In the darkness that swirls around me,
I see faces floating slowly by.
They are faces I know well.
One is me, happy and carefree.
One is Ana, who never got a chance to live.
One is Bruce, who taught me how to love.
One is Michael, who gave me back the will to live.
One is David, who gave me back my faith.
All those I have ever loved.
Faces more dear to me than life.
Each with their own special stories,
Each with their own special place in my heart.

Why have I been brought to this place?
For what reason have they called me here?
Anything they ask of me, I will do.
I owe them each more than I can
Ever begin to repay.
I turn towards the face of one I loved
More than my own life.
The face of a girl who never lived.
Ana's face.
I ask my question of her, humbly and with
A plea of forgiveness in my voice.
For I am the one who killed her,
Before she had a chance to live.

Her reply shocks me, for she says, with forgiveness:
"You are here to become whole again."
I will try, but what these ghosts cannot answer is this:
How?

submitted by Candice A. Paul