Dog Whisperer by Nicholas Edwards Page A

when no one else can?” the man asked. “I’ve been trying to make contact for such a very long time.”
    Emily shrugged. “I don’t know. I think it’s because my dog can see you, and that makes it so that I can, too.”
    The elderly man frowned. “That is very strange.”
    â€œVery strange” was an understatement.
    â€œIs this where you always are?” Emily asked.
    There was a long pause.
    â€œIt’s complicated,” he said.
    Well, yeah . “My friend and I were down here the other day, but you weren’t here,” Emily said. “Or were you—I don’t know—invisible?”
    There was another pause.
    â€œIt is complicated,” he said.
    That didn’t answer her question, but he pretty obviously didn’t want to answer it, or give her any details.
    The only thing she could tell for sure was that Zack really liked the ghost, and wanted to be his friend. He kept going over to him with his tail wagging, and his head cocked to the side, waiting for a response.
    â€œI have missed dogs very much,” the man said, bending down to pat Zack. His hands looked as though they were partially transparent, but Zack seemed to be able to feel it, anyway.
    That gave her a pretty good opening, then, to continue the conversation. “Did you have pets?” Emily asked.
    He nodded. “Yes, and I miss my Marigold the most. She was a wonderful dog. But, she has also been gone for a very long time.”
    Okay, that totally wrecked one of the things she had always assumed happened during an afterlife. “You don’t get to see her?” Emily asked. “I mean, um, where you are?”
    Wherever that was.
    He shook his head wistfully. “She moved on, at once. Animals have very beautiful souls.”
    It was still very disappointing. “I always thought that if something happened to you, your animals were supposed to be there waiting for you,” Emily said.
    â€œAnd so she is,” he said. “As are many others. But, I must finish my work, first.”
    This was all way too confusing. It might be better if she just hadn’t asked at all.
    The man must have picked up on that, because he smiled at her. “You don’t need to worry, my young friend. Everyone is on a different journey. Each of us finds his or her own way.”
    â€œAren’t ghosts supposed to—go someplace else?” she asked. “A different dimension, or something?” Her family went to church and all, and she was mostly Episcopalian, but her father was Jewish, and sometimes, they went to synagogues, too. Emily had been going to Sunday school classes for years, but she was starting to wonder if she had been paying enough attention. Her parents had talked about God, and religion, and different ideas, too, but Emily wasn’t completely sure what she believed, especially about things like the afterlife.
    â€œI cannot leave,” the man said, “until I finish.”
    Weird. “Um, finish what ?” she asked.
    â€œPeace,” he said.
    Wow! “World peace?” she asked. If that was his job, he was maybe going to be busy for a really long time.
    â€œI need to put things at peace,” he said.
    Well, there was no reason that ghosts were necessarily supposed to make sense . It might even have been disappointing if an encounter with a real ghost wasn’t kind of cryptic, but at least, it would have been easier to understand. Maybe she would ask him something more basic. A question with a concrete answer might be the best choice. “How long have you been here?” Emily asked.
    â€œI don’t know,” the man said. “Time is slow, and fast. What day is it?”
    Standing here talking to a ghost, like it was normal—while she threw sticks for Zack to fetch—was maybe making her feel a little nuts. A situation like this shouldn’t seem ordinary. “Friday,” she said.
    That