[ WP ] You possess the rare gift to see and talk to dead people , and have kept this hidden from everyone your entire life , including your spouse . Now your spouse dies and is quite surprised .

I was sitting at my pink play table, five years old having a tea party with pop-pop, something we do frequently. My mother always told me I had an active imagination, because he had died before I was even conceived. 
 
 Fast forward twenty three years, standing in my garage staring at that pink table. Do n't ask me why I still have it, maybe it was just the security that pop-pop would always show up, who knows. 
 
 `` Do n't you think you should get rid of that old thing?'' Jeff had sighed as I walked out shutting the garage door behind me. I ignored him, walking towards the house to retrieve my now room temperature coffee. It was getting close to noon when I finally started getting ready for the family gathering, the ones we dread more than the holidays. I found my modest black floor length dress and slipped it on. 
 
 `` You should wear colors more often, actually you should wear green more, it brings out your eyes'', Jeff always said things like that to me because my closet was mostly black, not because I'm morbid or anything, I just did n't want to stick out, I liked to stay hidden. 
 
 `` Babe, why are you still ignoring me? What have I done now to piss you off?'' He has been asking that often these days, and you think it would be obvious why I would be, but apparently in his eyes, he has n't figured it out yet. It always takes them a while to figure it out. 
 
 We drive to the funeral home in silence, it was n't until we pulled in and he saw his sisters crying that he knew something was n't quite right. 
 `` What the hell is going on Zoe? Who died?!'' he was starting to panic, again, something they normally do when the choppy memories start coming together. 
 I sat there in the parking lot, next to my beautiful husband, he was the light of my life and I would have done anything for him. 
 `` Oh honey'' I whispered, glancing at him, studying his features and the shocked look upon his face. 
 `` Zoe, please, what's going on? We're not suppose to be in town, babe, why are n't we still in Oregon?'' he pleaded. 
 `` Jeff, we were there, and we did climb the mountain, and you were marvelous as always, but something happened on the way down, and you did n't make it'' I whimpered. People were starting to file into the building, but we just sat there. 
 `` What do you mean I did n't make it?'' He knew what I meant, but he dared me to say it out loud. 
 `` You've been dead for week or so Jeff, and this, this is your-'' 
 `` My funeral?!'' He shouted, it made me flinch in my seat. 
 I nodded slowly, `` Yes, this is your funeral'' 
 We sat there for a few minutes, he was questioning everything out loud, from the moment we left home that day, to the climb, to my screams for help, up until this very moment. 
 `` Wait, if I'm dead, how are you able to talk to me, let alone see me?'' 
 `` I've been able to do this for as long as I can remember, I never spoke to anyone about it because it just sounds too crazy. Ma use to tell me it was all in my head, seeing pop-pop, or the dog that was hit by a car. It was just easier to keep my mouth shut.'' I was starting to feel the tug of anxiety, the widow being the last one to arrive to her dead husband's funeral. 
 `` I have to get in there now'' I whispered. 
 `` Will you always be able to see me?'' Jeff pleaded, this was the part I hated the most. 
 
 They never last. Sometimes they're here for a couple of days, sometimes a couple of weeks. Generally they just want to know what happened to them and they're on their way. Some are in denial and just want someone to talk to until one day, they're no longer around. I do n't know where they go, and I do n't go searching for them either. 
 
 `` Jeff, you are the love of my life. I have memorized your face, and your fingers on my skin. You are everything to me, and I am thankful for the time that we had'' I was gathering my purse that had fallen onto the floor, the contents spilled everywhere. It was time to walk in and face everyone, to see my husbands body one last time. 
 
 As I was getting ready to shut the car door, I looked back at my husband, who was beginning to dissipate. 
 `` Zoe?'' 
 `` Yes Jeff?'' 
 `` When are you going to tell them?'' he asked as he pointed at the ultrasound on the floor from my purse. 
 I studied his face one last time, memorized the sound of his voice, and shut the door, slowly making my way through the doors.
