The Day After

Funny, isn't it? How it's always the day after!

You know what I mean.

One minute it's Christmas...the next it's the day after Christmas.

All that scrimping and saving, all that shopping, all that preparation...and then boom!...quick as a flash it's all over.

Then you've worked all year saving up hard for that big holiday abroad and before you've had time to fully unpack, you're back home. Wondering how on earth you're going to cope with the boredom for another umpteen months until your next vacation.

Looking forward to that special Birthday? Well make the most of it because that too will be a distant memory no sooner than you've begun to think about how you are going to spend all those shopping vouchers!

'Only another 364 days to the next one' I hear you say

Well for Benedict Slater it was the day after...though he wasn't laughing too much about it.

You see poor Benedict, aged a tender 19, had just woken up to find out he was dead!

Only yesterday in fact, Benedict had gone for a novel ride out of the small town of Oldsville...via the bumper of his best buddy Marcus Jansen's car!

Now it's customary, apparently, for all new entrants to the 'spirit world' to be given 24 hours 'free time' before they have to report for full-time duty to the big guy in charge.

So Benedict had the day after his short life was abruptly terminated to come and go as he wanted throughout this glorious globe of ours.

24 hours ago though it had all been so different for Benedict.

There had been a girl. Of course there had been a girl. There always was! The rather inappropriately monickered Chastity Waites being the girl in question.

Now Chastity had only just turned 18 years old and worked at the 'ALL U WANT' store over on Main Street.

She had that kind of trashy look about her. You've seen it before...all blonde hair, ridiculously long legs, cheap clothes and made-up to the nines. It was a look some men would go for big time...and Benedict was one of those guys!

It's just that Benedict hadn't gotten round to asking Chastity out quite yet!

There were many reasons why. One of the biggest was Randy Hewson. Quite frankly, Randy was Benedict's nemesis.

He was a way more attractive proposition than Benedict in so many ways and one very big unit...an athlete no less! And Randy too had his eyes very firmly set on winning the affections of the alluring Chastity.

Randy was something of an enforcer for the Oldsville hockey team – The Devils – and was a bit of a local hero too. As a Devils fan himself, even Benedict reluctantly cheered him on at home games.

So, as such, Randy was not the kind of guy Benedict wanted to or needed to cross.

Benedict was not a particularly smart guy though so his futile pursuit of Chastity continued unabated. And after yet another aborted attempt to ask her out, he had paid for coffee and donuts to go for him and Marcus, who he had left waiting outside the 'All U Want' in his car, and probably had his head in the clouds about something or other as he crossed Main Street.

Trouble was, Marcus had already split the scene trying to avoid the attentions of the local police and had gone for a mandatory cruise around the block. So, when he came screaming back round the corner he hadn't banked on his best buddy being in the middle of the thoroughfare...and there was nothing he could do but plough right into a poor, unsuspecting Benedict.

It was currently early morning in Oldsville and Benedict's new-found situation hadn't quite fully registered with him yet.

His first thought on being dead was a fairly shallow one. Wouldn't it be super cool to tap Jason County All Stars' top forward, Mitch Magee, gently on the shoulder just as he was about to ram the puck into an empty Devils net and scare the living crap out of him, forcing him into the miss of the century!

Well no doubt that scenario would be 'super cool' for Benedict and his fellow Devils fans, however it was also totally impossible for any spirit to impact themselves upon the here and now in that particular way.

So, Benedict would just have to contend himself with the hitherto unpossessed ability to invisibly move around town and beyond for one last day.

Watching his folks' and other people in his circle's reactions to his passing. Taking one last, long look at those he'd cared about and the places that had meant anything to him in his short, fairly fruitless life.

And that was what happened...the day after Benedict Slater's tragic demise.

But as his final moments on this planet drew to a close, a rueful Benedict couldn't help but wonder what the immediate future held for him.

After all, tomorrow was the day after!

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