It's a Wonderful Death - Sarah J. Schmitt Page 0,8
drops open. “They call your name every single time a new group goes up, and they’ve been doing it since you got here?”
She nods and pulls the engagement ring out, twisting it around her finger. “At first it was annoying, but I don’t hear it anymore.”
I can’t imagine not responding to my own name. I stare at the ring. It’s huge. Even with help from his friend, how could a college student afford something like that? I bet he was loaded.
“It really is pretty, isn’t it?” Sandy says when she catches me looking. Her face is bright and for an instant, I can imagine her on a college campus, vibrant and alive.
“It’s amazing,” I admit.
She smiles, one of those memory smiles of hers. “I know. You should have seen it in the moonlight.”
Again with the moon. “When you said people who hold on to things from their life have a hard time moving on …”
She lets out a throaty laugh. The clatter of the old people stops and I can feel them looking at us with disapproval. Sure enough, when I turn around, several of the blue-haired crew are shaking their heads.
“Ignore them,” Sandy says, sticking out her tongue in their direction. “As to your question, you should see how often the processors try to get me to hand this thing over to them.”
“But you don’t want to move on?”
She looks at the ceiling. “I do. It’s exhausting watching trainload after trainload of souls move through here. I feel the pull to move on all the time.”
“So hand the ring over and go.”
Sandy sighs. “I can’t.”
I slap my thighs in frustration. I really don’t get this girl. “Why the heck not?”
When she speaks, there’s a quiver in her voice. “I can’t give up on him. When they finally turn off the machines and he dies, I can’t let him sit here like them,” she says, gesturing to everyone around us. “I can’t stand the idea of him being shell-shocked and closed off. He deserves better. We deserve our happy ending. Together. Even if it isn’t exactly the way we planned.”
“Is that what Lillith meant about you pining away?” I ask, and Sandy nods. “But can’t you wait for him on the other side?”
“I don’t know what’s going to happen once I leave the Lobby. What if I can’t find him? What if I forget I want to find him?”
“But—” I start to say.
Sandy’s hand slices through the air in resolve. “No. I’m not going. When he gets off the train, I will be right here. Until then, I’ll wait.”
I don’t have time to argue. A moment later I hear my name over the loudspeaker and I know what Sandy means about the pull to move on. Every part of me wants to move toward the line. I look at the front desk. I sense, rather than feel, Sandy’s hand on my arm.
“Wait,” she says softly. “Don’t go yet. I told you my story. Tell me yours.”
I shake my head. “I told you, car accident.”
“And I called you a liar, remember? Please, give me something else to think about. What makes you different from all the other brain-deads that come through here?”
I look into her pleading eyes. Maybe she knows something that will help me. “Okay, fine. The Reaper was supposed to collect this gypsy at our school carnival. She saw him coming and at the last second threw me in front of her. He caught my soul instead.”
Sandy looks at me for a long while before bursting out laughing. “You’re kidding, right?” she gasps.
I just look at her.
“You’re not joking.”
“Nope.”
The look of shock is unmistakable. “That’s unreal. Did he get the gypsy?”
I toss my hair over my shoulder and get ready to stand. “Not that I know of, though I hope this time they take her out action-movie style.”
“So you weren’t supposed to die?”
“Not today. But I’m going to find a way back.”
“I bet if anyone can do it, you can. You don’t strike me as the kind of person who takes no for an answer.” She studies me and I can see the wheels turning in her head. And I’m afraid of what she’s thinking. She’s spent too much time in limbo pining for the not-yet-dead boyfriend. When she opens her mouth, I brace myself. “If you do, could you do me a favor?”
“What?” I say, regretting not heading for the line sooner.
“Find him,” she pleads. “He’s at a medical center in Indianapolis. Convince his parents to let him