He Is Right Here

You have to come with me, my cousin Slim said to me. It’s an eight hour drive for me to Wisconsin. I hate long drives, I reminded her. It’s a haunted hotel though. I am intrigued and snared in. Can we drive at night? She accommodates my request. We sing camp songs of our youth Eating Twinkies, cheese, crackers, and hotdogs The hair stands up on my neck when we enter the hotel. May I take your suitcase? An elderly gentleman asks me. Can you see him? I hiss to my cousin. She is talking to the night manager. Ignoring me. My cell phone rings. Slim died? My son asks me. No, he is right here, I tell him. And you died? He yells. We are right here! I tell him. I cannot believe you are dead! He screams. The phone goes dead. We are in the right place, Slim says. I have no words.