A musical world filled with lyrics and melodies sang around Becky’s head. Her headphones blocked out the world as her footsteps matched the beats of the song, the music felt throughout her body. With the last few notes, she looked up from the ground, the street earily empty. The streetlights were dim, the area in grayscale, a chill swept across her. There was no noise, no car alarms or wind. She took off her headphones to be fully aware of her surroundings, her body frozen as her eyes met a figure. He was stood tall, a pale white face too far to tell details. A black robe covered his body, the edges dissolving into smoke. A large hook was held in his hands, she’d never seen a scythe before.

“Becky,” the man spoke, voice cold like death, “We have a lot to talk about.”

“I don’t think we do.” Becky replied, voice quiet and shakey. She got no reply, so repeated herself louder, “Um, no…”

The man glided closer, taking not a single step. As he approached, she noticed his face wasn’t covered in pale skin, but instead was a bear skull. His eye sockets were hollow, empty of emotion like the rest of his face. His hands around the scythe were nothing but bone. “You can see me. Yet you aren’t dead,” the bony jaw rattled as he spoke, “You can see the living and the death. Tell me how.”

Becky found it hard to speak through her panic, questioning if this was even real, “I can’t do that.”

“So you aren’t aware of these abilities,” the man said under his breath, speaking to nobody but himself as he paused to think, “Go to a graveyard. Talk to the ghosts. Although you may think they’re alive, judge by their eyes. I’ll find you tomorrow and we’ll speak again.”

The man swept his cloak around himself and he was gone in an explosion of smoke. Becky coughed, covering her mouth and wiping her eyes. When she lowered her hands, the streets were busy again. She sat on a bench, shaking as she tried to understand this. Convinced it was a hallucination or some kind of episode, she took a mental note to see a counsellor.