Free End of the Road (Ghost Stories Trilogy #1) by E. J. Fechenda

six-pack of beer in the
front seat with me either. I know that now, but it’s too late.
    There was a considerable
amount of traffic on the highway. It seemed like everyone wanted to get out of
the heat and escape to the mountains or lakes. The stop and go of the traffic started
to lull me to sleep. I shook it off and cracked another beer. Just past Black
Canyon City and Cave Creek the cars spread out a bit so I stepped on the gas.
My car handled the curves like a dream.  My fifth beer was going down smooth,
the weekend without the nagging wife stretched out ahead of me.
    I pulled a pack of Lucky
Strikes out of the breast pocket of my bowling shirt. As I was lighting up a
cigarette, I stopped paying attention to the road. I came around the bend and
saw brake lights. There wasn’t time to slow down and I slammed into the back of
a Suburban. My car flipped over onto its side and the metal crunched upon
impact. This didn’t slow down the momentum though and sparks flew as my car
squealed across the highway. I closed my eyes to protect them and suddenly the
screeching stopped. I opened up my eyes to see why. My Bel Air had shot out
over the embankment and time slowed, making it seem like I was suspended in the
air. There was nothing I could do except brace for impact as the ground raced
up to meet my car.
    “I’m sorry Faye,” I
whispered and closed my eyes again as the car crumpled and I was ejected out.
Everything went snow white and quiet. My first recollection after that was of
gravel and rock skittering down the side of the hill, like a mini avalanche. A
highway patrol officer followed in pursuit. I raised my arm so he could see me
from where I was lying on the ground.  He wasn’t stopping. I yelled out so he
wouldn’t step on me. Instead he ran right through me. I can’t describe the
feeling; it was like I was made of water.
    I turned my head and saw
the officer helping a medic put a body covered in a white sheet on a stretcher.
Blood seeped through the fabric like ink on a blotter. I squinted to see
through the dust that had been stirred up, and couldn’t stop staring. That was
me! How could that be me? I watched as more emergency people showed up. It took
four men to carry my body up the hillside. After everyone left, I realized I
was still there. Where was I supposed to go now? I looked up and started at the
sight of two people standing on the edge of the highway. A young Mexican woman
and a man with weird glasses were staring down at me. They could see me! Upon
closer inspection I realized I could see through them. Curious, I started up
the embankment. It was quite easy; I kind of just floated up and didn’t have to
put any effort into it at all. I glanced down to check my footing, that’s when
I noticed that like the people I was approaching, my feet were transparent too.
    “Am I dead?” I asked when
I reached the top. Lawrence and Juanita smiled and confirmed it. They smiled
like it was god damned normal to be having this conversation and I just asked
them about the weather when I was dead. Dead! Unable to deal with the anger and
fear boiling inside me, I went back down to the mangled remains of my car and
waited; thinking maybe my ghost status was only temporary.
    When I got tired of being
alone, and of staring at the same damn rocks, I tried to walk back to Phoenix.
I got as far as maybe thirty feet and couldn’t go any further, as if some
invisible shield held me in. “Fine,” I muttered to myself and turned around to
walk north. I didn’t really walk, though. I thought about where I wanted to go
and suddenly I was there, hitting against another invisible barrier.
    I tilted my head towards
the sky and yelled. “God, are you up there? Did you forget about me?” I didn’t
expect an answer, God didn’t have a good track record of answering my prayers,
but it was worth a try.
     
    ***
     
    Based on Lawrence’s calculations, I stayed down there for almost two months. It didn’t seem that
long,