Chapter Two: The Plan

Paulina slams her head against the desk and groans. Dozens of crumpled paper balls litter the floor near the over flowing waste basket. This was easier said than done. She tried to come up with the perfect shrine design and what offerings it should include but she doesn't even know if Phantom was religious when he was alive. She sighs into the crook of her elbow as she leans on her folded arms, talk about ignorant, she doesn't even know if he can eat people food. The only thing she knows about him is his name and that he fights ghosts. Damn it! She slams a fist on the desk.

Ok, calm down, getting angry won't solve anything. There's still time for her to get this under lock and key. There's about two weeks left before the Shrines are supposed to go up, so if she works fast and efficiently she can find out more about Phantom and then it will be mission accomplished. First she should break this down into something more manageable. Alright, first things first, organize the levels of the shrine so that they can apply to Phantom as accurately as possible.

There are seven levels to a shrine, so from the ground up it's starts with a cross made of fruits on the floor, for the atonement of sins and a candle pathway to lead the soul. Then a photo of who is being honored, she has plenty of those. Third is food and water, stuff they liked to eat and seasonal fruits, she'll have to ask him his favorite foods. Fourth is the Pan de Muerto, she'll have to ask her grandmother on how to make the sweet bread roll properly, it's usually covered in red sugar to symbolize blood but since Phantom bleeds green ectoplasm she'll change it for him. She thinks about how much fun decorating the chocolate Calaveras is going to be, the little skulls are so cute, that reminds her, she'll have to ask him if he likes chocolate.

The fifth level is the salt for cleansing the children's spirit, he technically counts as a kid right? Note: ask how old he is. Number six is made up of candles to lead the soul out of purgatory. Her pencil stalls. Is that why the ghosts are stuck here on earth? Because this is their purgatory? She shakes her head, not liking where that train of though was going. Finally the last level is the chosen religious image. She taps her pen against her lips, which figure should she use? She'll play it safe and use the Virgin Mary.

Lifting up her list and giving it a once over, she feels a lot better about how to tackle this. Some offerings she can get no problem, the rest she's going to have to ask Phantom. The color theme is obviously going to be black, white and green, except for the marigolds. Maybe she should include flowers he likes as well. She leans her head back in her arms and yawns, today was so exhausting, she'll start on the plan tomorrow.

As she is drifting off to sleep she hears a feint tapping sound. Sluggishly she lifts her head and looks at the window, nearly jumping out of her chair, words can't describe the utter astonishment she feels. Waving and asking to come in is non other than the source of her dilemma. She numbly nods her head, vaguely amused that instead of just phasing in he asks permission. He phases in, looking equal parts uncomfortable and worried. She will never get over how strange it looks when ghosts phase through solid objects. The atmosphere changes and becomes just slightly colder in the room.

"Sorry for barging in on you but I have to make sure that you're ok. That attack this afternoon was...why are you looking at me like that?"

She knew she was staring, but couldn't help it. He was here, he was really here, she could ask him everything she needed to know! Instinctively she covered her list, wanting to keep it a surprise. She smiles a warmly at him, he's still worried. He's making it very hard for her to not fall for him.

"Sorry, I just didn't expect you to come all this way. Thank you"

He rubs the back of his neck looking all bashful, she giggles.

"Hey um, I actually wanted to ask you some thing"

He looks at her and she can see he hesitation in his eyes. He subtly floats away from the bed and closer to the window. Ah, he still thinks she's crazy for him. She doesn't move from her spot and it seems he's satisfied with the distance between them. It does hurt a little bit but she understands.

"Oh, um, sure"

"Can you eat human food and if you do what are your favorites?"

It's obvious that was not what he was expecting by the bewildered expression on his face. She doesn't bat an eye, she needs him to take her seriously so she presses on.

"I'm doing a personal project on ghosts and since you're the town hero and all I feel safer asking you"

He still has a slightly guarded look in his eyes but seems to relax a bit. He appeared to be picking his words very carefully. Finally he answers and she is delighted to know he can eat. From then he lists off a few of his favorite foods like fried chicken, lasagna, sushi, he even adds tamales to the list and she is beyond ecstatic. Her aunt makes the best tamales this side of the country, he's in for a real treat. After a little while she tries to stifle a yawn but he catches her and bids her good night.

"Wait! Um, is it ok if I ask you more questions later on? Until my project is done?"

He's hesitant to answer right away but then looks at her and says that as long as she doesn't put herself in danger by trying to grab his attention then it's fine. She thanks him for everything and wishes him pleasant dreams. He looks at her with a slightly pained expression, he hopes so too. That statement sobers her up a bit but before she can say anything he's already gone. That confirms two things: ghosts can sleep and Phantom has nightmares on the regular. That makes her sad, but she guesses it can't be helped. When you're responsible for the lives of the entire town you see horrors that normal people don't.

This fills her with more determination to complete this shrine and make it the best one ever. Maybe then, with all of the blessings and prayers he will be at peace. Maybe after the celebrations he'll stop having nightmares. She looks out the window, into the night sky. She wonders where he goes whenever he's not fighting ghosts. It can't be the Ghost Zone because that's where all the other ghosts live. Is it possible for him to live outside of it though? Don't ghosts need ectoplasm to survive in the human world? Does that mean Phantom is different from other ghosts? With these questions rolling around her head she slowly drifts off to sleep.

Phew! I spent a lot of time researching the traditions for the day of the dead like nobody's business. Hopefully I got everything right and the explanations felt organic and not too forced.

I've never had to use a character to explain something like this before so I hope it didn't feel cheesy or too much like a long ass explanation hahaha.

Thanks for reading and please review!