Possible Future Job Opportunity

So, I had a totally awesome dream last night.

I was in what can only be described as a Hogwarts-esque castle and had just been informed that I’d died. Which doesn’t sound all that awesome, except for the fact that I was also told that I was going to be employed as a ghost for the castle. I was pretty pumped about that. I’d be a great haunter.

I was also allotted a certain amount of ghost magic to use in the aid of those in the castle worthy of such a boon. However, I was warned that if I used the magic for my own personal gain, not only would it blow up in my face, but I would become corporeal and visible to everyone around me for a few minutes, so that they could all know who was causing the problems. I’ll be honest with you, there was one point in my dream where I decided to test this and it ended exactly as I was told it would – poorly. Weirdly enough, at that point I was in the part of the castle that the Jetsons were apparently inhabiting. They weren’t cartoons, but real live versions of these characters. Can’t really remember what I was trying to do for my own personal gain in the Jetsons’ wing, but odds are it had something to do with stealing flying car plans.

What I do remember was that Judy was arguing with her parents about not being able to go to a concert. Which makes sense, ‘cause Judy was pretty much always talking about going to concerts. Anyway, I used the magic and everything went to hell. Also, I apparently had roped Roomie into going on this mission with me and she was not a ghost and therefore, fairly visible from the get go. Probably not my stealthiest move, even if the magic had worked. In the ensuing fiasco, I somehow ended up being pushed off a balcony and falling three stories to the ground. As I was punished with corporeal-ness, that kind of hurt. But I shook it off and went back to my job, sufficiently chastised for my selfish actions. Not really sure what happened to Roomie (sorry, buddy) though she did turn up again later in the dream, seemingly no worse for wear.

Other than the celebrity appearance by everyone’s favorite space-age family, all the other people who I ran into in the castle were either family, friends or generic strangers. I could stop and chat with them whenever I wanted, which is totally something I’d want the ability to do if I were a ghost. And I could be visible to people and impact the physical world whenever I wanted, if I really, really concentrated on it. Also a plus. I remember throwing books at people in the library, a classic ghostly pastime.

All in all, my short time as a ghost wasn’t really all that different from my life now. I just had magic and a really kick ass job. Sure, it’s not a job that I have any desire to be eligible for at this point in time, but I hope it’s one that actually exists. Because, oh, I don’t know, maybe eighty plus years down the line, I'll probably be looking for work. And I think I’d really enjoy this career path.

Until then though, I’ll just think of the dreams as a training course.