To The Moon!

Written By: Samuel J. Hoppe

My eyes blinked open. An ethereal hand waved in front of my face. My legs are gone, only a glowing stump waving in the wind. I am a ghost. I don't remember my life. All I remember is a glimpse of my fleshy hands on a steering wheel, a flash of headlights directly to my left, then I was here. Probably hit by a drunk driver. Oh well. This is my life now. Or should I say my afterlife.

I spend my days haunting a woman and her dog. I play pranks that make her laugh and scare her for fun. She doesn’t mind, for I am her ghost. She is my host. It's simply how things are.

There was a time when I dreamed of being an astronaut. I never managed to make that dream come true. But now I'm a ghost with the ability to fly. I can’t help but wonder how high I can go. 

I took to the sky, floating higher and higher. Floating towards the stars I always dreamed of being among. Wondering what it’ll look like once I get there. Anticipating all the joy I’ll feel once I’m among those beautiful stars.

Being a ghost is strange, you experience things you’ve done already and know how it should feel against your skin but feel nothing. Sensations became extremely dull, almost nonexistent. The sun blazing on my ghostly body, what once would burn me leaves me unphased. A plane coming through my path. I’ll just float right through. Things that would hurt, I smile at. Things that would kill, I welcome them. For I know I’m already dead and nothing can truly hurt me. 

Upon entering space, I take a look around and see the beauty in my achievement. A truly astronomical feat, one view that most will never see. 

Now that I’m here and achieved my dream. I take a look around and realize it’s not as it seems. It’s cold, lonely. I miss the house I once haunted. So I drift back down to find my way home. 

When I reach home it's not the same as I left. I try to go in and be as I used to. Do the pranks and scares as I once did. But with no effect. She doesn’t see me anymore. We’ve drifted too far, our connection is gone. Floating through the house, remnants of what used to be. This is no longer my home. 

So I drift into the street, wandering through the summer heat. Growing battered and bruised searching for someone that will see me. Understanding now just how precious and truly rare that connection really was. I hope and I dream of finding what I once had.