“William ‘Soddy’ Soderburgh and Mary Daisy Davis, died November 1, 1971 in a crash involving a Plymouth Road Runner and a Mack diesel semi-truck at the intersection of Darkhollow Rd. and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard,” said Margaret “Peggy” McGinty, the best paranormal counselor in the Office of Occult Affairs. “Does that aound about right?”

The spectral form of Soddy, perched in a chair in front of her, shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.”

“I go by Daisy,” said the other phantasm, ‘seated’ beside him even though she floated idly a few inches above the seat.

“Of course, Daisy,” said Peggy. “So. Why did you decide to wait until now to begin driving down the road in a wailing, spectral parody of the grim night that resulted in both your deaths?”

“Huh?” said Soddy.

“What?” said Daisy.

“Why did you wait 50 years to start haunting the road where you died,” said Peggy.

“Oh. Well, we had to do some time in purgatory first.”

“Got out early for good behavior,” Daisy chimed in.

“Yeah. And, well, there’s lots of other deadies on Darkhollow road, so we wanted to stand out, right?”

“Go on,” said Peggy.

“Well, the semi truck driver that creamed us, Dale, he just died not too long ago. Fell asleep at the wheel and wrapped his cab around an oak.”

“Super nice guy,” Daisy said. “Did not deserve that, but he lost his retirement in the subprime mortgage crisis and he was still driving at 70.”

“So we figured we’d get Dale in on the action, you know? A spectral big rig chasing us is sure to make us stand out from the others, dig?”

“My witness didn’t see any truck,” Peggy said.

“Right, right,” Soddy said. “Well, you know, Dale’s got to do his time as well. Then he’s got to get the cab, easier said than done. We figure he’ll be ready in five, maybe six years.”

“Good guy, a saint really, those two crashes are the worst things he ever did,” Daisy said.”

“So we thought we’d practice a bit, yeah? Without him?” Soddy shrugged. “What’s the big deal?”

“Oh, nothing that we can’t banish to Limbo for all eternity,” Peggy said darkly. “Unless you’re willing to make a deal, that is.”

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