Page 15 of Something Like Daybreak
“That’s right,” Ben said. “We can grow up together.”
“Ha ha!” Marcello said, leaning forward to see farther down the couch. “Did you hear that? They think we want to be young like they are.”
“We’ll have to be,” Eric replied. “At first anyway, but we can arrive a few decades earlier and get a head start.”
Tim blinked in confusion. “Why would you do that?”
“I can only speak for myself,” Eric said, “but I’ve always enjoyed our dynamic. Being able to share what I’ve learned, and knowing that I could provide for you, if need be, was very fulfilling.”
“And there are other perks,” Marcello said. “Growing old can get tedious, but isn’t it delightful to be right so often? Fear not! We’ll be there to guide you as always. In fact, I find myself eager to depart. I’m still pining for Walt Whitman, the merciless heartbreaker. I need to meet someone new.”
Eric shook his head ruefully. “Some people reincarnate to find their soulmate. You’re only in it for a rebound.”
“Always aim low and finish high,” Marcello said. “That way you end up at the peak instead of the valley. I’m already looking forward to the challenge. Consider me convinced.”
“What about our kids?” Greg asked. “We want to be here when they show up.”
“I’ve thought about that,” Ben said.
He turned around and made a whiteboard appear on the wall. Sure, it covered one of Tim’s best paintings, but it was worth it to see him looking so hopeful again.
“Jace and Victor decided to be reborn in the seventies,” Ben said, scribbling furiously. “Meaning by the time we live out our natural lives, we’ll end up back here around the current year on EarthbeforeJason, Emma, or any of the others have died yet.”
“I’m still new to the afterlife,” Allison said, peering at the diagram he’d drawn. “But how exactly would that work? Won’t we meet our former selves and create a paradox?”
Ben’s face fell. “Does anyone know how time works in the afterlife?”
Marcello and Eric both raised their hands. They noticed each other and chuckled.
“Go ahead,” Eric said.
“Very well.” Marcello cleared his throat. “Time doesn’t exist here.”
Eric nodded. “That’s right.”
“Then how did you show up late today?” Tim asked.
“I told you,” Marcello said. “I saw a stunningly handsome angel flying above us, and when flailing my arms and making kissing noises failed to attract him, I summoned up a lasso—”
“A whip,” Eric interjected.
“—and then, aiming for his waist—”
“His butt,” Eric corrected.
“—I gave it my best shot and—”
“Hold up,” Tim said. “Forget the angel.”
“I wish I could!” Marcello declared.
“If time doesn’t exist,” Tim pressed on, “then how come we have to wait for Jace and Victor to get back?”
“And why did Jace have to wait for me?” Ben added.
“You’re all so young,” Marcello said with an amused expression. “How many lives have you each lived? The question is rhetorical. I already know the answer. It’s painfully obvious to me.”
“How?” Tim asked.
