"Today's nice," Charlie admitted, "Peaceful. No one wants anything from me I can't give them. I've done all my work at the cemetery. My favorite ice cream was in stock. The Hand gave me a thumbs up as I entered the mall. Sara has a beautiful singing voice. All in all? It's a great day for me. When you spend most of your day talking to dead people? It's hit or miss."
Sometimes spirits wanted Charlie to help them do things he couldn't or wouldn't do. He refused to break any laws or hurt anyone else---even if they deserved it or it was warranted by the research the spirit helped him dig up. There were rules Charlie couldn't break. He had broken the rules once so badly Sam had died. His brother Sam had no future because he'd made poor decisions and broken what had seemed to be silly rules at the time. If he could go back to change things, Charlie would have stuck to the rules. He would have made the right decision. His brother would still be alive, he'd know what it was like to walk the stage at Stanford, and their mother wouldn't always have tears in her eyes when she looked at him.
'Elsa! She makes ice with her hands!'
Charlie smiled at Sara's enthusiasm. Children were always a blessing, even the ones who never got a chance to grow up. Every now and again? Charlie considered whether or not they weren't the lucky ones. To be young forever seemed to be the best gift anyone could get. He knew he'd have appreciated the chance. Life had been simpler when he was young. All he'd had to worry about was who won the next game or how fast he learned to steer so he could have a shot at taking the wheel on his next jaunt out to sea. His bills had consisted entirely of feeding his wants rather than his needs. No one had looked at him as if he were a crazy man.
He hadn't been crazy when he was a kid. He hadn't known the full extent of what death was as a boy.
"Does she? That sounds interesting. I'm going to ask her about it for you, okay?"
Sara nodded her head, her singing and skipping forgotten with the excitement of the newcomer.
"First off, this might sound a little weird. I'm not really normal. My name's Charlie, Charlie St. Cloud, and my little friend who you can't see is named Sara. She passed a while back but she's still here because she's---anyway, she says your name is Elsa and you make ice with your hands. Want to tell us how you do that? Entertain the kids for a while?"
Charlie gave her a charming smile. He wished he was a kid again. His smile had been a lot more effective back in the day.