Soul Insurance

by Glenn Bullion

  Contents

  Title

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  About The Author

  Soul Insurance

  By Glenn Bullion

  Copyright © 2013 by Glenn Bullion

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from Glenn Bullion.

  Special Thanks:

  Gene Evans

  Dominque Nelson

  Kanshie Mathis

  Kim Hennessy

  Nick Christesson

  Ashur Hunt

  Katie Bullion (keep those weird dreams coming)

  CHAPTER 1

  Connor gazed above him as Mrs. Madison read to the kindergarten class. The balls of light, no larger than a basketball, floated above the children as they sat in a group. He was amazed at his teacher's ability to ignore them. The rest of his classmates ignored the lights as best they could, but couldn't help pointing and smiling as they circled overhead. The lights seemed to be playing with each other.

  "Class, please," Mrs. Madison said. "They're just souls. We see them every day."

  "Who are they, Mrs. Madison?" Liz asked, sitting next to Connor.

  "Well, I don't know."

  Danny raised his hand in the back. "Is it true that when you die, and your soul goes free, you can do whatever you want?"

  Mrs. Madison laughed. "It certainly would seem that way, wouldn't it? But I'd hope they wouldn't willingly interrupt a class."

  The class giggled briefly, and looked at the souls above as they danced and moved about near the ceiling. There were three in total. Liz pinched Connor's hand next to him. He flinched and scowled at her before watching the souls once again.

  "Hello," Mrs. Madison said, addressing the three souls. "I don't mean to be rude, but I'd like to read to my class without any distractions."

  One of the souls descended quickly and circled Mrs. Madison's head. She swatted at it, annoyed, before it rejoined its friends above the class. The children laughed as their teacher tried to regain her composure.

  "Very funny," she said. "I wouldn't doubt if you were my mother. She used to love picking on me."

  Jerry pushed his glasses up on his nose. "My father died. Do you think one of those souls could be him? He stayed with me for a while, but then he went away."

  The teacher shifted uncomfortably. "That could be, Jerry. No one really knows where souls go when they decide to move on."

  "A lot of times they go into a baby, right, Mrs. Madison?"

  "That's right."

  "Holy crap, could you imagine being that kid's father? Look at the glasses on him."

  The male voice came from above. Connor looked up at the souls as they continued to dance. He couldn't tell which of them was talking. The souls dimmed and brightened all the time, like a dying light bulb, but there was never any change in appearance when they spoke.

  "That's not nice," another voice said, a woman. "He's a sweet kid."

  "Oh, I'm not saying he's not a good kid, just that his glasses are huge."

  "What are we doing here, anyway? Ten million things to do in the world, and we're hanging out in a kindergarten class. You know there's a soccer tournament in England today."

  "Anne's got a thing for the first grade teacher four classes up."

  "I do not."

  "Connor?"

  He jerked his head back down at the sound of his name and stared at Mrs. Madison. The eyes of the entire class were on him. She must have asked him a question he'd missed.

  "Huh?"

  "I know it's hard, but you really have to pay no attention to the souls. If you ignore them, they'll go away."

  Connor nodded, and heard laughing above him.

  "Just what the hell does she think we are? Ignore them, and we'll go away?"

  "My mother was like that. A soul peeked in on her one time when she was in the shower. Scarred her for life, I think. She wouldn't even smile or snarl at a soul after that. It's like she forgot they were alive once."

  "Eh, I have to admit, the first thing I did after I died, after crying for a day, was go to the women's locker room at my gym."

  "Pervert."

  "I couldn't help it."

  "Come on, let's get out of here. Let the teacher deal with the little munchkins."

  The three souls drifted to the window and moved through the pane of glass. They circled one another before flying into the sky.

  "I'm sorry, Mrs. Madison. It's just sometimes they're so loud."

  The class whispered amongst themselves and laughed. Mrs. Madison narrowed her eyes at him in confusion before shaking her head.

  "Connor, we can't talk to souls. We really don't even know if they can understand everything we say."

  He opened his mouth to protest, but saw the look. It was the same look his parents gave him whenever they caught him talking to a soul in the house, or the grocery store, or outside in the backyard. He heard his parents talk at night about the nature of children, and how most of them talked to souls. They talked to them like an imaginary friend, knowing they wouldn't get a true response back.

  That wasn't the case with Connor.

  Mrs. Madison read for another ten minutes before another soul drifted in through the wall from the outside. It didn't float near the ceiling, but hovered lower, just off to Mrs. Madison's side. She sighed loudly as the children's attention again wandered.

  "Ignore the soul, class, and it'll go away."

  "Janet, can you hear me? Please, tell me you can hear me."

  The soul cried, glowing slightly dimmer. Connor watched it as it simply hovered. He could hear the sadness, the despair in the spirit's wails. Liz pinched him again on the wrist.

  "Ouch!"

  "Pay attention," she whispered. "Or you'll get in trouble again."

  "This can't be," the soul cried. "It's…not my time yet. I'm not ready to go. Janet, please, talk to me."

  Mrs. Madison continued to read, only giving the soul a quick glance before looking back down to her book. The spirit didn't move, didn't dance around. The rest of Connor's class managed to ignore it, but he couldn't put the cries out of his head.

  "The car came out of nowhere. I can't be dead. Janet, listen, I'm gonna go to one of those soul resurrection places. They have to be able to help, right? I'll try to get them to understand me."

  "Mrs. Madison," Connor said, raising his hand. "I think your husband is dead."

  There was an eerie silence as his classmates looked at each other. The few children around him scooted back, leaving him alone.

  "What did you say?" Mrs. Madison asked, her face turning red.

  "That soul is trying to talk to you," he said, pointing. "I think he died in an accident."

  His teacher and the soul raised their voices at once, making him wince.

  "Connor Leland!" she shouted, using his full name.

  "Kid! You can hear me?" the soul asked.

  Mrs. Madison rose to her feet. "What a horrible thing to say!"

  The soul flew around Connor.
He ducked and covered his head as his classmates shouted and backed away further.

  "Look! You've got it upset."

  Connor peeked through his fingers, past the spirit, to Mrs. Madison. "It's a he."

  She grabbed Connor by the arm and pulled him to his feet. He let her lead him across the class and out the door. The soul flew behind them, keeping his distance.

  Connor could barely hear what either of them were saying. They spoke over each other.

  "I don't know what's gotten into you, Connor. Let's go call your parents."

  "Kid! Hey, kid! Can you really understand me? You're not just yanking my chain up there?"

  "Mrs. Madison," Connor said. "I know you said we can't understand what souls say, and I heard that on TV, but I can. Your husband is a soul now."

  Connor told his parents the same thing before, and they didn't believe him. Souls were everywhere, moving through the sky, the streets, the cities, the entire world. Everyone could see them, but souls couldn't communicate with the living.

  Except for Connor.

  *****

  The more time passed, the more Connor worried. He'd been sitting in the principal's office for the past two hours. The school secretary only stopped in twice. The first time was to tell him his parents were on the way. Both of them. The second time was to offer him something to drink. Connor didn't think he'd drink anything for the next month.

  He didn't understand what he'd done wrong. The soul wanted to speak with Mrs. Madison. He was only trying to help. His parents didn't believe him either, but they never yelled or got angry with him.

  He dreaded the arrival of his parents. They wouldn't punish him, but they'd give that familiar look, almost like they were afraid of their own son.

  "Hey, kid."

  Connor spun to see a soul three feet in front of him. It floated perfectly still, only occasionally dimming and brightening. Connor tried to shove it, only to move through it and end up on the other side.

  "You got me in trouble!"

  "Wow, you actually can hear me?"

  "Yeah, but no one believes me."

  "Well, you can't blame them. I am…was forty years old, and I've traveled all over the world. I never met anyone that could talk to a soul. You see those jokers on TV, but they're all fake. Your name is Connor? I'm David."

  "Hi, David." Connor watched as David moved halfway through the office door to peek outside, and then came back. "You died today?"

  "Yeah," he said sadly. "One minute I'm crossing the street to go to the store, the next I'm looking down at my body from the sidewalk. A poor mother pushing a stroller saw the whole thing, even my soul leaving my body. Too bad I'm not rich and have one of those soul insurance policies."

  Connor watched David intently. He'd spoken to many spirits before, but never one recently deceased.

  "What are you gonna do?"

  "I don't know. I wish I could get a beer."

  "Yuck." Connor wrinkled his nose.

  David laughed. "Just wait until you get older." He suddenly floated quickly to his right, near the office door. "Did you hear that?"

  The soul again moved halfway through the door before pulling back inside.

  "Crack the door open, Connor. They're talking about you out there."

  Connor opened the door only an inch as quietly as he could. His parents stood side by side in front of the secretary's desk. Mom still wore her nice clothes from the office, Dad his policeman's uniform. Dad was filling out a form, and didn't look happy.

  Mrs. Madison stepped into the main office. She gave Connor's parents a sad smile as she extended her hand.

  "Thank you for coming."

  "What happened?" Mom asked.

  David sighed next to Connor. "Janet."

  Dad put his arm around Mom's shoulders. "Is our son okay?"

  "Of course, he's fine. But he was…disruptive in class today. He has an active imagination, doesn't he?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "He thinks he can understand souls. He was saying my husband is dead."

  Dad ran a hand through his thick hair as Mom lowered her head. "He's always been…different."

  "I understand. When I was his age, a soul latched onto me. I thought it was my grandma, and treated it that way for weeks. It spent time with me, hung around while I played like a maniac. But it never did talk to me, and I honestly doubt it was my grandma. You may want to have Connor talk to someone."

  "Can we take him home now?"

  "Certainly."

  Connor jumped back a few steps as the three adults headed toward the office. David floated at his side. Dad looked back and forth from his son to the soul as he led Mom and Mrs. Madison inside.

  "Come on, Connor," Dad said. "Let's go home."

  "Dad, I'm not lying. I really can talk to souls."

  "We'll talk about it later. Get your backpack."

  "But…this is Mrs. Madison's husband! He died today. We've been talking in here."

  Mom knelt in front of him and held his hands. David floated away slightly to give them space.

  "You have to stop pretending, okay? What you're saying is really hurting Mrs. Madison."

  "Janet?"

  It wasn't David, but a new voice out in the main office. A man wearing shorts and a Hawaiian shirt carefully poked his head and looked around. He smiled at everyone, even David, before joining them in the side office.

  "Is everything okay?" he asked.

  "Yes, Gary, thanks for coming," Mrs. Madison said, and kissed Gary on the lips. David let out a small cry before dimming slightly. "Connor, this is my husband, Gary."

  Connor's jaw dropped. He stared at Gary, and then turned to face David. He hovered up and down slightly, and Connor could barely make out that he was crying.

  "Who are you?"

  David said nothing. Mom and Dad looked at Mrs. Madison, embarrassment written across their faces.

  "We're so sorry."

  "It's alright. So, you see, Connor? My husband isn't dead. He's right here." The teacher grabbed her husband's hand and gave Dad a sad smile. "Just let me know if you need anything."

  They'd turned and took one step toward the door when David spoke.

  "Connor. I need you to just say my name for me. That's all you have to do."

  "Uh, okay. David."

  Mrs. Madison whirled around, fear flashing across her face. "What did you say?"

  "David."

  The tension thickened in the room. Mrs. Madison's lip quivered, only for a moment, as Gary looked from his wife's face back to Connor, and the glowing soul next to the young child.

  "Your son needs help," Mrs. Madison said, and pulled her husband along, not once looking back at David.

  "I thought she loved me. She told me she did. I guess that was a lie," David said.

  Connor took a step toward the soul. "Are you gonna be okay?"

  "I'm dead, Connor. No, I'm not gonna be okay. But…thank you."

  "So, you're not Mrs. Madison's husband?"

  "Stop," Mom said, covering her face with her hands. "Please, stop talking to the spirit."

  "No." David floated near the door to watch Mrs. Madison leave. "I thought I might have been someday. She kept asking me to wait for her, just a little while longer. I'm a fool."

  "I'm really sorry. I've talked to a lot of girl souls before. A few of them fly up by my bedroom window to say hi sometimes. Maybe you can marry one of them."

  "Connor, stop!" Mom shouted.

  David laughed. "Yeah, maybe so. Look, I'm gonna get moving before your mother has a heart attack over there. It was nice meeting you, Connor."

  "You, too. Goodbye."

  *****

  Neither Connor or his parents said a word as they left school and started the drive home. The only sound in the car were voices speaking in strange code from Dad's police radio. Dad and Mom didn't talk to each other. Mom would only stare at him as they stopped at the occasional red light, doing the talking-without-words thing that parents do. Dad wouldn't retur
n the look; he would only stare straight ahead. Every now and then he would glance in the rear-view mirror at Connor.

  They were across from one of their favorite places to eat when Mom finally spoke.

  "Should we find a doctor?"

  Dad said nothing, but cut off two cars as he switched lanes. Three souls scattered as they hovered in the street, and one car barely missed clipping them. Dad screeched to a halt as he parked in an empty lot.

  "What is wrong with you?" Mom shouted.

  "Sorry."

  Silence once again. Dad rolled down his window and looked out at the world. Connor followed his father's lead. They watched as people and souls lived their lives. Men and women walked the streets as some spirits mingled with them. Other souls stayed to themselves above the buildings, while others flew in the afternoon sky. The world was a constant symphony between the living and the light. Some of the larger cities didn't even bother turning on streetlights at night, due to the presence of souls.

  "I'm sorry I was late," Dad told Mom. "We had to break up another riot at that new soul resurrection center downtown. And a tenth victim was found last night."

  "Ten people? My God."

  "Yeah. It…was bad. We'll talk about it later."

  Mom took a deep breath and glanced at Connor. "What kind of doctor would we even have to see?"

  "Connor doesn't need to see a doctor."

  "What do you mean?"

  Dad turned in his seat to look at his son. Connor smiled at his father before lowering his head.

  "Connor, do souls come up to you and talk?"

  He shook his head. "No, not really. I don't think they know I can hear them. They say some funny things."

  "Are they nice?"

  "Most of them are. But one in the park the other day called Mom ugly. I didn't like that."

  "Connor!" Mom said. She closed her eyes a moment before glaring at Dad. "We talked about this."

  "And we were wrong."

  "How?"

  Dad smiled as he gestured to Connor. "He wasn't just playing, talking to an imaginary friend. He really was talking to that soul back in school."

  "See?" Connor said, beaming. "I told you."

  "Did you see his teacher's reaction when Connor said that name? She was cheating on her husband."