the protection of the shadows. Little good that would do me now, no one could see me even with the glare of the afternoon sun shining down. I stepped out from under the trees, still howling with laughter.
“What are you laughing at Mister?”
I stopped, staring wide eyed at the boy who was talking to me. Probably no more than 50 pounds soaking wet, he was standing a couple of feet away from two other children playing in the grass. I looked behind me and found nothing but trees. Turning my gaze back to the child, he was still standing there watching me. I pointed to myself before stooping down to his level.
“Are you talking to me?”
He looked around my shoulders and then back at me with his eyebrows scrunched together. “Well, who else is there? I don’t see anybody.”
Despite my bewilderment, I smiled at this child. Sandy blond hair, brown eyes that were as big as saucers, he was wanting an answer to his question.
“Nobody. There is nobody else there.”
He shrugged and reached down for his drink. “Yes sir, I am talking to you.”
I looked past the kid and his two friends, over to the women sitting on the bench. One of them looked like the female version of him, same hair color, same eye color, everything.
“Is that your mom?”
He looked back as if to double check who I was referring to. “Yep. My mom and two of her friends. We are supposed to be running off some energy so we will be tired when we go home after the movie, at least that is what I heard them say.”
This kid was funny. I was biting my lip to keep from laughing but I could not help it. I snickered a little bit.
“Go ahead and laugh, s’okay. My mom says I’m funny so I am used to it.”
Still snickering, I shook my head. “You are funny kid. Hey, what is your name.”
“Logan.”
“Like Wolverine?”
He grinned and I saw his big boy teeth were in on the top and he was still missing a couple on the bottom. “Yep, like Wolverine. Only I don’t have those claws. That would come in handy if I should ever have to save the day. Or keep my brother out of my room.”
I nodded. “Yeah, claws would keep those pesky brothers out.” I looked at the kids behind him. “Is that your brother?” I did not think so because the kid behind him had platinum blond hair that women pay hundreds of dollars a pop to get and he looked nothing like this Logan.
Logan shook his head, waving a hand. “Nah. That is Aiden. He is my friend. We wanted to bring our Legos out here but our moms said we would lose them.” He drawled out the last part with an irritated sneer to his voice.
“Your moms are right. Can you imagine dropping some of those really cool ones in the grass and not being able to find them? You could be out here for days looking for them.”
Logan nodded his head. “You are right. Hey, are you here with your kid?”
The smile faded as I shook my head. “No. My kid isn’t here with me.”
Logan opened his mouth to say something but turned to see who was walking up. The other boy, Aiden, was giving Logan a funny look.
“What are you doing? I thought we were playing.” Aiden looked at me and inclined his head. “Who is that?”
I stared with wide eyes, again. Why were they seeing me? Logan pointed. “That is…hey! You did not tell me your name.”
“My name is Jared. It’s nice to meet you Aiden.”
Aiden’s eyes got wide and he glared at Logan with his mouth open. “You told him my name? Dude! I do not know him and we are not supposed to talk to strangers. Oh man, are you gonna be in trouble!”
That made me feel good. They had been taught not to talk to strangers. I wondered what their moms would think about them talking to a dead guy. I needed to think quick to help get me and Logan both out of trouble.
“I am an imaginary friend.”
Aiden and Logan both looked at me with disbelief, responding at the same time.
“Yeah right.” “You are not!”
I nodded my head. “It is true. You guys can see me but the grown ups can’t.”
Aiden wanted proof. He turned around to the little girl behind them. “Hey Bella! Get over here!”
The little girl looked at Aiden and Logan as if deciding whether or not she wanted to walk over. She finally picked up the leaf she had been looked at and walked over. She could not have been any more than three, if even that. She looked up first at Logan, then at Aiden, tugging his shirt.
“Aiden.”
Aiden pointed at me. “Do you see him?”
The little girl, Bella, looked at me and then back at Aiden. She walked up to me and pointed at my arm. “You’re brown.”
You could not help but smile at her. Those wide blue eyes would have you wrapped before you even saw the smile. “Yes I am.” I turned to Aiden. “I think she sees me.”
The two boys looked at me for a moment before Logan spoke. “So grown ups can't see you?”
I shook my head. “Nope.”
Aiden and Logan stared at each other for a moment before turning around in unison and yelling. “Mama! Come here!”
All three of the women looked and immediately walked over, talking amongst themselves as they walked. I stayed crouched at kid level. The women reached us and who was which kids mom became obvious. Bella’s mom had the same blue eyes and the same colored hair. Aiden’s mom had the exact same facial expressions. Logan’s mom had the same smile. She spoke first.
“What’s up guys? Do you want something to drink?”
Logan and Aiden pointed at me but Aiden spoke. “Do you see anything there?”
The moms all looked at one another then to the area the two fingers were pointing at. Aiden’s mom answered. “I see a quarter someone dropped.” Logan’s mom cocked her head to the side and kept looking. “I see a granddaddy longlegs. Don’t step on him. They are supposed to be good luck.” Bella’s mom was running her fingers through Bella’s ponytail while she was looking, shaking her head. “Other than twigs and grass, nothing. What are we supposed to see?”
Logan and Aiden looked anxiously at one another. Aiden came to the rescue. “Nothing. It reminded us of an I Spy book and we wanted to see what you saw.”
Aiden’s mom looked at him. “Well, we certainly see no buttons, thimbles or kittens. Now finish playing, we only have thirty minutes before the movie starts.”
The kids all responded in unison. “Yes ma’am.” “Okay mom.” “Movie!”
The moms gave them one last look before walking back to the bench. The kids turned to me.
“See. Told you. Imaginary friends are invisible to grown ups.”
Logan’s eyes got wide again. “Hey! If you are our imaginary friend, could you sneak up to the North Pole and see what Santa has going on. Or tell him that we have been really good this year.”
I laughed as I looked up and saw someone between the kids and their moms, waiting on me to finish my conversation. “Not today guys. As a matter of fact, I have to go.”
The boys looked at me, Logan scratching his chin and Aiden tapping his foot.
“Will you be back here sometime soon?”
I looked down at Logan, wishing I could ruffle his hair but unsure of the effects of that. “I don’t know. But you guys better hurry. You don’t want to miss your movie.”
Aiden tapped Logan on the shoulder. “Yeah! We are going to be late if we don’t hurry. Let’s go!” The boys ran off to join Bella in grabbing the handful of toys they had left on the ground. The boys were faster and took off first, only stopping to turn around and grab Bella’s hands the best they could. I watched, mesmerized and a bit wistful at the life I did not get to take part in. The life of a father.
“Extraordinary, aren’t they?”
I looked at the man who came to get me the night I died. My spiritual liaison. We were standing watching the children run back up to their mothers who were gathering their empty drinks, toys and purses before heading to their cars.
“Yes they are.”
We stood in silence as we watched them pile into two separate cars and leave.
“Why here? Did you know I would be talking to them?”
He shook his head. “No Jared, I had no clue. It was explained to me that you needed to be in public around people for a while before you go meet Rebecca. You have followed her some, right?” I nodded. “And what did you think?”
“That she must have the constitution of a race horse.” At his bewildered expression, I continued. “The girl has gone through more coffee this week than the three interns I lived with, combined, in a month. This is going to be interesting, to say the least.”
He laughed. “That it will be.” He put his hand on my shoulder. “Come on Jared, let’s get you introduced to Rebecca.”
Nodding, I accepted the slight turn of my stomach that always comes with dematerialization. When I blinked my eyes, I was in the house I came to recognize at Rebecca’s. I had been in here a few times doing recon work, checking everything out. I walked over to the chair in front of the window and sat, crossing my right leg over my left, uncrossing, crossing my left leg over my right, uncrossing and repeating the process. Not sure of which leg I wanted in which direction, I settled for hands on knees, head on back of the chair.
I got up and walked through the house, willing a state of invisibility over myself so the cat would not see me. I knew from the first few times I had been in here that the cat did not respond too well to me. However, he could not see me when I placed the metaphysical veil over myself. Wanting to avoid the screeching, I did just that.
I heard the roar of an engine. That is something else I have learned. When someone pulls a 2008 Mustang Shelby at speeds Rebecca liked to drive at, the engine roars. Walking back to the chair, I sat as I heard the clang of keys. The cat was asleep in the chair across the room, oblivious to me being here. I watched Rebecca walk in the room and turn her laptop on. She was probably somewhere around five feet five inches with long brown hair and green eyes. The only jewelry she wore was a single earring in each earlobe and one at the top of each ear. Nothing more than that which was odd for the daughter of a someone who owned one of the largest jewelry franchises on the east coast. Nothing she wore would give away the fact that she inherited the fortune her father gained off of that franchise. Rebecca McLeod could literally live off the interest from the money for the rest of her life and still have enough left over, just from the interest, to be philanthropic.
Still, she worked. It showed something about her character.
She also lived in this relatively normal three bedroom home with no luxuries. Other than a TV some movie theaters were be jealous over along with surround sound and a blue ray set up, she had no luxuries. Plain blue jeans, plain shirts, no jewelry. No one would suspect she was loaded to the extent that she was. No one would suspect that she had money at all.
Slipping the veil back, I edged myself forward on the seat, elbows resting on knees and prepared myself for Rebecca seeing me. At the best, we would get along famously and I could be on to my next assignment. At the worst, she could break out the salt, holy water or any other thing that legends would make her believe to work. Only one way to find out. As she was nearing the door, I made a noise, scaring the cat away and making her gasp. Here goes nothing.
Until next time!
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