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Blue Moon 14.3

by Donna Lamb

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"That was a wish," said Sophie.

"And this is an argument," said Ted. "You know that wasn't a wish, you just want to argue."

"Okay, okay?" said Sophie. "But if it were a wish...." She stopped. "Well, he's already back, she just can't see him." She debated with herself whether granting such a wish would actually get her off the hook but she didn't see a pathway to damnation.

Richard's death had wounded Jo terribly but she remained far from the sort of grieving despair that would lead her to mortal sin. Seeing his ghost would not be likely to push her over the edge; she had achieved a remarkable degree of centering in just a few hours. She loved life and was not ready to quit it, despite the terrible loss she felt. "That damned rabbit," said Sophie.

"Who? Oh. Well, why worry about it? My boy isn't going to let her make any foolish wishes."

"How's he going to stop her?"

Ted considered. "Kiss her, I expect. It's what I'd do."

* * *

"Jo, can you see me?" Richard asked.

She hadn't even glanced in his direction when the electric door got out of his way.

He stepped closer. "Jo, can you hear me?"

She didn't respond, still standing in the tiny garden looking up at the moon.

He put a hand on her shoulder. "Jo, can you feel me?"

She shivered, turning slightly. The closing door cut off Lemon's singing.

She turned as he pulled her towards him and she also stayed where she had stood. Like the chair, thought Richard, awed at the wonder of it.

"Richard!" she exclaimed. She embraced him in a hug, or her spirit did while her body stayed standing there looking up at the moon, eyes closed, lips moving in what might be a prayer.

They kissed in the moonlight, the angelic ghost and the living spirit.

* * *

"Oh, Barry," said Gmunro. "What to becoming of a man so blind to others? So deaf to spirit, so numb to love?" The big man, sans canes and eyeglasses, sat beside the assemblyman on a bench in the Hollywood Division police station. Policeman glanced at Barry from time to time but no one seemed to notice the African giant sitting beside him.

Barry held his head in his hands. "Is it my fault?" he whispered.

Gmunro pushed his lips out to consider. "Not the entire watermelon, no. I provided the seed, just a small .25 caliber seed, and Cherie to pulled the trigger. But were you not being of a compleat onager, who would be needful of the measure of a hero?"

Barry wept. "I'm so sorry, so sorry, for what happened. That boy is dead and Cherie may go to prison because of me."

"And if you not to learning the difference between lust and love, Barry, you are to going of Hell." Gmunro, sighed. "And then I will be failing my duty. But you not been going be my first failure as Guardian Angel in four hundred of years!" He wagged a fat, invisible finger at his client. "Nobody is to damnation on my wristwatch!"

* * *

In the golden moonlight, they kissed again. "Did you come back to say goodbye to m-me?" she whispered.

He shook his head, his spectral stubble brushing her spiritual cheek. "No. Let's not say good-bye, let's say 'We'll meet again,' like the song. Jo, I'm not going anywhere. I'll always be with you."

"B-but...."

He kissed her again. "I'll be here. You won't see me, but I'll be close by, watching over you."

"Am I dreaming?" she asked, snuggling into his embrace.

"Not exactly. I'm using some angelic power I don't understand yet to send you this vision. Because ... because you have to make another wish."

"But I've been wishing and w-wishing and nothing happens," she said.

"That's because ... well, you can't wish me back to life and that's what you were trying to do. But wishes come in threes, so you have till midnight to make your third wish."

"I can't ... I can't?" her eyes filled with tears.

He kissed her again. "Shh. Shh. Don't cry. I love you Jo. I always will. Now is that anything to cry about?"

She shook her head. "I never thought I'd fall in love with a m-man," whispered Jo. "And certainly not you." She giggled and sobbed at the same time.

Richard laughed out loud. "I think you were always meant to be Melody Jo. Some kind of mistake was made and now things are fixed and you're who you're supposed to be."

"Um m-maybe. But I'm not all me w-without you. We're a set. Haven't you felt that since I changed?" She snuggled her spirit into his angelic embrace.

"Yes, I did." Richard paused. "I'm not going to go away, I'll always be here for you. Just not like I am right now."

"You m-mean we can't do this -- a lot? Any time we w-want."

"You're not a nun, Jo. Too frequent contact with the spirit realm would cause you to lose your grip on the world you have to live in."

"What if...."

He put a finger on her lips. "Don't say it. Time heals, Jo. Now think about the wish you need to make. I can't tell you what to wish for but it has to be something that doesn't benefit just you and that harms -- no one. Otherwise the devil will be able to twist your wish."

"I -- The devil?"

"The devil is very real and she's evil," Richard said solemnly. That's why you have to follow rules very exactly."

"She?" Jo's spirit cocked her head and looked at Richard sideways.

"Never mind. Think about the wish, Jo. You have to get it right because we only get one more try. My first wish caused the problem and I'm sorry about that, then you made a wish and we only get one more."

Jo opened her mouth again but Richard kissed her into silence. "Not yet. Close your eyes and take at least a minute to think before you say anything."

Jo closed her spirit eyes. Moving gently, Richard slipped Jo's spirit back into her body because a spirit wish wouldn't necessarily be granted for her body. Jo could no longer see or hear him or feel his touch but he kissed her again, "Not goodbye, Jo. Just till we meet again."

He stepped away, watching Jo mumble prayers in the moonlight, trancelike but not asleep. It all depended on Jo now.

* * *

Not that he needed to breathe anyway, but Ted made a conscious effort not to hold his breath. "How about them Angels, eh? Think they helped themselves with those winter trades?"

Sophie looked at him sharply. "You're up to something, aren't you?"

"Who me?" Ted looked innocent then fanned a deck of cards in her face. "Pick a card, any card."

"What the hell is going on?" She slapped the cards away, they were all the Queen of Hearts.

"Wrong domain. It's two minutes to midnight and I don't want you to keep Jo from making another wish."

"I want her to make another wish, idiot. One I can grant, one I will grant and win both of our bets."

"Yeah, sure, and I'm Henry the VIII's seventh wife. Just call me Madam Tudor."

"Cretin. Fool. You're trying to distract me so I won't hear the wish. But I will hear it and I will grant it! Jo's soul will be mine."

"Right sure," agreed Ted. "So if you hear this wish you're going to do what?"

"I'm going to grant it! Damn you!" Then the devil saw the trap she'd fallen into. "Damn you, Clarence!" she screamed.

"Thrice sworn is thrice bound!" said Ted, triumphantly.

"Not yet!" The Devil in Drag stood up, knocking over the very real chair she'd been sitting in and startling everyone in the lounge. "She's still got to make the right wish! And she doesn't know what it is!"

* * *

In the garden, Jo stood alone. It all depended on her now.