A/N: The character April/December was inspired by the April/December changing portrait in the Disneyland ride, although I've heard that it's been taken out recently and I don't know when/if it's going to be put back in.

The band and Mr. Baker were playing their instruments, and Courtney had started a conga line. Such a grand party had not taken place in the ballroom in years. Ezra and Myrriah were singing, with the busts acting as backup:

George was dancing with the fair Miss April, a stunningly beautiful young woman. The brunette's hair was in a loose bun, tiny tendrils had escaped and cascaded stylishly around her heart shaped face. Her elegant pink dress swirled around her ankles as she and George twirled across the dance floor.

"You look lovely this evening," said George. With a sly smile he added, "Of course, you always look lovely."

She blushed, batted her eyelashes, and giggled. "George Gracey, you always know just what to say to make a girl feel pretty."

He laughed, spun her, and then dipped her. "You really are the most gorgeous spirit here."

Her ruby red lips curled into a seductive smile and she batted her eyelashes again. "I bet you say that to all the ghouls."

"Yeah, but with you I mean it." Both of them chuckled and he leaned in to kiss her and…

"GAH!" He let go of her and jumped back in disgust.

She was no longer the beautiful, youthful April. No, the woman who stood before him was December-withered, old, and a hag. Her gray hair hung limply around her gaunt face and her skin was wrinkled.

"Don't do that!" he shouted.

"Aw, what's wrong George?" she asked in a scratchy voice. "Don't you find me irresistible?" She winked at him and blew him a kiss. The ghosts around them laughed so hard tears streamed down their cheeks. "Okay," she said as she scanned the crowd. "Where's Phineas? He's owes me five bucks for this." She wandered out into the throng of spooks to search for him.

George tried to salvage as much pride as he could and walked over to a small table. Scattered across it were some tools and a radio. Sitting in a purple rocking chair next to the table was Paul. He picked up the radio, which resembled a small black box with a long antenna, and screwed the back into place. After the party had started, George had run into his office and grabbed the radio, which he had been tinkering with earlier, and rushed back out and asked Paul if he could fix it.

"Well?" asked George as he looked over the boy's shoulder.

Paul turned the radio on. It hissed and crackled, and after the antenna had been moved about, a clear channel came in. He grinned. "Seems to work fine Mr. Gracey. Of course, I wouldn't have had to fix it if someone hadn't taken it apart, piece-by-piece."

"Hmm, wonder who that could have been," muttered George. He turned up the volume and listened as a radio announcer finished the weather forecast for the rest of the week.

"In Liberty Square news," said another announcer, "an attempt to demolish the fabled Gracey Manor failed today." With a grin, George turned the volume all the way up and called out to the others to quiet down. They listened intently as the announcer continued. "It seems a violent storm over the area scared away the construction crew." The ghosts scoffed. "Some of the construction crew members claim that terrifying ghosts frightened them away. Earlier today, a crane from the site with a wrecking ball attached to it was found in the bottom of a lake in Mexico." Gus laughed.

The announcer cleared his throat. "On a serious note, two teenage girls who have been in a coma for the past six months are going to be taken off life support systems tonight. Courtney Carlson and Myrriah Harolds, who were in a car wreck nearly six months ago, have no chance of recovery. Rather than let them stay in a vegetative state any longer, their parents have agreed to take them off life support systems tonight at seven PM."

It was so quiet in the ballroom that you could hear a pin drop. The ghosts turned and looked at Myrriah and Courtney. Courtney's jaw had dropped and her eyes were wide in shock. Myrriah looked as if she was trying very hard to speak, but her mouth didn't want to work right.

"Do you know what this means?" Myrriah finally managed to sputter.

Courtney silently shook her head, still in shock.

"It means we're not dead! Not yet, anyway. But how?"

George furrowed his brow and thought it over. After nearly a minute of silent contemplation, he said quietly, "Temporary displacement."

"What?" Courtney and Myrriah asked at once.

"Temporary displacement," he repeated slowly. "It means that you left your body too soon. You had an out of body experience, and you strayed too far and didn't go back when you were supposed to. Your bodies are still alive, but without your soul, your spirit, what makes you you, it can't really do much."

"And if we don't get back before life support gets cut off?" Myrriah asked cautiously, already knowing the answer.

George looked grim. "Then you will remain ghosts."

"We have to get to our bodies!" cried Courtney. "Where would they be?"

Myrriah thought about it for a second. "The Liberty Square Hospital."

George took out his pocket watch to check the time. "It's six forty."

"How could we get to the hospital in time?" Courtney asked fearfully.

Clearing his throat, Dustin stepped forward. "Well ladies, there's always my way."

Courtney, Dustin, and Myrriah clambered onto the hearse bench. Rolly was hitched to the buggy, snorting nervously. Several ghosts were standing nearby, waving them goodbye. Emily was sobbing loudly.

"Oh, Myrriah, they look so happy," said Courtney.

"It's because we're leaving," replied Myrriah.

Paul ran outside, clutching a scrap of paper. He handed it to Courtney. "That's my phone number," he explained. "Give me a call to let me know you're all right."

She leaned down and gave him a hug. "Will do."

George stepped forward and shook the girls' hands. "I'll miss you, emu girls. You know, when you do die, you're welcome to come back and stay with us. There's always room for you two."

"We'll keep that in mind," Myrriah said with a smile. She and Courtney gave the ghosts final goodbyes.

"Are you sure you know the way?" Courtney asked Dustin.

Dustin grinned. "Positive, Miss Carlson." He picked up the whip and raised it up. Then he looked at the space where Rolly was standing, and back at the whip. He put it back into its holder. "No point in beating a dead horse."

Myrriah rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Giddy up Rolly!" Dustin said as he snapped the reins. The spirits waved and cheered them on. Rolly started at a slow trot at first, and then picked up speed as the hearse careened down the long driveway and onto the road.

"We should stay as far away from traffic as possible," Myrriah suggested. "A buggy being lead by and invisible horse is liable to cause a few car accidents."

Dustin nodded and steered Rolly over a sidewalk and into a wooded area. "Wait," cried Myrriah, "this is a park!"

The last half of her cry was cut off as a stereo blared, sending Rolly into a panic. The horse took off at breakneck speed through the park. He ran past a group of kids who were listening to the stereo. Rolly trampled their picnic, but the mortals were too scared to be worried about their food as they jumped out of the way.

"Terribly sorry about that!" Dustin shouted to them. Rolly, who by now was quite sick of the park, ambled over a sidewalk, and onto a road. Dustin's attention to any possible approaching traffic was stolen as a familiar voice near the back of the hearse said happily: "Hey, I snagged the pie!"

Dustin, Myrriah, and Courtney slowly turned around. Ezra, Phineas, and Gus were sitting on the roof of the hearse, admiring their picnic loot.

"So what?" Ezra said to Phineas. "I got the egg salad."

"Frisbee!" shouted Gus happily, waving his prize in the air.

"Ahem," Dustin cleared his throat.

The trio stopped arguing and turned to the driver. "Oh, hi," Phineas said. "We just wanted to-"

"Eighteen wheeler!" screamed Courtney. "EIGHTEEN WHEELER! TURN!"

Rolly froze in the truck's headlights until the driver blared his horn at what he thought was a small, oddly shaped car in front of him. With a whinny of equine terror, Rolly ran as fast as his hooves could carry him. After a lot of Dustin shouting at him, he finally came to a stop in a parking lot in front of large, glass automatic doors. Above the doors were the words "Liberty Square Hospital Emergency Entrance."

"Well," Dustin said somberly, "we're here."

"Wait!" shouted Gus as the girls started to climb down. They stopped.

"We came along to give you guys some gifts," Phineas explained. He opened his carpetbag and pulled out a pocket watch and a derby. He handed the watch to Courtney and the hat to Myrriah. The girls didn't bother to ask whom they had been stolen from. Actually, the hat looked as if it had belonged to Ezra. The watch was in very good condition, even if it was old. The initials PQ had been carved into it.

Gus looked around for something to give them. Sometime during the drive he had lost the Frisbee. He took off his shackles and held them up to Courtney.

"Eh, keep it," said Courtney.

"We wanted to give you two something to remember us by," said Ezra. "And we've dubbed you honorary hitchhikers. So after you die, you have all the privileges and exclusive benefits of being a hitchhiking ghost."

Myrriah was about to ask what exactly those privileges and benefits were when Courtney cried out, "It's six fifty-five!"

"We've got to go," said Myrriah. "Thanks guys, it really means a lot." Gus threw his arms around her and sobbed. She patted his head.

"Take care of yourselves girls," said Dustin. "We'll miss you, but we don't want you haunting at the Manor for a long, long time, if you get my point."

Myrriah hugged him. "Thanks Dustin. After we get our lives back together, I'm going to get you a new hearse."

"Oh, don't worry about that. Some more strips of duct tape, a little bit of glue, a new coat of paint, and the buggy will be as good as new."

"Six fifty-eight!" snapped Courtney, who was standing by the doors. "Hurry it up!"

Myrriah jumped down from the hearse and waved good-bye to the ghosts. Then the two best friends ran into the hospital just in time to get new leases on their lives.

Two months had passed. Life had not been extremely easy, but it had not been too difficult either. The physical therapy appointments were actually helping things, and as much as Courtney would hate to admit it, going back to school was fun.

Myrriah and Cody never told their parents about what had happened at the mansion. They had decided it would be best to keep it their own secret. In fact, Courtney and Myrriah kept all of their adventures, including their time spent at Gracey Manor, a secret from their parents and classmates. They figured no one would believe them anyway.

The trees were practically naked, save for a few orange and brown leaves. A huge harvest moon provided the perfect light for trick-or-treaters as they went from door to door asking for candy. A small blue car made its way down a meandering dirt road.

"C'mon Cody," pleaded Myrriah. "Give me back my glasses!"

"Not until we get to where we're going," said Cody from the diver's seat. He glanced up into the rearview mirror. Courtney and Myrriah were sitting in the backseat with blindfolds over their eyes. Cody had even taken the extra precaution to take Myrriah's glasses away from her.

"Yeah," added Paul, who was riding shot gun. "We're almost there."

Courtney frowned. "I hope this blindfold didn't smudge my makeup too much."

"Considering how hideous you already look, how would we be able to tell?" joked Myrriah.

Courtney made a blind swing and hit her.

Everyone was in costume. Cody was wearing an old, faded tuxedo. The end of a noose hung around his neck. Paul's outfit was a battered old suit and top hat. He carried a carpetbag that he insisted was perfect for candy. Myrriah and Courtney both had painted their faces white, with black around their eyes and cheekbones. Shackled around one of Courtney's ankles was a plastic chain connected to a hollow plastic ball. She wore a long striped, dingy shirt, grungy jeans, and a fake beard. Her short brown hair was messy. Myrriah was wearing her derby, a long coat with frayed edges, old slacks, and a bow tie. She had drawn a rib cage on the shirt she was wearing, so any part that was not covered by the coat would show bones to give the costume a more "skeletal" effect.

Cody's car soon crawled to a stop. The boys got out and opened the doors for the girls. Then they led them inside a building, handed Myrriah her glasses, tore off the blindfolds and-

"SURPRISE!"

Myrriah and Courtney squealed in delight at the sight of all of the ghosts, their old friends, before them. The ballroom had been decorated with orange and black streamers, Halloween decorations, and black and orange balloons. Earlier that day, Paul and Cody had set up a stereo and huge speakers and a karaoke machine. Punch and snacks, including a cake with the likeness of the mansion on it, were laid out on the table.

The party soon got underway, and the hitchhikers and George got a kick out of seeing the mortals dressed up as them. Emily, however, was a little miffed. "Why didn't anybody dress up like me?"

"I almost miss the whole ghost thing," Myrriah said to Courtney. "Floating, going through walls, scaring people. It was fun."

"Yeah," agreed Courtney. "But do you know what I miss more?"

"What's that?"

"Cake!"

And they raced to the table.