A Better Day, A Better World (random story ...)

She glared at the world, mad with it and everything on it. The world screwed up when they failed to save her. Rising, she was a misty ghost of herself. She floated gently towards a woman with a baby, and she reached out to touch the baby’s soft skin. Her hand went straight through.1

How could this happen? She didn’t understand but then again, she didn’t want to. She sniffed, ready to push away tears, before she realized she couldn’t cry. This was stupid, it was unfair and injustice, but it was real. It was so real, she was terrified. She no longer had a heart-beat.2

She was dead. She was a ghost of her past self. She was going to have to admit it sooner or later, so it might as well be sooner. Amelia King was dead. It would’ve given her a shiver if she could shiver.3

Lia drifted down the crazy road and saw an old woman drop her cane. She attempted to reach for it, but staggered forward and gripped onto a lamp pole instead. Lia glanced around and realize no one was helping this old woman. No one saw her either.4

She refused to just wander away without helping this woman. Lia reached down and tried to grasp the cane. She couldn’t do it. Frowning, she hovered there and then she dove for it.5

Lia’s lips parted, a gasp would’ve been there, as she found herself floating through cement and then suddenly the sewer. She couldn’t smell anything, and she supposed that in itself was a bonus. She looked up and floated back through, wishing she could feel the probably-weird sensation of just going through things.6

Thinking quickly, she remembered something that her mother had told her father. Kids were the easiest to reach because they were the most open-minded. Maybe that was the key. She looked at the woman who was gasping for air and muttering a prayer for strength.7

Lia noticed a little girl with her mother about to cross the street. She flew forward, and tried waving in front of the girl. She was still invisible. The girl moved forward to cross the street, walking directly into Lia.8

The girl fell down, obviously surprised. Lia silently cheered. Adults couldn’t feel her, but kids could. At least, this kid could. The mother muttered something about her daughter being klutzy.9

Lia pointed to the old lady who was now cursing the skies. She couldn’t make a sound, but maybe she could get through to the little girl. Obviously she did because Lia heard her whisper, “Mommy, I think that lady needs help. We can be a little late to school, can’t we?”10

Her mother looked annoyed, but when Lia followed them towards the lady, she seemed to forget about rushing through the city. Lia smiled at the little girl, who watched her hovering above the ground.11

“Hi,” Lia mouthed, since no words would actually come out.12

The girl smiled. “Hi.”13

Then she bent down and picked up the cane like Lia had wanted to do to begin with. She handed it to the old woman, and her mother was calling an ambulance. “I’m Amber.”14

Lia grinned at Amber. She glanced around and then saw the building behind them was called “Lizzy’s Caf&#;. Lia floated up and pointed at the ‘L’, then the ‘I’ and then the ‘A’.15

“Lill-ah?” Amber asked. Lia shook her head, then pointed to the letters ‘L’, ‘E’, ‘A’ and couldn’t find an ‘H’. “Oh! Leah!”16

“Hush, sweetheart,” her mother said before she went back to calming the woman down.17

Lia nodded, and moved closer to Amber so that Amber could whisper, “Leah spelt L-i-a?”18

She nodded again, and gave the girl a huge grin. Lia waved bye to Amber once the ambulance came and took the three of them away. It surprised her that Amber’s mother would want to go with the old woman to the hospital, but she decided it was a good surprise.19

Lia floated down to the park and spent most of the day with the children. She knew the parents thought they had a new imaginary friend, but it didn’t matter what they thought. Some of the promised to be back tomorrow, but she didn’t know what time was like. She’d been like this for what seemed like a few hours but when she’d checked a newspaper, it’d been days after the day she’d gone into surgery.20

When night fell, she drifted around the park. She realized that she had no place to go and no way to sleep. She couldn’t sleep. She’d already tried too many times. It didn’t work. People kept sitting on her too, and the worst part was that sometimes she didn’t even realize it.21

She sat down on a swing, glad she didn’t go through, and started swinging with the wind pushing it. It was weightless like it would’ve been any other night. It was like she didn’t exist. But she did, she knew she did.22

“No! Stop it! Get off!” a feminine voice came. It was more like a shriek than anything.23

“Shut up, bitch!” a deeper, more masculine voice came from the same direction. Lia was off the swing and flying towards the voices. “You get on your back and stop clawing. You’re going to enjoy this ride, baby.”24

“Stop –” but her voice was cut off. Lia heard her muffled screams and when she came across the man trying to rape the poor seventeen year old woman, she realized he’d put masking tape over her mouth.25

Fury boiled up inside Lia, and she realized that she felt something. She had emotions. Emotions made people. She was still a person. With that on her mind, she surged forward at the man and tried to shove him. She still went through him but when she touched the girl, she felt the contact. The girl felt it, not Lia.26

Her eyes flickered open and she saw her. Lia took a deep breath and then slipped through his body into the girl’s. It was strange, but she could control and hear the girl’s thoughts. With a new tangled wave of fear and confidence, Lia pulled the girl’s body up. 27

She punched the man and let out a scream. The man hissed something and Lia realized that it was her screaming, not the girl. She screamed again and again and again, and when the girl kicked the man off her, she ripped the masking tape off and gave a scream herself.28

Lia slipped out of her body, and brushed her hand on the girl’s arms. Bruises were scattered across them. She moved her hand over them, wishing that the girl hadn’t been hurt, but realized that those bruises were the key to getting the ass into jail. She murmured a soft prayer, hoping that they didn’t hurt, and then floated towards the man.29

He was pathetic, she decided with a new feeling. She wasn’t sure what it was, but she reached out to slap him. It didn’t matter that her hands went right through; it was the thought that counted. Lia wanted to cry. The girl shouldn’t have had to go through that at all.30

Lia frowned and then watched someone come across the three of them. They called the cops and knocked the rapist out with a stone when he’d tried to run away. The girl stared at Lia, who only waved and disappeared towards the city streets.31

Things like that shouldn’t happen, Lia decided. People shouldn’t go unnoticed or be afraid of their own park. Her mother had raised her to be fully aware of every single bad thing that could happen, just so she’d be prepared.32

She hadn’t been prepared for getting sick.33

She sat down on the side of the road and since she hadn’t been concentrating, fell right through.34

It took her a moment, a moment longer than usual Earth life, before she came back up to see a homeless man walking down the ally she sat in front of. Two men were hot on his tail, but ducked in the shadows.35

They were going to jump him for the only money he had. She saw the hat filled with some change that some people had given him.36

She jumped up and flew – faster than any stupid bird or plane – straight into him. Lia was knocked down, and she realized she couldn’t get inside him like the other girl and he couldn’t see her like Amber could. He only felt her presence. He glared at every corner, every shadow, every whisper, before she straighten herself and tried sending him a thought.37

The man turned back towards whatever he chose to call home. She tapped him on the shoulder just in time. As he turned around the men came out of hiding. The man dropped the hat with the money and put his fists up.38

Lia didn’t watch them fight because she didn’t think she could bare it. Instead, she reached for the money to protect it and her fingers connected with it. She immediately stashed it away.39

When she looked back, she realized they were going to kill the man. The bastards were drunk. She smelt the alcohol.40

She nearly wanted to scream. She could smell. She could touch. She could feel and she could see. Thinking had come natural to her.41

She grabbed a sharp stone from the ground, surprised that she could actually hold it. She tightened her hand around it and then tried to stab herself with it. Nothing happened. She couldn’t feel pain.42

It was a perfect solution. She jumped into the fight, blocking every attack the two men gave. They’d go to punch; she’d catch it with her hand, and save the homeless man from another black eye. Lia started to have fun with it, as she spun around to fight back.43

She was quicker, smarter and stronger as a ghost of what she used to be. She kind of liked it.44

“This guy’s creepy!” the first and biggest guy shouted. “He’s just standing there, but I feel like he’s punching me.”45

“Let’s get out of here,” the second one said. She dove forward to lie on the ground. She hovered a few inches above and the men went flying into the air. She laughed, happy that she’d protected the man. When she turned to see him limping towards the back of the ally, she floated after him.46

Pulling the hat out of hiding, she stood in front of him and held it out. He didn’t see her, but he saw the hat dangling in mid-air, she was sure of it. He took the hat, not looking surprised or scared or anything really.47

He walked away.48

Lia moved into a building and tried to sleep. It didn’t come, but memories of her past life came back to her. Nameless people haunted her, nearly killed her and then left her for dead. The doctors had screwed up the surgery. Somehow, they’d screwed up.49

When Lia opened her eyes, she saw it was light out. Wondering if she had slept, she went to find a newspaper for the date. It was two days later. The mention of the almost-rape was in there and she’d been right. The bruises had proven the girl – her name was Kelly – had been almost raped, and the prints had matched her rapist’s. He was in jail.50

Lia moved along a road and suddenly it became familiar. Very, very familiar. She stopped and moved up to second-story height. She was staring at her old house. Old, black and white memories came back to her. She floated through the walls and into the second floor. She was in her mother’s bedroom.51

She’d lived here for her entire life.52

Hearing someone cry, she moved into the bathroom. Her mother sat against the wall, a picture of a younger version of Lia in her hands. Lia felt like crying. She wanted to cry again. She couldn’t. She was dead. She was a ghost.53

“Mom!” she tried screaming, but nothing came out this time. She fell down to her mother’s height and wrapped her arms around her mother.54

Unlike all three people she’d met and helped, her mother was too numb to even notice her presence. Amber had been able to see her, Kelly had been able to feel her and she’d been able to slip into her body, not to mention the homeless man had been able to feel her too, but her own mother couldn’t.55

Lia held on tight before she let go and slipped into the first story. Her sister, who was only twelve years old, sat on the couch clutching her favourite teddy bear. She moved forward and stood in front of Jamie. Her sister looked straight at her.56

“Jamie,” Lia tried to say, but again, no words came out.57

“I’m going insane,” Jamie muttered. She closed her eyes and then, minutes later, was sound asleep. Lia smiled at her sister, and then wrapped her arms around Jamie for a moment. Her grip went right through to Jamie’s heart. Lia protected it for a moment before she moved to the music room at the back of the house.58

Her father waited there for her. His smile was cracked. He held his arms out. “I knew you’d find your way to me someday.”59

“Daddy!” Lia shouted, her voice echoing. She dashed forward, her feet slowly touching the floor as she ran to her father’s arms.60

Her father smiled, his ghostly body coming into a clearer, solid colour. She heard her feet pitter-pattering on the floor as she touched her father’s body. Together, they were solid.61

Lia buried her face into his chest and held on tightly. Now, together, they would wait for her sister and her mother to join them, but she knew that it would be a bunch of Earth-life years before that happened. For them, it would be all too quickly.62

As Lia felt the world shifting around them, she reached up to her cheeks. She realized she was crying. Her sobs softly echoed throughout the house.63

In the living room, Jamie woke up and held onto her teddy bear, waiting for someone to tell her that it was all a very bad nightmare.64

Upstairs in the bathroom off the bedroom; her mother froze and whispered into the house, “I love you Tom. I love you too, Amelia.” 65

Lia knew she would return to Earth as another human later … when it was a better place, and a safer place. She would raise kids to be aware of all the dangers in the world like her mother had, but she’d tell them not to be afraid. They could beat anything.66

She closed her eyes, tears still dropping off her chin, and inhaled deeply. “Love you too, Mom. I’ll see you on a better day, a better world.”67

Then hand-in-hand with her father, they stepped into the light. 68

Lia left the world knowing that even as a seven year old, she had seen too many bad things, but she’d done her part to help the world.69