Chapter 3

When I got back to my body I was in for quite a surprise. I'll tell you what happened in a moment but first I have to explain a few things to you.

Remember, I'm very new at this Spirit thing. After all, I was turned into toast just about an hour or so ago. As you already know, Valerie was my first contact. Talk about being NEW at something at my age.

Oh, I didn't tell you yet. The night I died was my birthday. Thirty-two. I'll age no more. At least I don't think so. Being new at this I don't know if Spirits age. Time will tell about that.

I guess that being confronted with a strong Spirit who explained a few things did help. I also knew I was pretty much on my own as I traveled around finding out how to be a Spirit.

So, anyway, what I wanted to explain to you is that Spirits don't actually talk to each other like the living do. Well, not exactly. It's more like thought transference. You know, like reading another's thoughts and hearing them in your brain or being able to send your thoughts to another so they can hear you.

OK, non-believer. I know I don't have a brain. I know mine was nicely spattered around my living room. Well at least some of it was.

But Spirits do have a center of thought. It's hard to explain so let's just say that Spirits have a brain too. It makes it a little easier to understand if you accept that. Spirits do think. Just not like the living.

Also, because of that center of thought, Spirits can project their self image to another. It just makes things easier for communication. That way, there is something to see. Or think you are seeing. Confusing?

Yes. But it works.

And it feels real strange too ... but as I said, it works.

For example, how else can one person recognize another except by vision. So wouldn't it make a little sense for one Spirit to recognize another Spirit by their projected image.

I've also found out that the greeting, like "Hello," for Spirits is sort of, "I hear you."

That indicates, "I'm here. Mind if I come in. It's nice to meet you. Let's talk." It's like a doorbell announcing another presence. The response to that intrusion is one of three things.

Simply returning the phrase, "I hear you," to the arriving Spirit is tantamount to saying "Welcome! Come on in for a visit," for the living.

A neutral return of the greeting is, "How can I help you?"

It's like two people waving at each other at a distance. You know, like two people who don't really know each other. Neither wants to offend the other. They don't make contact unless they both approach each other a little closer to first become familiar to the other.

The negative response is, "Busy!"

It's basically, "I don't know you and don't want to." One Spirit doesn't HAVE to accept another into their scope of awareness. It may be abrupt but it's understood and not the least offensive. The Spirit being "Paged," as I call it, just doesn't want contact at that time.

It's considered polite to observe those constraints. You see, sometimes another Spirit can be present but unseen until they project their image and say, "Hello" or rather, "I hear you."

There are shadows all over the place as I already said. You're aware that others are there but most of the time you leave others alone. Some Spirits just want that, to be left alone.

Others are just wandering around searching for something specific. You don't bother someone unless you have a reason. That's another part of the Spirit protocol.

So, I was very surprised as I returned to my operating room to see what was going on. Remember, Valerie and I had guessed from what I was feeling that my next procedure was a kidney transplant.

We were wrong. I was right in a way but it wasn't my kidney they were after. At least not yet. The feeling I sensed was on my abdomen and over to my right side.

What was actually going on was there in the operating room was a new surgical team working on my body. Now this is going to sound real strange. The team of four people was there working rapidly in their precision to remove strips of skin from the center of my belly, over to my right side.

The really strange thing is that I could see right through them. I was able to see what they were doing, standing -- if that's what a Spirit does -- standing right behind them.

I guessed that was another benefit of being a Spirit. And of course that I could turn that ability on and off. Things which were solid became transparent and back again as I saw what I wanted to see.

But that isn't the end of my surprise as they used a small instrument sort of like a vegetable peeler to slice and dice me in long strips like you'd get from a carrot. It wasn't even being able to see through them as they worked on me that really startled me.

What the big surprise for me was there was another Spirit there watching! "Where the hell have you been," it told me in a rather agitated fashion as a projection filtered into my chain of thought.

It was almost a knee-jerk reaction to say, as Valerie had said to me, "Who the fuck are you!" but I restrained that thought. Spirit protocol went right out the window ... figuratively speaking.

My impression was first it was another SHE. And she was in her late teens. Anxious and she'd been waiting with very little patience. Displaying her displeasure by tapping her foot wrapped in bright patent leather flats ... or whatever.