Chapter 10

“First of all, don’t say ‘hell.’ Secondly, you have the memory of those things. They feel real because you want them to bereal. Muscles have memories. Organs have memories. You didn’t realise you were no longer alive and so you didn’t know you could no longer do those things.”

“Then why didn’t I pretend to eat or pretend to shave or pretend to do a hundred other things?” He could hear the irritation, the frustration, in his voice.

“I don’t have all the answers. All I know is the needs of the body pass. The needs of the mind, on the other hand, and of the spirit, linger quite a while longer.”

Then something else occurred to Dane. “What about Ryan? He can see me and touch me and make love to me.”

He could see his aunt shaking her head. “He’s in spirit, too, Dane. You really are, as he said, two lonely souls who found each other.”