Chapter 1, Episode 5

Transcript: Chapter 1, Episode 5

Blaze sits cross-legged on the sofa, his eyes shifting guiltily as he clasps his hands together. Behind the sofa, Evie stands with her arms crossed. “No, Blaze,” she scolds. “No more ballgames, no more cookouts. He needs to move on.” In the background, a blue ghost cat sits in a chair at the dining table.

Blaze looks up at Evie with a frown and says, “If he moves on now, he’ll move into the smoke.”

Her face stern, Evie says, “Maybe that’s who he is. And maybe you need to let him go.”

Blaze’s eyes go wide with shock. “How can you say that?” he cries. “He’d be lost and alone in the smoke! His soul would turn to chaos and misery!”

Evie replies, “And you have no concern for his spiritual decay on this side of the veil?”

Blaze raises a gloved hand to his chest and turns to Evie with an earnest expression. “I can save him, Evie,” he says. “I know I can.”

Evie stands beside Blaze, her hands on her hips and the sofa cushions clipping through her ghostly form. She asks him, “Have you ever asked yourself if maybe you’re hanging onto him for you? Because you can’t let go?”

Blaze’s eyes well with tears. “Th-that’s crazy,” he says.

Evie points a finger at him and says, “Don’t you dare start crying.”

Copious tears pour down Blaze’s cheeks. He replies, “I’m not crying.”

He narrates, “I can’t help it. Spirit seeing makes me a little overemotional sometimes.”

Evie and Blaze have a heated exchange in the living room. Behind them in the entryway sits a happy ghost dog. At the center of the room is a ghost ferret with a fishing toy. At the table are the sitting cat and a human ghost eating a sandwich. Evie holds out her arms as she confronts Blaze. “How long are you going to drag things out with Vern?” she yells. “It’s been two years!”

Blaze, his cheeks still streaked with tears, raises a hand to his chest and yells back, “And I’ve kept him from the smoke for two years!”

He folds his arms and says, “I know you don’t always like the way I do things. But I’ve never lost a spirit to the smoke. How many of your other students could say that?”

Evie’s face softens into a look of concern. She crosses her arms and says, “Blaze… You let these spirits stick around too long. It’s not good for them or for you.”

With a hand on his hip, Blaze retorts, “I’ve never forced a spirit to stay.” Evie counters, “But you don’t push them hard enough to leave.”

As Blaze wipes the tears from one of his eyes, he narrates, “When Evie was alive, she worked on behalf of the humans who wanted spirits vacated. But my clients are the spirits themselves.”

Narration continues. “Their needs come first. I really do try to put them first…”

He pauses while wiping his other eye and glances sideways at Evie. “Wait a second…” he says.

A look of realization crosses his face, and he asks, “Evie… Is this your way of telling me you want to move on?”

Evie’s eyes go wide, and she freezes, looking stunned.

Then she bursts out into raucous laughter, her mouth wide open.

Grinning at Blaze, she asks, “Why would you think that? I’m not going anywhere.” Blaze stands stiffly and replies, “But you just said…” Evie interjects, “No, Blaze. I still have work to do here. When I’m done with that work, I’ll go.”

She turns away, then looks over her shoulder at Blaze and tells him, “What I am saying is… maybe you should try making more living, breathing friends.”

Blaze frowns, his hands on his hips. “I have plenty of living friends!” he cries.

Evie raises an eyebrow. As she turns away, she says, “But they’re not the ones you turn to when it counts. Are they?”

Blaze stares silently after her, a slight scowl on his face.