Dad, In Spirit--The Conclusion (Chapters 26-28)

Ebon Jones used to be the boring member of his family, now he's the only one who can see and hear his Dad's spirit who has returned to the house, even though his body is in a coma at the hospital. Can Ebon find a way to get his Dad's spirit and his body reunited? Listen and find out in this continuation of Dad, In Spirit by A. LaFaye. These are the final chapters. Thank you for joining me for this story.

Transcript

Hello,

This is A.

Le Fay of Sylvanosity,

And this recording will be the three final chapters of Dad in Spirit.

If you are one of those who have listened to all the chapters up to this point,

I want to sincerely thank you for joining the Jones family in this incredible journey,

And me,

Who's been narrating this journey for you along the way.

And now,

Let's join them to see what happens next.

A final solution.

No,

It can't be happening,

I thought as we ran for the house.

Dad's going to be okay.

He touched me.

I could almost feel his fingers scrape across my back as he grabbed my shirt.

The house seemed to be a marathon away as we ran.

I couldn't help wondering if Mom had been right after all.

Did Dad risk losing his body by making his spirit turn solid?

Or was Dad pulling himself back together in reverse,

Bringing his physical body into his spirit one part at a time?

Mom met us in the backyard,

Yelling,

It's okay,

Kids,

False alarm.

False alarm?

Joliet asked,

Shocked.

Every bell and whistle in the house was going off when I left.

Mom gave Joliet a hug and rubbed her arms to calm her down.

He's going to be fine.

She reached out to take me in as she said,

Gary said sometimes a surge in electricity can set them off.

So nothing happened?

I asked Mom as we came in through the back door.

Either that or your Dad went into a full cardiac arrest,

Then back to normal all by himself.

Mom said it like it was a joke,

But the thought made me shiver.

Dad could have risked his life by saving me.

Maybe he was pulling too hard to make his spirit whole.

I had to do something soon.

Walking up to Dad's bed,

I realized just how much thinner he'd gotten since he'd fallen asleep.

It looked like only skin lined the bones in his face.

Afraid to touch him,

I couldn't move.

I heard Mom assuring Samuel by telling him Dad had probably slipped right into a dream about flying zebra-striped hippos or something of the like.

Samuel giggled.

I reached out to touch Dad's arm as Mom walked to take his other hand.

I could see the shape of his arm under the sheet.

I grabbed for his fingers.

But my hand never found them.

Passing through a cloud of static,

My hand sank right to the bed.

I pulled my hand back.

Dad had started to dissolve.

Mom held his other hand.

Part of him was still solid.

What could I do?

My mind spun.

I reached back into the cloud of static,

Hoping to find something within Dad's thoughts.

Perhaps just like the time when he passed through me and our minds linked up like mental Siamese twins.

At first,

I felt only a biting warmth,

Like the zap of electricity when you rub two staticky socks together.

Then,

The feeling deepened,

Traveling to my heart.

Dad's thoughts drifted in like a dream.

Hold on.

Hold on.

Hold on.

Hold on to what,

Dad?

Can you hear him,

Ebon?

Mom looked at me.

I yanked my hand back,

Saying,

No.

I lied because I knew Mom wouldn't like my plan for finding Dad any more than he favored the idea of me following him.

I wished I'd jumped out of that tree after him.

I might have slid right into the place where he went when he wasn't with us.

We could walk back together.

Or you could get stuck here,

Like me,

Dad whispered.

The thought gave me the chills,

But I couldn't let it stop me.

I waited,

Knowing I could try again when everyone went to sleep.

Gary did his paperwork in the kitchen around 11.

I could try then.

We all sat with Dad until well past dark when Mom said we had to get some sleep.

Let's camp out here with Dad,

Samuel suggested.

We could all bring down our sleeping bags.

Protesting would have clued everyone in,

So I agreed to Samuel's plan,

Along with Mom and Juliet.

I even josed off for a bit.

But when I woke up,

The house had gone quiet.

Gary was reading him a book in the hallway.

I got up without making anyone else stir,

Climbing into the bed next to Dad,

Wedged against the metal rail.

I lay down and put my arm where his arm should have been,

My skin tingled as if my arm had fallen asleep.

Everything sent little prickles of heat up my arm.

I started drifting downward as memories fell around me like leaves,

A boy jumping into a creek,

Juliet outfitting Tinkerbell for the play,

A cotton candy machine in full spin,

A baby Samuel eating chocolate cake with his hands,

Mom hanging a birdhouse in the backyard,

Me playing with Fred at the keys of the piano.

Eben?

Dad's voice echoed in my head.

Dad?

I called back,

Slipping past a shelf of books,

Settling on uncertain ground.

I stood before the shelf,

Dizzy,

Then a little giggly.

Eben,

What are you doing here?

Dad came towards me from down an aisle of books.

He shimmered like a car approaching through waves of heat rising off a highway.

I'd found him.

Now what?

Dad!

I held my hands out.

We have to get you home.

Dad stood behind me,

Nudging me forward as if he felt afraid to touch me.

Taking his hands,

I put his arms around me,

Saying,

Let's go together.

We took a left turn,

Then a right.

For a moment I thought we'd turned around.

A maze sprawled out around us.

Dad held me closer as a phone began ringing in the distance.

It's Mom,

Dad.

She's looking for us.

I felt her like I did when I read her letters at camp.

Her written words brought her to me,

Or at least her love anyway.

Words rang all around us as we turned and walked,

Then turned again,

There looking Dad.

Everyone.

Samuel,

Joliet,

Even BJ's there.

Dad stopped.

Let's stand still and listen.

Silence,

Then a distant voice like someone whispering in the next room.

And when she woke up,

A woman showed up on her wall,

All dressed in red,

Sitting in a sleigh,

A bearded man standing next to her.

It was Samuel,

Telling a ghost story.

Do you hear it?

I hear it.

Dad's breath warmed my ear.

Eben wouldn't tell me how Attila the Hun died,

So I asked my Aunt Betty.

She's a high school history teacher,

BJ said,

From just a ways ahead.

She says Attila the Hun had too much to drink on his wedding night and choked on his own vomit.

I could have gone a long time without knowing that.

It's all your fault that I know it now,

Luke Jones.

You tell your son the most disgusting things.

Disgusting.

Dad and I laughed.

It echoes as if we stood at a gymnasium,

Bouncing like a basketball thrown hard against the floor.

Should I wake Eben for dinner,

Mom?

Joliet's voice echoed off the shelves.

No,

Let him sleep.

The poor kid hasn't slept through the night in a week.

We drifted down an aisle of books.

They slowly shifted into blackness,

As if they'd been covered by a blanket.

Joliet's voice bounded back in,

Like she was speaking right in our ears.

Did you hear me,

You guys?

I said the Tinsdale triplets want me to make them a costume so they can go to the party as three peas and a pod.

We drifted past the voices to a door made of a complex piece of wood,

Each one carved to show a part of our life.

Joliet's sewing machine slipped in as the nose of Mother's farmer gargoyle.

The hand of Samuel's firefighting ghost pushed my skateboard.

No handle,

Dad said,

Pressing a few pieces.

We've got to solve it,

I told him.

Scanning the puzzle,

Dad asks.

Where are we?

I could see things,

But no people.

Then I recognized the elephant hairpin Joliet used to prevent her from sewing any of her long hair into the hem of a costume.

Sure enough,

The puzzle piece showed the pin stuck in a hive of Joliet's hair.

Mom's eyes looked down at me from the top of a bowl of her ring salad.

We're all here,

Dad,

In pieces.

I tapped Joliet's hair bun.

Uh-huh.

Dad and I set to work,

Pushing our family together,

Piece by piece,

An eye,

An ear,

A left arm.

Our tree family picture formed in a sea of the things that filled our lives.

As I slid the piece of my right shoulder against one side of the tree trunk,

Dad pushed his left shoulder piece up to the other side,

And our real fingers touched.

A chill of excitement sped through my body,

And I linked into Dad's memories,

Standing in a theater doorway,

Watching me play in my recital last spring,

And how it made him nearly shake with pride.

Him checking my homework after everyone had gone to bed,

Laughing but pleasure at how I'd taken pieces and bits from our history talks and planted them in my papers,

Nodding when I made a point he'd never thought of himself,

Me traveling with him to the library where he stopped at the reference desk to visit with Mr.

Helfick,

To share stories about his kids,

How Joliet could shoot an apple off a horse's rump,

The way Samuel recited the periodic table of elements like a poem,

And the fact that I could remember everything he ever told me.

But Dad had never told me about all these things,

And when that instant flash ended,

The door swung open,

And I felt like I could fly.

Home Again,

Whole Again Staring into the dining room of Hamilton Hall,

I promised myself that before the end of Christmas break,

Dad would be able to tell Mr.

Helfick story after story about the millions of things we'd done together.

As Dad stepped into the room,

Passing under a ladder,

I could feel myself settling back to earth,

Noticing the weight of my own body,

Smelling the dust,

Hearing my pulse echoing in my ears.

Back to the beginning,

Dad slapped a rung.

Are we really here?

I spun around,

Gum wrappers and sand crunched beneath my feet.

We never even cleaned the place up the crowds walked through.

Dad ran his fingers over his cheeks.

I feel real,

He said,

His voice hiking up a notch,

Grabbing me around the waist.

He spun me in a circle,

Shouting,

You feel real?

I hugged him,

Breathing in the smell of his pickle juice and sweat,

Squeezing him to feel his muscles,

And no,

He wouldn't disappear in my hands.

Laughter bowled out of me as he set me down.

I asked,

But where are we?

Are we really here?

Dad pulled a tapestry off the wall to reveal a window.

The moonlight streaming in startled me for a second.

I see home,

He said.

Last one there washed the dishes.

I scrambled for the window,

Yanking it open.

I nearly fell out.

Dad climbed right over me.

He scooped me up and made for the backyard.

Stopping in front of Castle Rook,

Dad looked at the house.

All the windows looked gray in the moonlight.

Dad whispered,

1 a.

M.

And all is quiet.

I started to cry and hugged him so hard my arms nearly went numb.

He bounced me in the air,

Dad shouted,

No tears,

Sir Harrow.

We've got an army to raise.

Dad set me on my feet,

Then raced toward the styrofoam cannons he'd rigged up on the roof of the turret.

Come on!

Laughing,

I ran for the cannon by the front gate.

As I loaded mine with leaves,

Dad said,

I wish we had water balloons.

Me too,

I shouted through happy tears.

Sending off a volley,

We pelted the house,

Bringing everyone to the windows overlooking the backyard.

Woohoo,

Dad shouted when he saw Mom stick her head out.

Look who's home!

Dad!

Juliette leaned way out of her sewing annex window.

I thought she was going to jump.

Samuel came tearing out the back door as Mom said,

I'm coming!

Dad grabbed Samuel under the shoulders and swung him around in a circle.

Sir Obe,

The flying knight,

Hug me,

Daddy,

Hug me!

Dad obliged and threw in a mess of kisses to boot.

As I ran up to them,

Juliette came charging out the back door and joined in,

Hugging and kissing and crying.

She tried to talk but couldn't.

Mom stepped outside but didn't come to us.

She just stood there like she expected us to run off.

Tell me it's true.

Her cheeks quivered as if she was trying not to smile.

Tell me I can see four solid people standing in our backyard.

Dad held Juliette and Samuel's hands in one of his own and mine in the other.

He raised our hands,

Shouting,

The Knights of Castle Brook salute you,

Dear lady.

Yes!

Mom flew into the air.

When she came down,

We all hugged,

We laughed,

We kissed,

We cried,

We pinched,

We squealed,

We even stomped on each other's feet,

Just to be sure.

Just then we heard a scream from inside the house.

Gary!

Mom looked spooked.

Gary came stumbling out of the house,

Looking as if he'd taken a ride inside a dryer.

I fell asleep.

Mr.

Jones is gone.

The bed's empty.

The monitor's dead.

It shorted out.

Seeing Dad,

He flew into a panic,

Insisting that we take Dad straight to the hospital.

The hospital staff got bent out of shape over what Dad labeled a reverse seance.

Little did they know how far we'd really gone to wake him up.

In the walk back to our world,

Dad and I must have dragged our physical bodies right along with us.

And the final chapter,

A miracle.

The doctor said Dad could be classified as a modern medical miracle,

The way he just woke up.

We spent more time at the hospital in the next few weeks than at home.

Tests showed he could stand to gain a few pounds,

And it took quite some time before he could even climb the front steps without getting winded.

The coma had knocked all the strength right out of him.

But not one other hint of his extended nap showed up on any of the tests they ran.

All the sign of an injury to Dad's brain had vanished.

That old rip just disappeared.

Dr.

Ventro kept calling to see how we were readjusting,

But we just let him babble into the answering machine.

The whole Jones family rip van Winkle adventure could be classified as a miracle in my book.

For the first time when Dad had gone into hiding,

I'd found him.

Now I was Evan Jones,

The boy who went beyond this world and halfway through the next to bring his Dad home.

It wasn't a skill I planned to use often,

But I wasn't complaining.

Neither was anyone else in the family.

Joliet had already started on a Siamese twin costume for Dad and me to wear next Halloween.

Samuel practiced the new tale he had to tell,

One nobody had ever heard before,

The story of the ghost of a living person.

And this one he knew to be true.

Mom carved a statue of Dad and me making our way back,

Surrounded by books and listening to the voices of home.

She placed it on Dad's desk right next to his computer.

But for a long time after his big sleep,

I didn't see Dad even go into his office.

After the doctors finally gave us the green light,

Mom and Dad decided a family vacation was in order.

They wrote notes to our teachers and we spent the week curled up in the shroom forest with a new book,

Roving around Castle Rook and its grounds,

Having picnics on the glade and simply lounging around.

When the week ended,

I figured we'd all swing back into our normal routine.

I walked downstairs the following morning expecting to fling kookaburras at Samuel,

But Dad stood at the stove flipping pancakes.

Not only was he up,

He'd combed his hair,

Shaved and gotten dressed.

Dad,

It's 7.

30.

Plenty of time for chocolate chip cookie pancakes.

And hot fudge whipped cream and a cherry on top,

Dad said,

Bringing a stack of steaming pancakes to the table.

Yeah!

Samuel shouted from his seat.

What comes after the dessert?

Julia laughed.

An apple,

Dad smiled.

But we can eat those on the way to school.

You're driving us?

I asked.

Yep.

Dad went to the microwave to get the hot fudge he'd heated up.

I turned to look around for Mom.

Is Mom sick?

Healthy as a newborn baby.

Mom came in with a grocery bag.

Got the milk?

She said,

Holding up the bag.

Pour it on,

Dad shouted.

I'll take mine in a glass,

Juliet joked.

Sitting down,

I figured Dad's need to be around us all of the time hadn't worn off yet.

You're putting on a Christmas carol at school,

Right?

Dad looked at each of us to show he wanted everyone to answer.

I stared at Dad as he listened to Samuel recite all of his lines from his role as the ghost of Christmas yet to come.

Dad actually listened and smiled,

Nodded.

You think they could use some help building the sets?

He took a big bite and gave himself a whipped cream mustache.

I know I could use some help,

Juliet said.

I have over fifty costumes to sew and only one assistance.

I could be in charge of buttons,

Dad offered.

We laughed.

Dad couldn't sew in a straight line if he tried to put a border on a ruler.

What about you,

Evan?

Ebeneezer Scrooge,

I whispered.

With a name like Eben,

I'd gotten plenty of Scrooge jokes in my lifetime.

In fact,

Most of the kids figured they'd play a great joke on me by giving me the role.

But I'd be the one laughing when my performance turned out to be a ticket to future roles.

Way to go!

Dad gave me a shake.

I'll be there.

Front row.

And he was.

With all the time Dad spent cutting out patterns with Juliet,

Reciting lines with me and Samuel,

And polishing gargoyles for Mom,

I knew he'd really spoken from his heart when he said he'd settle into a new routine.

Nothing could make my Dad ordinary,

But the whole Rip Van Winkle ordeal had shown him how to be around when we needed him.

He didn't exactly reinvent himself.

He just stuck to normal hours,

Like any other working Dad.

He started his research at nine and shut off the computer at five.

Of course,

He snuck in for a good quick romp around the internet when he couldn't sleep.

But everybody works overtime,

Right?

Now if only we could get him to stop eating cucumbers before he goes to bed.

The end.

Well,

I hope you found the ending to this story satisfying.

I know it was great fun reading it for you.

Now one of the things I want to talk about before we sign off on Dad in Spirit is the fact that so often terrible things happen in our lives and we think,

How could this happen to us?

And we think nothing will ever be the same.

I know it's hard,

But I'd like to point out you're right.

It's not going to be the same.

But that's a good thing.

Because when we go through something awful,

The best thing that could come out of that is that we change.

We grow.

We learn new things.

Like Luke Jones,

Who learned how to really be there for his kids.

I mean he'd always done wonderful things for them and wonderful things with them.

But he wasn't that good at being present in the moment on a day to day basis.

And being there for those you love is an essential part of being a family,

Of being connected,

Of showing your love.

So one,

I want to invite you to work on being there with and for those who you love.

That means listening,

Understanding,

Reflecting what they're interested in,

What they wish for,

What they love,

What they're afraid of,

All of those things that make them them.

And the other thing,

If you face something difficult,

I bet those people you've been listening to and being there with will be right there beside you to help you work through those difficult times.

And more importantly,

When you get to a space where you feel you can breathe again and you can reflect,

Ask yourself,

What can I learn from this experience?

How can I grow and become a better person?

Hmm.

It's a lot to think about.

Well,

I know that I've thought long and hard about it and I'm excited that you hung in there through all of the chapters of Dad and Spirit.

I hope you'll look into another one of my stories,

If not on Inside Timer,

Then checking them out from your local library perhaps,

Because there are many more where this one came from.

Thank you once again.

I wish you peace,

Growth,

And happiness.

This is Elah Fae of Silvanosity.

Reviews

Been pacing myself to make these chapters last🙏🏽 What a magnificent ending

I loved every chapter & your reading is sucha treat, much appreciated, please continue your readings here on IT. Thank you for the thoughtful messages you share with each reading.
Namaste 🕊❤

I loved this story so much and it’s quit sad to finish it but I thoroughly enjoyed it. How many chapters or in your other story Strawberry Hill? Oh, and can please release more of your fantastic stories soon. I hope you had a great Easter as well
xxx Eryn-Frances
Ps-it was always me who gave the reviews on my mamas profile but she doesn’t mind don’t worry 😉