I Believe
A ghost story for the holidays
By Valerie Woods
Copyright
© 2012Introducing Gabriel...the second spirit in our story attempting an intervention with a living human...
Gabriel
For those who had
the vision to see such things, they would have seen
the portly gentleman occupying a corner booth at Jasper's Cafe.
The late afternoon sun filtered through the plantation blinds so that
this spectral gentleman appeared as a shimmering silhouette. Trevor recognized him immediately, and wasn’t
all that thrilled.
The late Gabriel
F. Templeton had spent the past eleven years of his afterlife feeling
incredibly betrayed. For starters, but
for one tiny blood clot, Gabriel had been one day away from signing a
ridiculously lucrative network television contract. Second of all, the man who had made angels a
national phenomenon discovered, upon his death, that his television series run
of a decade had gotten the whole angel concept wrong. Angels actually weren’t born-again dead
people. ‘No, Bobby, Grandma isn’t an
angel after all. She might be a
wandering spirit, or possibly a resident in light, but sorry, no bells, no
wings, no halos, no trumpets. Those
belong to the real deal angels the Almighty created at the beginning of time.’
But what really
pissed Gabriel F. Templeton off was that, come on…he was named after a major,
A-list angel! He should
have been a natural for a resident in light.
Gabriel F. Templeton! Okay,
granted he’d added the Templeton bit, but let’s face it, Gabe Fitch didn’t
quite resonate for the man Gabriel F. Templeton felt he should be.
As he was entering
his twelfth year as a wanderer, Gabriel felt it was time to finally close this
deal. Who knew Simon would be so
difficult to reach? But then Simon had
been the mentee to the great Gabriel F. Templeton’s mentor. He’d shaped, nurtured and molded Simon after
his own image. And naturally, Simon was
just as arrogant and heartless as his mentor.
Competitive as
ever, Gabriel F. Templeton would be damned…well let’s say he’d be very put out…if
Trevor managed residency in light before himself.
He remembered when
Trevor first joined the host. Ever the
mentor, Gabriel was willing to take him under his…damn it, no wings!...Gabriel
was willing to take him in hand. In
life, though they had never met, both men had lived and prospered in the City
of Angels (hello!)… Los Angeles.
Hollywood. El Pueblo de los
Angeles. It only seemed right that he
should support a former Angeleno, especially since it had proven so difficult
to find authentic angels anywhere near Hollywood. At least that had been Gabriel’s
experience. Was he just a bit bitter? What do you think?
Naturally, when
he’d been alive, Trevor had heard of the great Gabriel F. Templeton. And, feeling expansive, Gabriel acknowledged
that he had known of Trevor’s existence while on earth. After all, there was a growing breed of
Hollywood types who flocked to Trevor's 'Le Soleil Yoga.'
However, Trevor
was not in the mood to feel patronized by Gabriel. He was intent on his sister. Yet, as usual, Gabriel felt the need to give
unwanted advice.
As with all
spirits, Gabriel had discovered, in death, the light he’d carried
throughout his life. It emanated from
his solar plexis. He noticed, unfortunately after life, that
when he was generous enough to reach out to others, that light could actually
spread up into his heart. So, he had
been thinking that maybe, together, he and Trevor could support each other. Especially since Trevor's sister opened a yoga studio across the street from Jasper’s Café, co-owned
by Simon’s brother. And although Gabriel had tried in every way he could to intercede on Simon's behalf, Simon remained closed to the light. But things were about to change.
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