Eclipse 4: New Science Fiction and Fantasy by Jonathan Strahan

Author:Jonathan Strahan [Strahan, Jonathan]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Science Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories, Fantasy, General
ISBN: 9781597801973
Publisher: Night Shade Books
Published: 2011-05-01T04:00:00+00:00

Things Dennis did not accomplish from his under thirty-five goals list (circa age thirty-four):

1) Start another band.

2) Play some gigs in the area.

3) Get his sugar under control.

4) Be nicer to Karen.

5) Stop cheating.

6) Go to the gym.

Dennis’s self-denial had finally reached its breaking point. He ran between the fading guests. “How do I get there? You have to show me! I have to see her!”

They winked out like stars from a greying dawn sky, not one of them letting slip what he needed to know.

The empty gym, if it was a gym, seemed to be disappearing on the edges. Perhaps it was. The dead people had talked about imposing their own shapes on the limitless afterlife. Maybe shapelessness was taking over.

One spot near the buffet tables remained bright, a fraction of the dance floor underneath the disco ball. Uncle Ed stood alone in the middle, fiddling with the coin slot in the juke box.

He turned as Dennis approached. “I wanted ‘Young Love,’” he said, “but they’ve only got ‘After You’ve Gone.’ Not worth a quarter.” He sighed. “Oh, well. That’s the afterlife, I guess.”

The juke box lit up as the coin slid into its machinery. It whirred, selecting a record. The bright, slightly distorted strains of a song Dennis vaguely recognized as a hit from the forties began to play.

Ed selected a pastel blue balloon and began to whirl it around like a dance partner. Dennis stood tensely, arms crossed.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Ed dipped the balloon. “About what?”

“About Karen.”

“Figured you’d find out sooner or later. No sense ruining a perfectly good party until you did.”

“I’d have wanted to know.”

“Sorry then.”

“How do I get over there? I’ve got to talk to her.”

“You can’t.”

“I’ve got to!”

“She doesn’t want you. You can’t go bothering someone who doesn’t want you. That’s one of the rules we agree on. Otherwise someone could stalk you forever.” Ed gave a mild shrug. “I was used badly by a woman once, you know.”

Dennis glared silently.

“My first wife, Lilac,”Ed went on. “Not Melanie’s mother. Lilac died before you all were born. Your mom never liked her.”

“Mom never liked Karen either.”

“A perceptive woman, your mother. Well, things were good with me and Lilac for a while. We spent my whole party making out. Afterward, we found some old Scottish castle out with the dusties and rolled around in the grass for longer than you spent alive. It didn’t last long, though. Relatively. See, while I was still alive, she’d already met another dead guy. They’d been together for centuries before I kicked it. She was just curious about what it would be like to be with me again. Near broke my heart.”

“Ed,” Dennis said. “Karen murdered me. I have to know why.”

Ed stopped dancing and released the balloon. It flew upward and disappeared into grey.

“Have to?” Ed asked. “When you were alive, you had to have food and water. What’s ‘have to’ mean to you anymore?”

“Ed, please!”

“All right, then, I’ll take a gander. I’ve been dead a long time, but I bet I know a few things.

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