It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon. A pleasant breeze drifted through the air, and not a single cloud marred the sky. Alice finished another book, set it on the windowsill by her favorite window, and decided that staying cooped up inside on such a day would be a sin. Oh no. Weather like this demanded to be enjoyed outdoors.

  “Marcel!” she shouted, getting up from the armchair. “We’re going out to get some fresh air, you rotten corpse.”

  The spirit slowly rose through the floor. His face showed not the slightest hint of enthusiasm, and his pursed lips betrayed poorly concealed resentment.

  “Thanks for reminding me I’m dead,” he snarled, glaring at Alice. “I’d completely forgotten, you know.”

  “Well, it’s a good thing I did,” she replied calmly. “Otherwise, you might’ve gone and raped that attractive brunette from the first floor.”

  “If you gave me a bit of energy so I could materialize…” Marcel smiled lecherously, narrowing his eyes slightly.

  Alice studied him carefully, tapping one of her front teeth with the fingernail of her right index finger as she considered the idea. After a moment, she shook her head.

  “Another time, Marcel. When her husband isn’t home, and neither is that screaming little brat. You know I don’t like children, and I wouldn’t want to miss a show like that. Besides, today it would be a sin not to take advantage of this weather. So get your gangrenous ass moving and swipe the janitor’s key to the roof. We’re going sunbathing.”

  Marcel froze, wearing the expression of someone whose mind had just overheated while trying to solve a problem far beyond its capacity. That didn’t surprise Alice in the least. She sighed and asked, rather patiently, what exactly the issue was.

  “I was joking about the rape,” Marcel said uncertainly.

  “I regret that and suggest you reconsider,” Alice replied thoughtfully. “I’m quite sure it would be feasible. Similar cases have been documented.”

  “You’re sick!” the spirit shouted. “I’m dead, and she has a husband and a child!”

  “That’s precisely the point. No one would chase you, no one would put you on trial, and besides…”

  “No!” Marcel exploded. “How can you even think about something like that, for fuck’s sake?!”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Alice gave him an impatient look, folded her arms across her chest, and sighed.

  “Marcel, Marcel, Marcel… I was joking. Now go get the damn key, because if you keep hysterizing like this, I’m not leaving the apartment today, you walking corpse.”

  “I’m a spirit, for Christ’s sake,” Marcel snarled as he began sinking back through the floor. “And my name isn’t Marcel, you moron.”

  Alice smiled with satisfaction as she felt him move toward the janitor’s apartment, exactly as instructed. It promised to be a very nice afternoon in the sun.

  She went to grab a towel and the folding chair she’d recently discovered in the storage closet. From the cupboard, she took a small beach bag and packed a carton of fruit juice and a couple of granola bars. After a moment’s thought, she added some breadsticks and an apple, then went to change into her swimsuit.

  They sat on the roof, basking in the sunlight. Well, Alice basked in the glorious warmth, while Marcel reluctantly kept her company. They didn’t talk much, exchanging only occasional remarks about the weather or recently read books. Nothing serious. Nothing deep. Time passed lazily and pleasantly; for Alice, at least, nothing more was needed that day.

  Marcel, on the other hand, couldn’t fully appreciate the charm of the moment. As he explained, it was strictly related to the lack of a physical body capable of feeling warmth. Alice didn’t concern herself with that in the slightest. She ignored his explanations just as easily as she ignored his veiled pleas to finally be sent off to the afterlife. It was dreadfully boring. Besides, she wasn’t really listening, and he wasn’t being entirely honest either.

  The sun was beginning to set when the conversation faded into silence. This time, however, the quiet wasn’t uncomfortable. It felt natural, born of a simple lack of need to speak. The sky turned orange, and the sinking sun painted the world in warm, fading colors. Moments like this carried a kind of magic that shouldn’t be ruined by pointless chatter.

  Alice watched the transformation with fascination. The dull urban landscape suddenly filled with melancholy, warmth, and the faint aftertaste of memories long past. It invited reflection, an unspoken call to remember things that would never return. It was impossible not to smile, not to marvel, and yet also impossible not to feel the sadness woven into the inevitability of passing time.

  Lost in these thoughts, quiet sighs escaped her lips. Marcel, forced to accompany her, was also deep in thought. His imagination ran wild, feeding him ideas he wasn’t proud of, yet found disturbingly tempting. The sunset, the warmth, the beauty of it all could wait. He had eternity to observe such things. Reflection, for him, only reopened wounds tied to a life he would never regain.

  Never regain… but perhaps imitate.

  No. He scolded himself. These thoughts should exist only as jokes. Again and again he chastised himself for the images forming in his mind, yet what was imagination, if not harmless?

  “Hey, Alice,” he said at last, his voice uncertain, embarrassed, though he tried desperately to hide his true intent. “I have a question. Purely theoretical, of course. I’m not seriously thinking about it at all, but do you think that if I somehow materialized, you know, just hypothetically…”

  Alice smiled beneath her sunglasses, adjusting them slightly.

  Oh yes, she thought. This was going to be interesting.