Sample Sunday: Tim Learns to Fly

For Sample Sunday, I thought I'd share another excerpt from An Unassigned Life. With three five-star reviews at Amazon, this light-hearted ghost story could be just the thing to carry you into spring. In this scene, Tim (the ghost) learns how to fly:

He walked back to his house and found that the window he’d used to leave the house was now closed. He tried the front door, but Cynthia had locked it. The back door was locked, too. The garage, however, was open. He started to climb the ladder to the loft, but stopped. I can float, he thought. I should try it out.

He stepped back and tried to will himself to rise. Nothing. Up, he thought. I want to go up. Still nothing. He pulled out the El Pad and read: Initially, levitation can be difficult to manage. After a lifetime ruled by the laws of  gravity, the soul is usually resistant to the idea of rising without something to support it. If you have trouble levitating, try walking off of the edge of something: a stair, a chair, a roof, etc. Anything that would have caused your physical body to fall.

He climbed up the ladder, stepped into the loft, and turned around to face the empty space behind him. He had never liked heights. When he first bought the house, he and Tina had discussed turning this loft into his writing garret. He’d even come up here a few times with Tina’s laptop to try it out. Unfortunately, he’d found himself wondering how sturdy the second floor of the rickety barn actually was and whether he would die when it collapsed or just suffer broken bones. After a few attempts, he abandoned his plan and settled his desk in the living room, telling Tina that he needed to see the street while he was writing. She hadn’t been thrilled, but since his advance was what had made this house theirs, she adapted.

Now, as he stood looking down at the twelve-foot drop, he felt the familiar plunge of his stomach and a wave of fear rolled through him. I can’t die, he reasoned. There’s nothing here to be afraid of. He stepped off the floor and into the empty air before him. He dropped rapidly for a few feet before his soul realized that gravity wasn’t tugging on it. He took a few steps. The way the air seemed to buoy him up reminded him of swimming. He decided to try the breaststroke and found that it was very much like moving in water. He laughed and swam upward, touching the roof with his fingers. Then he swooped out of the barn and up to the roof, where he stood and surveyed the neighborhood. He spotted George, who was coming down the street on the opposite sidewalk. He plunged back into the air and swam toward him, landing just behind him. “Hi, George,” he said.

George jumped and turned. “Where did you come from?” 

“The garage roof."