End of the Road (Ghost Stories Trilogy #1)

by E. J. Fechenda

  I thought about this as I worked on moving a rock from one pile to another. I was getting better at focusing. Peggy was like a drill sergeant yelling at me every chance she got. I kind of liked it.

  Very carefully, I picked up another rock and carried it the few feet to the other pile. Peggy stood near the pile with her hands on her hips. She had great curves. The distraction made me lose focus and the rock passed through my hands, landing with a thud on the ground.

  “Damn it Bob, you have the attention span of a gnat!”

  “Well, you’re very distracting,” I said and winked at her.

  “Ugh! Frank, it’s your turn. He’s flirting again.” Peggy vanished and I knew her enough by now to know where she’d reappear – down the embankment where her car landed, past the guardrail and into the “No Bob Zone”. Seconds later, I caught a glimpse of her red hair through the shrubs and weeds.

  Frank’s laughter made me turn away. “What’s so funny?” I asked.

  “You are. The more she resists, the harder you try!”

  “I may be dead, but damn she makes me feel alive.”

  He smiled and shook his head. “What, are you going to go on a date? Come on, let’s practice some more.”

  Frank bent down and hoisted up a larger rock with both hands. I marveled at his strength and how much clearer he physically became, more defined, when he concentrated. The others had been teaching me since I first arrived, which seemed like years earlier, and I still couldn’t get it. Every plant, animal, even the earth contained energy that, when we focused enough, we could draw upon. When I concentrated, I could actually sense the hum or vibration of the energy, but it was hard for me to hold this focus. I had the same problem when I was in school.

  “Frank, why don’t we just spell “Help” on the side of the road so cars can see it? They did that once on Gilligan’s Island. Only their message was to alert airplanes flying overhead. Did you ever watch that show?”

  “I don’t think so, it doesn’t sound familiar. Remember, I’ve been dead since the fifties and television was fairly new.”

  “Oh yeah, I forgot, but what about my idea?”

  “I don’t know. Let’s talk to Lawrence.”

  “Hey Larry!” I called. He was helping Juanita under the mesquite tree. A few months back she had created a cross out of stones on the spot where she had died. Since then she has added to it and spent hours positioning the rocks just right. Blossoms from some of the blooming cacti were placed in between the cracks.

  Georgia was preoccupied with her own project. A peace sign somewhere in the vicinity of where her life was taken. With all of this going on, I was surprised I was the first to think of writing a message intended for the living.

  “Larry!” I called again. He glanced over and instantaneously he was standing in front of me. I didn’t jump this time because I had grown used to this process. Although for the first year or so, my tolerance for the sudden movement didn’t exist.

  I ran my idea by Larry and he listened, giving an occasional nod of his head.

  “I’ve thought about it, but didn’t think it would get us anywhere.”

  “Why not?”

  “Bob, who can help us? We’re ghosts. Our bodies are long gone, our families…” His paused and turned away from me. The pain on his face never faded, whenever he spoke of his family, no matter how many seasons had passed. “We write the message and then what?”

  “I don’t know. A psychic might be able to help us. It can’t hurt to try.”

  “All right, go ahead, but you do it.”

  I set about writing the four letters. Days were spent finding darker rocks, which would stand out against the ground. Given the small area I was confined to, this was challenging in itself. Plus, as I mentioned earlier, I wasn’t the greatest at moving rocks and it took me close to a week just to create the letter “H”. Back when I was alive, I’d have given up and gotten high or drunk. My newfound determination to finish this task gave me a focus I had never possessed. This was the first time I actively involved myself in anything serious. Tossing pebbles at geckos sunning themselves on rocks was usually more my speed.

  Peggy occasionally popped over and tried to harass me. Even though I was tempted to harass back and get her riled up, I ignored her. I was halfway through the “L” when she stopped bugging me.

  In the end, I don’t know how long it took to complete the word, but when I was done, not only was I better at moving rocks, but the accomplishment of finishing something made me want to puff my chest out and thump on it. Now all we needed was someone to notice the message.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  We didn’t have to wait long. Less than a month after I finished, a car with a flat tire coasted to a stop on the shoulder.

  A man about my age got out and opened the trunk. He removed the jack and spare tire, setting them down on the dirt while his wife or girlfriend stayed in the passenger seat. She stared out the window, directly at my message. Her forehead creased and she looked around then she rolled the window down.

  “Honey?” she called to the man changing the tire. He was sweating and his face was red from the exertion.

  “What?”

  “Do you see that?”

  “No, I don’t Claire. I’m kind of busy here.” The exasperation in his tone was unmistakable. At this point everyone had joined me to watch.

  “Well when you’re done, I need to show you something.” She stuck her head back in the car and rolled the window up.

  The man fastened the last lug nut with a grunt, lowered the jack and stood up with a hand supporting his lower back. After packing the crowbar and everything else into the trunk, he slammed it closed and started walking towards the driver’s side. Claire opened her door and stepped out.

  “David, wait, I need to show you something, remember?” she said.

  He looked at her across the top of the car. “Claire, it’s hot and we just lost a half hour. What is so important?”

  “Come here.” She gestured with a hand. David groaned and walked around the car. “Look.” She pointed at my message and I waited with great anticipation. This was it.

  “It says “Help”,” Claire said.

  “I’m not illiterate,” was David’s response. Claire crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. “What? So someone wrote “Help” with rocks. Obviously there isn’t anyone else here. Whoever it was has already been helped. Let’s go.”

  David turned and started walking away. Claire threw her hands up in the air and followed suit.

  “Wait! Where are they going?” I asked the group.

  Peggy shook her head and laughed at me. “Bob, they can’t see us, what were you expecting?”

  My plan was collapsing in front of me. I needed to do something. I bent down and grabbed a rock from the pile Frank had been working on and flung it towards the car. It hit Claire square in the back as she was opening the door.

  She screamed and turned. Her eyes were wide and her nostrils flared, reminding me of a startled horse on the brink of bolting. When she didn’t see anyone or anything that could have made the rock airborne, she yelled at David to “start the fucking car” and practically dove head first into the passenger seat.

  David had an expression on his face like he was convinced his woman was nuts, but he shrugged his shoulders and got in the car. Seconds later they pulled onto the highway and sped off.

  I stared after them, wondering how my plan could have gone so horribly wrong.

  ***

  LAWRENCE

  Poor Bob, I tried to warn him, but he took the failure hard. Peggy heckling him didn’t help. I had to chuckle though, for they reminded me of how my two children argued and antagonized each other. Teddy, usually the instigator, always managed to get a rise out of Sara by dangling dirt encrusted earthworms in front of her face or placing a Praying Mantis on her back. Her shrieks and complaints echoed throughout the house. As much as she protested, she left herself open to her big brother’s
teasing. Her cheeks flushed with excitement and her infectious giggles always followed the shrieks.

  How odd that a grown man and woman’s antics would remind me of my children. Yes, we all did make up a strange group. If we ever could communicate with the living, what a story we’d have to tell.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Tobin Abraham Sayer

  b.1986 – d.2007

  PEGGY

  A violent storm shook the landscape. Lightning twisted through a wall of dust and debris as it hulked its way across the desert. Drivers wore focused expressions as they hurried to beat the impending menace. These kinds of storms were known to impair visibility significantly within minutes of forming and intense ones could strip paint clean off of cars.

  We watched from the side of the highway, like spectators at the fifty yard line. The sky grew orange and hazy and within minutes the air was so thick we could barely see each other. Frank heard the crash first and as he focused his attention on the accident. He grew brighter and we followed him into the dust.

  A car had crashed into the ditch by our clearing. Judging by the condition of the roof, it must have rolled once or twice. A severed arm lay on the ground a few feet from the open driver’s side window. Puddles of blood were soaking into the sand. I heard a baby crying and looked to Juanita. She started to glow brighter with the increase in adrenaline - Lawrence too.

  Juanita approached the car and peered in through the window. I went around to the other side with Frank.

  “Peggy, can you open the door? This one is stuck,” Juanita said.

  I pulled up on the handle, but it snapped back.

  “I think it’s locked,” Frank said and reached in through the shattered window. Sure enough, he flipped up the knob and opened the door. Almost simultaneously the smoking hood burst into flames.

  A woman in the front seat was slumped over the dash and unresponsive. Frank pulled her out and I flipped the seat forward to reach the toddler who was strapped into a car seat. I carefully lifted the boy out and carried him to a safe distance, sheltered from the flames and whipping sand, and placed him next to his mother who was regaining consciousness. He was crying inconsolably, his round cheeks bright red and shiny with tears, but there wasn’t much I could do.

  I glanced back and the rest were struggling to extricate the driver from the burning car. At this distance I saw the spirit appear before they did. A tall, lanky figure stood next to the group and watched the rescue effort with a confused expression on his face.

  Flames consumed the car, fueled by the winds. When the worst of the storm passed people driving by saw the accident and pulled over to help. The new ghost hovered over his family, talking to them, trying to get them to notice him.

  I moved next to him and put my hand on his shoulder.

  ***

  TOBIN

  I couldn’t make sense of what was happening. I knew I had to be dead. I saw my body go up in flames. What I couldn’t figure out was who were the people trying to save me and why couldn’t they be burned? Stunned, I looked on helplessly then remembered my family and rushed, well kind of like teleported over to them.

  Candy was regaining consciousness and Egan was crying. He appeared to be more in shock than hurt and I had never been more relieved. Candy was bleeding from a cut on the bridge of her nose and she had a swollen upper lip, but other than those superficial injuries she was going to be okay. I tried talking to them, but they couldn’t hear me.

  A touch on my shoulder caused me to turn. A woman with red hair was staring at me with warm, brown eyes. She began to fade a little bit and I couldn’t feel the pressure of her hand on my shoulder anymore.

  “Can you hear me?” I asked.

  “Yes, but they can’t,” she answered and gestured to my family.

  I started to cry.

  The EMT’s loaded my family into an ambulance. Candy kept telling them that angels saved her and Egan. They nodded and one patted her hand before they secured the doors. The firemen worked on my car and the surrounding grass which had caught fire. I watched as they quickly doused the flames.

  Before I knew it, they were gone, my remains removed in a body bag, my severed arm tossed in as an afterthought and my car towed away. I was left behind. The woman stayed by my side and whispered her condolences.

  “What happened? How did they get out of the car?” I asked her, when I had calmed down enough to speak. Peggy introduced herself and the others then told me how they rescued my wife and son, but weren’t able to help me.

  “Thank you for saving my family, but I need a moment,” I said and walked off to be alone. That’s when I learned I could only go so far before hitting an invisible boundary. Nobody followed me and for that I was grateful. Later I learned they all understood after having to come to terms with their new status.

  I stayed away for a few days and watched the others, which is what I used to do when I was alive. I worked at the MetroCenter Mall in Phoenix as a security guard and spent all day watching people. At first I took the job because it offered a steady paycheck and the hours allowed me to take night classes at the local community college. My plan was to gather enough credits, figure out what degree I wanted to pursue and then transfer to ASU.

  At least that was the plan until Candy found out she was pregnant. Then I needed to stay for the benefits and school fell to the bottom of my list of priorities. Every cent I earned went towards rent after Candy and I moved in together. We struggled even more once Egan was born. While we fought a lot, we tried to make the best of our situation.

  Plus, I always assumed that the struggles were temporary and somehow things would turn out okay. Candy and I would catch a break and I could go back to school. As I stared at the scorched earth where my car used to be, I realized any plans for the future didn’t matter now. My life was over.

  Juanita was the first to break through my solitude. She approached as the sun rose on the fifth day.

  “You must miss your son?” I nodded.

  “I miss my daughter. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about her.”

  “How long have you been here?”

  “Since 1951,” she said and I stared at her in disbelief. Her lips curled up in a sad smile. “Why, what year is it now?” She asked.

  “2007.”

  Juanita sighed and turned away. Her eyes glistened with tears, but I noticed they didn’t spill. “I left Mariella with family so I know they took care of her. I’m at peace with that,” she said and turned back to face me. “Your boy will also be taken care of.”

  “It’s not the same as seeing him grow up. When Egan took his first steps I thought my heart would burst with pride.” I remembered the determination on my son’s face as he concentrated on staying upright when he placed one foot in front of the other.

  “You’re lucky…I wasn’t around for that with Mariella, but I know what you mean. When she first said “Mama”, I just about choked from sheer joy.” She smiled and her whole body shimmered with more depth. “I wanted Mariella to become a doctor. What about you, do you have a dream for Egan?”

  “I want him to be a software developer.”

  “A what?”

  I spent the entire day telling Juanita about computers and the latest gadget…the smart phone.

  We had a lot of time to do nothing. The others were quick to fill me in on how they were able to move objects. With practice, I learned how to generate enough energy without lightning to pick up and move things, but for only very short periods of time. Frank and I enjoyed tossing rocks at rattlesnakes, forcing them to strike. This made Juanita upset so we only did it when she wasn’t around.

  A few months after the accident, Candy came to visit. She pulled onto the shoulder in a new used car and lifted Egan onto her hip. He had already grown so much in that short period. She held a bouquet of flowers and a white cross in her other hand. After walking up the small incline she found the charred grass where our car had been. Setting Egan down and holding his hand, she squ
atted and placed the flowers on the ground. She then picked up a rock and hammered the cross into the hard earth. Her eyes were red and swollen. When Egan asked, “Daddy?” she nodded and fresh tears fell. It was up to Candy to keep my memory alive for our son and I was glad to see she was making an effort.

  I wanted her to know her act didn’t go unnoticed. I focused my energy and tossed a rock in their direction. It landed in front of Candy’s feet with a muted thud. She looked down and jumped back. Her head whipped around toward the direction from which the rock was thrown. I waved and said her name, but she couldn’t see or hear me. I picked up another rock and threw it. She watched it sail through the air and the closer it got, the wider her eyes became. This time it bounced off of her shoulder before it fell to the ground. Color drained from her face and she scooped Egan up in her arms then ran back to the car. The tires peeled out on the asphalt when she pulled onto the highway.

  Lawrence came to stand beside me. “I’m sorry she panicked and ran, but I’d have done the same. Bob tried something similar and got the same reaction.”

  “Fuck, I blew it! Now she’s freaked out and won’t come back.” I moved away from the group to stand by the small memorial Candy resurrected, my back to everyone else. I hated how nothing went unnoticed. Privacy on a small stretch of road is hard to come by.

  We were all surprised when about a week later a familiar blue Toyota Corolla came to a stop alongside the road and Candy stepped out. I waited for her to reach into the back seat to grab Egan, but she hadn’t brought him. Instead her sister, Claudia, joined her and they walked over to my cross.

  “Candy, you sound a little nuts…first you claim angels saved you and Egan and now you’re talking about ghosts? That’s the last time you are allowed to watch Ghostbusters, Poltergeist even the Exorcist for that matter,” she finished her speech and crossed her arms over her chest.