Chapter 1
An Amnesiac Spirit
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It wasn’t until I’d snoozed my alarm clock four times that I realized it was already seven in the morning, and I was running late.
Most of the morning shift nurses usually begin gossiping before the official work hours started at eight. By sleeping in, I was missing out. I wondered what juicy topics they'd have today. The recent gossip had been quite dull, so I hoped today's subject was intriguing, or even better, involved some handsome men.
With that thought, I raised my hands over my head and made a wish: to float towards the outpatient department of the local hospital and instantaneously glide through each section one by one. Oh, yes, I said float. As a spirit, that’s how I get around. Moreover, I’m an amnesiac spirit. When I regained my consciousness in this form, all I could remember was that my name was Aiye. If someone were to ask me what my full name was or how old I was, I'm afraid I wouldn’t be able to answer. But never mind that: dwelling on it only gave me a headache.
I made an amendment to my wish, to not to visit the emergency department so early in the morning. Dr. Alinda, the emergency room doctor, is not only beautiful and skilled: she can also see and interact with spirits like me. Dr. Alinda is also very, very strict. Some nights, when accident victims were brought in by the paramedics, some bed-hogging spirits refused to budge. With just one scolding from Dr. Alinda, those spirits scattered and fled as far as three hundred million light years away. She's strict not only with ghosts but also with humans who misbehave.
At last, I floated through the wall of the hospital lobby, where I spotted a number of spirits sitting in semi-transparent seats.
"Aiye, you're late. All the seats are taken," Manop greeted me, “or they would be, if I weren’t nice enough to save you one.” He winked at me and revealed a reserved seat beside him. Manop is a junior friend who once helped save me from some delinquent spirits back when I was a newbie ghost, still figuring out how to navigate this existence. Although Manop is a mechanic's ghost who liked to fight, as a teenage spirit his powers are not yet strong enough to be of much use.
Even though he successfully helped me, he was intelligent enough to put aside his pride and asked Master Jao Thi to assist me further. He knew that upon finding my fresh spirit, he was not the one to guide me properly.
Manop once had a crush on me, but I don’t like younger men. Moreover, my heart seems to be waiting for something or someone else. So, Manop and I have been close friends ever since, promising to be there for each other until we must part ways.
I sat down next to Manop. "Manop, I'm only five minutes late. Thanks for saving me a seat. Any interesting news?"
"If you were any later, you definitely would have missed the other spirits. Ever since you established the Clear Gang, the new spirits have learned and adapted to being ghosts much quicker. They've started to meddle more in human affairs. But what can you do? Being a spirit is deadly boring, with nothing exciting to do besides float around and eavesdrop on human gossip," Manop replied in a drawn-out manner as if he were an eighty-year-old grandpa.
"Hey! Manop, I only asked a simple question. No need to get worked up over it."
After surviving for several difficult months as a novice spirit, I established a club, the “Clear Gang,” and appointed myself as the leader. The purpose was to teach confused, newly-deceased spirits how to “live” as a ghost so they didn’t struggle as I had.
Why Clear Gang? Well, because we have no physical bodies. We look like clear jelly. It's kind of cute.
I'm the gang leader, Master Jao Thi is the senior advisor, and Aunt Pranee, a long-time spirit and former teacher, is responsible for providing knowledge. Her teaching background makes her the most suitable for this role. As for Manop and me, our job is to smack - no, not that! We receive the spirits as they leave their bodies. Spirits often don't realize they have died. If they get a bit unruly, Manop can calm them down using his mechanic ways. This task sometimes involves a few injuries, sometimes requiring us to smack them on the upside of their head.
The transformation from human to spirit is quite dramatic, like watching Bella transform into a vampire in Twilight.
Manop shook my arm to snap me out of my reverie. "Aiye, what are you spacing out for? You'll miss the juicy gossip from the nurses. Today’s is a hot topic that'll make you squeal for sure."
"What's the topic?" I asked, my interest immediately piqued.
"Listen for yourself." Manop told me, nodding towards the two nurses gossiping behind the service counter.
"Prang, have you heard that Dr. Thanwa is returning to work permanently? He’ll be working in the Physical Therapy Department!" the fair-skinned, plump nurse named Manao asked her colleague.
"You don't mean the Dr. Thanwa who went for training abroad two years ago, do you?"
"That's the one. He will be back to take over as the department head starting next Monday. I'm so envious of Yai Som Jin for getting to work with such a handsome man every day," Nurse Manao gushed.
"I like Dr. Thanwa, too. He's so devastatingly handsome that even cows and buffaloes would drop dead," Prang added offhandedly.
"As for me, I prefer Dr. Ris from the surgery department. If a plump woman like me gets close to Dr. Ris, I might become slimmer and more beautiful."
"In that case, Dr. Ris has a rival now. Between Dr. Thanwa and Dr. Ris, who do you think is more handsome?" Manop asked me.
"I've seen Dr. Ris, and he's indeed handsome. But I haven't seen Dr. Thanwa yet. I'll have to go and verify it for myself next Monday," I replied with a mischievous smile.
Manop could only shake his head at my infatuation with handsome men.
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