It turns out my mystery saviour’s name was Jamie Jolina, she was a junior doctor and her house was a really sweet and very colourful little starter on the edge of town near the cliffs.
After showing me around my room, she insisted on giving me a makeover, which I gratefully accepted as an opportunity to get out of the horrible itchy clothes that Cornelia had given me.
It was pretty basic, just some jeans and a t-shirt, but it made me feel more like myself than I had done before. Also the shoes were super comfy, which after spending the whole night in heels was a welcome surprise.
Being able to see my reflection in the mirror for the first time in years was definitely a notable experience, it was gonna take me a while to get used to seeing my face again! I almost forgot that I actually used to be pretty when I wanted to be.
Over the next few weeks I settled back into life in Sunset Valley, I discovered that it actually hadn’t changed much since I left it all those years ago.
I managed to get a job at the bookstore by spending most of my waking hours there anyway and talking about books for hours with the manager, a little old lady called Yumi.
The only downside was the fact that she kept trying to set me up with her son who was around the same age as I was.
It was kinda weird getting used to the fact that people who were physically the same age as me now I was resurrected used to be young teenagers when I was alive before.
Although half of the people I met were friends of Jamie’s that she brought over to the house.
And the other half were random people that I met in the spring festival, which is where I spent most of my time. The bookstore gave me a lot of free hours, so I had a lot of time to just wander around the town I had missed so much.
On one of these wanderings I ended up at the beach, I was about to head over to relax on one of the deckchairs when I suddenly noticed the person who was lying there already…
My heart fell to my stomach and my immediate instinct was to sprint. I began running and didn’t even think about where I was going until I found myself at the graveyard.
By that time the sun was beginning to set, but I still needed to soothe some of the anxiety coursing through me, so I plopped down on a bench and began to read.
I began to get lost in the pages of my book, and before I knew it, the light around me had vanished.
My past self would have probably been scared straight, being in a graveyard in the middle of the night, but weirdly, I found being around the (fellow) spirits more comforting than anything. After all, the scariest thing that could happen to me, death, had already occurred. I had nothing to be afraid of anymore. I felt at peace among the creatures of the netherworld.
I felt a cool breeze crawl up my back and noticed a bright blue hue shine over the pages of my book. I spun around and noticed a spirit behind me, he smiled, and when I smiled back he seemed rather shocked, obviously not realising that I could see him.
“Hi, I’m Lolita” I grinned, shaking the space around what had formed to be his hand.
“You can see me? Well I’ll be darned, no human has ever done that before! Let me introduce myself, I go by ‘Tragic Clown’, mostly because I don’t remember my real name anymore, it’s been too many years. Plus everyone would call me that regardless.” He babbled in a soft twinbrook accent
His voice was odd and ethereal, if you weren’t paying attention you would probably pass it off as the wind, but there were definite words being formed. It was strange to recognise this as the tone my voice used to take too.
Tragic Clown and I talked on a bench for hours. I explained my resurrection and why I could see him, and he told me his tales from being a circus clown, and his death, I have to say he certainly earned the name ‘Tragic’, his story very nearly reduced me to tears.
As the night wore on, we decided to pass the time by playing tag, it was fun to find someone with the same childishness that I possessed.
Finally, the sun began to rise, and as it did, he made me promise that whatever I did with my life, I would make use of my second chance, and make it purposeful.
I agreed that I would, and we said our goodbyes.
Meeting another ghost was honestly the revitalisation I think I needed. I knew before now that I needed to make use of my second chance, but now I wasn’t just motivated by myself, I was doing this on behalf of all the spirits who never got to live again.
I needed to make use of this life, and make it the best one I could possibly have. Because the fact that I was breathing, was a miracle in itself.
