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Breathing was getting harder; holding onto consciousness was getting harder. Sam looked at the little circle of ghosts who surrounded her bed and it struck her again how young they all looked. Hetty once could have been her mother, and now she looked like her daughter.
She reached out her hand to take Hetty's but it went right through. Right, ghost. She'd forgotten again that she couldn't touch the ghosts.
"We're all here, Sam," said Sasappis. "We all love you."
"Where do you think we go after we die?" asked Sam. It took her a while to get it out.
"Valhalla," said Thor. "But sometimes Thor think about what Jay say; our souls find a space and go there."
"Whatever it's like, we have to all be together," said Trevor. "The afterlife would suck without you guys."
"So schmaltzy, Trev," said Alberta, but Sam could hear the affection in it.
"I'm going to see Jay," said Sam, and closed her eyes.
#
Sam fumbled for her keys for her new apartment, which had drifted to the bottom of her purse. One key was for the gate on the fence out front, and one was for the front door, and she was having trouble telling which was which.
On the other side of the wrought iron fence, a handsome, shirtless man in sunglasses and swim trunks was reclining on a lawn chair in the blazing summer sun. He sat up as she wrestled with the gate. "Need a hand?" he said, and stood up. "You must be the new neighbor."
He unlatched the gate and smiled at her. Was he flirting with her? Urgh, she just got here.
"I'm Trev," he said. "Great to meet you. You're going to love this place, it's awesome."
"Yes," she said. "My husband Jay said it has his dream kitchen. He's the one who found the apartment." There, hopefully she'd shut things down.
"Dad!" cried a little voice. "Watch me!"
"Sure, beautiful," said Trev, his smile broadening even further.
There was a small girl in a bathing suit standing at one end of a slip and slide. She took a flying leap onto the end and slid nearly to the other side, then looked proudly at her father.
Her father scooped her up, tossing her in the air. "Wow! Even farther than last time!" He turned back towards Sam. "This little princess is Abby. Mom's inside on a work call, so we're giving her some space. I've also got a stepson, Thomas, but he's off at camp until this afternoon. Abby, this is our new neighbor--"
"Sam."
Trev shook his head. "I'm having the weirdest deja vu right now. Have we met?"
"I don't think so?" said Sam. He did seem familiar, but she had no idea why. And clearly he hadn't actually been hitting on her.
"Well, you're going to love it here. The neighbors are great. There's Thor and Flower. They're the ones who keep the gardens looking so good. And yes, that plant over there is exactly what you think it is, and Flower is happy to share. Alberta's a singer, and she's always throwing the best parties, and there's Pete, who is Abby's scout leader, and Isaac, who kicks my ass at tennis, and Sass-- you'd love Sass, he's so funny. He's a writer. Are you a writer, too? You give off that vibe."
"Uh, yeah," she said.
She could see Trev have a sudden inspiration. "You want to meet everyone? I'm taking the afternoon off, and Princess Abby and I can show you around, and it's the neighbors who are the real draw. I mean, don't get me wrong, your husband did good, the Valhalla Apartments are nice, but every so often Hetty and I think of getting a fancier place somewhere else and then we realize we'd miss everyone. So we decided to buy a second apartment in Paris instead. Which you're welcome to use, by the way, because why have stuff if you're not going to enjoy it, right?"
He was kind of a lot, for an introvert like Sam. But she was trying to make herself get out there more-- and for some reason she felt like she knew this man. He didn't look familiar, but there was something about his personality she recognized and trusted. Where had they met before? Summer camp? College? Oh well, it wasn't important. "Do you mind if I go inside and see Jay first?"
"Take your time!" said Trev, giving her a friendly pat on the shoulder. "When you guys are ready, we'll be here waiting."