Unknown

I didn't have to walk far to my new home. Each home looked almost identical, except each had one thing that was different. Some had a fence while others didn't, they were each different colors, some had a wrap around porch. Luckily, mine had a wrap around porch. For some reason, I liked it.

After the chat with Robert (the obese man finally told me his name), he gave me directions and my schedule for the mandatory meeting. Every Tuesday at 4:30 pm. He then gave me an envelope full of brochures, calendars, maps, restaurants, etc.

The wooden porch creaked under my shoes. I put the key in the door and unlocked it, gasping on how beautiful it was inside.

Hard wood floors in the hallways, the living room, kitchen even the stairs. The walls were painted powder blue with a few photos framed of sunflowers and daisies. The TV was huge, hanging on the wall. The couch was big as well, wrapping around the wall. It was the perfect mini movie theatre.

I made my way into the kitchen; it had sliding doors, a stove, a microwave, and a fridge. The counters were marble, and the cabinets were made of oak. I looked up above the big dinner table and saw a chandelier. Are they sure this wasn't heaven?

I opened the pantry door which was already filled with chips, cereal, oatmeal, cans of vegetables, cake mixes, brownie mixes, pudding mix and cookies. I opened a door right next to the pantry which had carpeted steps leading to the basement.

The basement had a pool table, another big screen TV, another wrap around couch, a couple of lazy boys and a stereo system.

"This is unbelievable," I said out loud.

I walked back upstairs and heading up the next flight of stairs to the bedrooms. The first one was on the left. It was a decent size, with a bed already made and a TV sitting in front of it. There was a mini walk in closet, and a bathroom and shower.

The one that I was guessing was mine (because it was the biggest of the three) had almost white carpeting. There was a big bay window with a bench and cushion attached to it that had velvet read coverings. My bed was a queen with magenta and black sheets and blanket. A few feet in front of it was a love seat sitting in front of the TV that was mantled on the wall.

The bathroom had many neat things. There was the walk in shower, the porcelain bathtub, and a Jacuzzi. Bath salts, robes, shampoo, incense, candles, everything you could imagine at a spa was there.

The next bedroom I saw was identical to the first one.

I hopped downstairs and sat on the couch and emptied the contents of the envelope. I took out the map first, which had puppy German Shepherds on it. I smiled at the silly pictures while I flipped through it to try and find todays date that Robert had circled for me. Today was Monday, the 20th of October, 2013. I had to go to that meeting tomorrow, I reminded myself. I pinned the calendar on a pin board in the kitchen.

I stood in the middle of the kitchen, attempting to take this all in. I started feeling a little overwhelmed, and that turned into an empty sadness.

I wanted to know who I was. What my real name was. Who my family was, my friends, pets, my job anything. The sadness turned into anger. How could I have died? Why did I have to die?

**

"Ok, ok, settle down." There was a man with white hair standing at a podium in the middle of what looked like a gymnasium. There was a large crowd of all types of people. Old, young, middle aged, even a few foreign; Asian, Indian, Hispanic. I even heard a few people talking in Russian.

I stood at the doorway for a few seconds, trying to figure out where I should sit. Of course, the only seat available was in the very front. I sighed sadly and trudged over to it.

To my left there was a girl who looked about my age. She had black hair with red tips. Her lips were glistening with bright red lipstick, but it looked good on her. She caught my gaze with her green eyes and smiled.

"New?" She asked. I nodded and she let out a chuckle. "I can tell. I'm Maggie," She held her hand, fingernails painted black. Her white and black striped stockings had a hole in her left knee, her plaid blue and black skirt showing more leg than I would ever show. Her white button up collared shirt looked perfectly pressed.

"Alex," I spoke, returning the hand shake.

"Like it so far?" She asked. I shrugged and looked at my sneakers.

"I guess. I just got here yesterday."

"Yeah," she leaned back in her chair and stretched. "It'll get better." I nodded. She turned in her seat and raised her hand. "Landon! Over here!" I had the urge to turn to see who she was calling, but I decided not to.

"Hey there," A voice spoke with a thick Irish accent. I could see from the corner of my eye a male sitting to the right of me. "Who's this?" He asked.

"Alex. Where's my popcorn?" Maggie asked. Landon handed her the popcorn in front of me.

"I'm sorry, where are my manners, I'm Landon." I looked up to look and see who Landon was. He had brown curly hair, the most beautiful green eyes I had ever seen...or well...that I think. His smile was perfect.

"Alec-ale-" I stuttered. I cleared my throat. "Alex."

"Nice you meet you," He spoke softly. I nodded.

"You too."

"OKAY! Everybody!" The man with the white hair raised his hands up high trying to get the room full of people, or souls, attention. "Right. Now that we are all settled in, the time is to welcome our new members to this town!" He lifted up a sheet of paper. "Jack London, Mary John, and Alex Young."

Everyone around us clapped wildly and I felt a nudge from Maggie.

"Also I would like to point out that James could not be here tonight. He has having a slight breakthrough," The man grinned. "Also, tonight we are going to talk about-"

"Who is he?" I whispered to Maggie as the man kept talking.

"That's General Jones. He was like us once, but once he figured everything out, he chose to stay and take over for the other mayor that crossed over."

"Crossed over?" I whispered. Maggie nodded.

"It's a process we go through. You'll start remembering little things over time, or if you actually do what you were wanting to do then BAM!" She quietly clapped her hands. "You remember everything. How you died, who you are-"

"Where you're from," Landon interrupted.

"How long have you been here?" I asked Maggie. She looked towards the ceiling, obviously counting in her head.

"Six years in August."

I looked over to Landon.

"Forty," He answered my question. My jaw dropped.

"How long is this supposed to take?" I asked. They both shrugged.

"We don't know." Maggie whispered.

"I'll see you all next week! Remember, newcomers, any questions, do not hesitate to ask!" General Jones walked off the podium and left through the back exit.

Everyone broke out into their chatter. Sounds of the chairs scraping against the floor echoed the gymnasium.

I turned and saw Maggie and Landon huddled together, whispering. Every few words they spoke, they would look over at me. I turned to walk away. I just wanted to go home. Or whatever you would call it.

"Hey, Alex." Maggie called. I turned, brushing my hair behind my ear. "Want to go to Chubby's? It's this café right down the street."

I looked at my sneakers debating on if I even wanted to. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad with some friends. It couldn't hurt. I can't die from it, obviously.

"Yeah, sure." I smiled and they smiled back.

"I have to go home and change. I'll meet you two there?" Landon said, words dripping with his thick accent. Maggie and I nodded and we left the gym.

"Where's your place at?" Maggie asked five minutes after we left the meeting.

"Actually we're about to pass it," I said. "It's right here, with the blue shutters."

"Nice. Two floors. They only gave me one, but the basement is AWESOME," She said, saying awesome in a high singing voice. I smiled. "That's mine." She pointed at a house across from mine, about four more houses down. "We're neighbors!"

"Yeah, I guess so."

I could feel her staring at me for a good few seconds, like she was trying to figure out what was wrong with me.

"It'll be ok," She reassured me, resting her hand on my shoulder. "It's a lot easier when you have friends." I looked up and she was smiling at me. I nodded and we kept walking to the restaurant.

It looked like we just went back in time to the fifties. The waitresses either had poodle skirts on with roller skates or the traditional pink waitress uniform with overly styled hair and bright lipstick. The tile was black and white checkered, the bar and stools were red and silver, and the booths were red as well as the tables. We took a seat and sat across from each other.

"What do you like to eat?" Maggie asked. We held up the menus and I shook my head.

"I don't really know."

"Ah, that you'll figure out also. Once you start trying things out. I would personally go with the double cheeseburger. Add some bacon to it. It's amazing."

I nodded, thinking maybe I should try it out. We both got cokes and ordered the same thing.

"Sorry I'm late," an Irish voice called. I felt my booth seat move from him plopping next to me.

"It's ok, this time," Maggie warned. "Seriously, dude, we're not stuck in the forties."

I turned and saw Landon wearing a brown leather jacket, blue jeans, and those hats you see old people wearing. I think they're called flat caps.

"For one thing," he said, taking it off to inspect his hat. "I died in the 70's not 40's. "

"And another thing, it looks silly. Get with the years, man," Maggie mumbled with French fries in her mouth. I stared at my burger. It smelt really really good. I picked it up with one hand and took a bite. My taste buds went crazy.

"Oh my god," I mumbled. Maggie started laughing, causing bits of food to fly out of her mouth.

"Ok now, Alex. We're in public," Landon laughed.

"This burger." I stated and took another bite, rolling my eyes in the back of my head.

"Told you," Maggie smiled in victory.