A Conversation

       Harriet stretched her arms high over her head as the first faint flickers of the sun just barely touched the last leaves that clung to the branches of trees.  What a wonderful night it had been, she thought to herself.  She decided before returning home to stop off at the nearby park.  She followed the vacant trails till they led her to a dead end at the edge of a bog.  She looked into the water and saw her faded reflection.  She instinctively ran her fingers through her hair as she had done since her first memories as a little girl long ago.  

       Harriet was startled from her reminiscing when she heard the crunch of leaves.  She turned and saw an older man who made his way slowly toward her.  He was bundled up in a jacket, scarf and cap to protect him from the brisk morning air.  The white whiskers around his mouth had the faint stain of coffee on them.  Harriet watched in silence as he approached her.  He stopped right next to her and rested his walking stick against a tree.  He looked over the water as the sun was just about to fully reveal itself.  

        “Lovely morning isn’t it?”, came the man’s soft but firm voice.  Harriet did not respond.  “Not one for talking?”, came the man’s question.

        “I beg your pardon, are you talking to me?’, Harriet inquired.

        “Well, I’m not talking to the frogs.”

        Harriet startled asked, “You can see me?”

        “No.  But I know you're here.  After all it is Samhain.  I can hear your whispers in the air.”

        “Most people miss me.”

        “Most people miss a lot”, replied the man.  “Did you have a nice visit?”

        “Lovely.  I saw family members and delighted children playing. I heard laughter and birds singing.”

        “You do not get that back home?”

        “You do it’s just different here.”

        The man let out a heavy sigh.  “That’s why I come out here, I suppose.  Afraid I’m going to miss it all.  I know I don’t have much more time.”

        Harriet smiled.  “There is no need to worry.”

        “You just said you come back for visits to experience the very things I love most about life.  I’m afraid of letting it go.”

        “But that’s just it.  You never let it go.  Ones such as myself come back on Samhain so we can be reminded about what made us who we are.  We gain perspective about what’s real and what’s not.  What you lose upon death is what isn’t real.”

        “Did you transition to your current state recently?”

        “Yes.  That’s why I come back.  To remind myself how little I lost.”

        “But you still miss life?”

        Harriet pondered for a moment.  “Not in the way you think.  I miss the chance to not know and discover it all again.  That’s the greatest loss when you die.”

        Harriet and the old man stood in silence looking out upon the water for a few more minutes.  Finally Harriet broke the stillness in the air.  “It’s time I should be getting back.”

        “Thank you for our conversation”, said the old man.  

        Harriet could tell he was hesitating to ask something else.  “Speak”, she urged.

        “Did I live a full life?”

        Harriet chuckled.  “I can’t answer that.  No one can but you.”

        The old man nodded softly. “So?”, Harriet asked.

        “So what?”, replied the man.

        “Do you think you lived a full life?”

        The old man stared at his reflection in the water.  His weary eyes and wrinkled skin met his gaze.  “Yes”, he finally replied.

        “Then there is your answer”, said Harriet.  As her translucent form passed through the old man’s he felt a wave of peace wash over him.