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been
searching for a special gift to mark our one month anniversary.  The compass
was perfect.  It had brass knobs and screws. I thought Yuki would like the
steampunk look of it and the fact that it was a compass gave me an idea.  I
waited until the following day and gave it to her with a note that read, “so
that you may always find your way back to me.” I had wondered if my note was
too sappy, but Yuki has kept the compass with her ever since.
    Gazing out the truck window as the flea market passed by, I
had to wonder if Yuki would ever find her way back to me…or if it was already
too late.
     

Chapter 25
Yuki
     
    I sat upright, giving
myself a dizzying head rush, as something brushed against my face.  I spied a
tall cluster of switchgrass waving in the air beside me and let out the breath
I was holding.  In my dream, the spindly grass that touched my face had been
replaced by skeletal fingers.  I was relieved to be rid of nightmare monsters,
but where had the tall grass come from?
    And when had I fallen asleep?
    I looked around and frowned.  I sat in a patch of dry grass
that whispered as it swung to and fro in the warm breeze.  The light wind made
my hair dance around my head, tickling the back of my neck.  Unable to see over
the giant vegetation, I dusted off my skirt and rose to my feet. 
    “Oh,” I said, my words lost on a gust of wind.
    I was standing in the dream world that exists between the
human realm and the ever-after, where spirits of the dead reside.  Well, most
spirits reside there.  Some souls become trapped on earth if they are the unfortunate
victim of tragic death or have unfinished business.  That’s where I come in. 
With my ability to smell the dead, I help to locate and communicate with those
spirits trapped on my plane of existence and lead them to the light.
    Of course, it’s never that easy.  That part about unfinished
business?  Yeah, most ghosts are pretty insistent about wrapping up those loose
ends before departing my world. 
    Like the ghost who smelled like roses, lanolin, and dark
room chemicals.
    In fact, if I am here in the dream realm, then that means my
body is asleep back in the real world.  The thought of my body slumped over my
painting stool, helpless, on that remote stretch of park trail, gave me the
creeps.  It would be getting dark soon, if night hadn’t fallen already, and my
body was alone in the woods with only a strange ghost for company. 
    I needed to find out why I’d been brought here, so I could
get back to my body.
    Usually when I appear in this place, my dung beetle spirit
guide is nearby.  I spun in a slow circle, searching for my guide. 
    “Where are you?” I muttered.
    “I am here, child,” a rasping voice echoed in my
head.
    I felt something move behind my back and turned to see my
spirit guide looming over me.  I have no idea where a seven foot tall dung
beetle could have been hiding.  I probably didn’t want to know.
    “Um, hi,” I said lamely.  “Is everything okay?”  I hadn’t
tried to summon my spirit guide, and had, in fact, been working with a ghost
before I appeared in this place.  What other reason could explain this meeting? 
Had something terrible happened?  “Wait.  Is Cal hurt?”
    I struggled to remain calm, but Cal had nearly died from a
head injury a few months ago and his spirit had ended up here.  Was that why I
was summoned?  Had Cal been in an accident? 
    I felt like a frightened bird was caged in my chest. 
    I had been in such a hurry to begin work on my painting
today after school that I’d jumped out of Cal’s truck without even asking where
he was going.  There were plenty of dangerous roads around Wakefield. 
    “ Hush, child, your wolf is safe and sound in the human
realm,” she said.
    “Oh, okay,” I said, taking a deep breath.  “Then why am I
here?”
    “I have a message for you,” she said.  “As you
know child, scarabs bury their eggs in the ground, but some humans dig