Heaven Can Wait

It was a solemn gathering who grouped round the burial ground, as the vicar gave the eulogy. They all seemed to be in a state of shock, as if they couldn't come to terms with their loss.

"A happily married man, who was a pillar of the community. He departs this world leaving so many friends behind. His death was untimely, and yet we can all take solace in the fact..."

The words thus uttered by the vicar seemed to pass over Jim Davies without them meaning anything. He felt so distant, almost as if he was eavesdropping on this funeral.

He couldn't understand it, though. These were all friends of his, as well as his family. There next to the reverend was Jim's wife Sally, and standing on her other side were his parents.

What was going on? And why was he over here and not close by his wife? Even more to the point, whose funeral was this? Nobody close to him had died.

Unnerved and fascinated at the same time, Jim approached the grieving throng and could hear the reverend pronounce the name of the deceased.

Oh, my God! Jim screamed out, without anyone reacting to his cry. But it can't be me! I'm standing right here. How can I be dead? However, as he arrived next to the vicar, there was no mistaking the marking on the gravestone at the head of the burial ground bearing his name.

At that moment, a light suddenly came on. Jim quickly looked over his surroundings to find himself in bed with his wife entering their bedroom.

Thank God! he rejoiced within himself as he rested his head thankfully on the pillow. It was strange, though. Why would his wife be going to bed so late? And why did she switch on the light when he was already asleep? Not that he minded, seeing as it awoke him from his nightmarish slumbers.

"You're late, dear. It's not like you to be up till this hour." Jim had no idea what the time was, but he was certain it must be well past his wife's usual bedtime. To his amazement, Sally made no reply to his remark. In fact, she was looking at him as if he wasn't even there.

"What's wrong, darling?" Jim asked in a desperate tone. He didn't quite know what to make of Sally's curious behaviour. She was just lying there looking at the ceiling, still with the light on, with a doleful expression on her face. Jim was sure she had only recently been crying. However, when he asked her if there was anything wrong, she carried on with her blank stare into nothingness.

"It's no use: she can't hear you!"

Jim jumped up to a sitting position in the bed after hearing this chilling voice come out of nowhere. It was rather unnerving as it appeared to emanate from a position quite close to him.

"Did you hear that, dear?" he asked despairingly of his wife. But still Sally would say nothing. "Darling, why won't you answer me?" he begged of her.

"It's no good I tell you," came back the voice. "She doesn't even know you're there. After all, would you know it if a ghost was lying next to you?"

"What do you mean ghost?" demanded Jim. "And who the hell are you? Why won't you show yourself? Oh, I know what this is. It's another nightmare, just like the one I had about my funeral."

"Oh, this is no nightmare, I can assure you!" boomed out the voice. "If you don't believe me, try touching your wife and you'll soon see what I mean."

"With pleasure!" However, to Jim's horror, as he placed his hand on Sally's arm, he grasped only thin air. He tried it again, not quite believing what had just occurred, only for the same thing to happen. There was now nothing for it but to believe what the mysterious voice was telling him: he was a ghost!

"But why am I here?" asked Jim. "Why do you torment me like this, by having me in bed with my wife? Surely I should be in heaven somewhere or wherever it is that dead people go?"

"Oh no, that's not how it's done. You see, you have to remain in the place where you died until we can send you to heaven and give you a purpose."

"But you just said I have to remain where I died. Why isn't that happening to me?"

"Oh, but it is. You see, it was in your bed that you died, of a heart attack."

"So, now you're telling me I have to lie here night after night next to my wife, reliving the horrible memory of my death, until you see fit to find me a mission?"

"Yes, that's correct. Look, nobody said dying was easy you know. Believe me, I know what I'm talking about. After all, I've been here long enough."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it might surprise you to learn that by a strange twist of fate, I died in the same way as you. It happened all of fifty years ago, and in this very same house, too." After the announcement of this amazing coincidence, the voice finally showed itself.

To Jim's astonishment, he stared back at a man of a similar age to himself. "You mean to tell me you've been living in this house for the past fifty years?"

The newly-materialized ghost admitted that this was so. "My mission was to remain here until somebody could take my place. I think you should fit the bill nicely!"


THE END