Geoff estranged from his UK relatives is a widower living in Portland. He is in his late forties when he faces the bad midlife crisis of being forced into retirement. Unlike many it might be one of the best things to have ever happened to him recently. For sure the next bad thing that happens could also be considered candidate for the title of 'Usually a really bad thing that is actually for the best'.

Geoff finished packing the last box of his personal effects from his old work office. It had been quite a run, and extremely strange how he had ended up with this career. However, it was the end of this chapter in his life. Time to let go, even if he had not planned to. It was a fair deal, but he was being pushed out. The writing had been on the wall when Blaylon’s Medical had been purchased by their biggest competitor, and unlike the layoffs and the kept employees, he was one of the few that got an early retirement. For the next seven years he would get thirty-five percent of his current salary with full medical, to not take a job in a similar field. With the house paid off, and little expenses he could get by without needing to use his savings. He just needed to find something to do with his sudden abundance of free time. Perhaps get out and travel while still in his forties. Take the time to decide what he planned to do next. Maybe get his Doctorate and become a University History Professor.

As to getting a job in this field, considering it was his late wife that had the degree in organic chemistry, it was unlikely for him to do so. He only had this job as he’d been his wife’s assistant on a critical project when life stole her, and their future child from him, due to a car accident. Geoff had put in the hours to complete his wife’s first major project, so there could be a success in her name. He was rewarded with the promotion his wife should have got, and the next lonely twenty odd years of his life began. To avoid grief he sunk himself into his wife’s career.

Geoff figured he was likely the only History and Drama major in the company. If he hadn’t met Kathleen in their last year of Uni he wouldn’t have ended up here. They both found they had an upper division general education class still needed if they wanted to graduate from U. C. Berkeley, so chose the only ones that met the requirement and fitted into an available slot in their schedule. Both had needed to fight their respective advisers as the chosen course was one with pre-requisites they hadn’t taken. Luckily each’s Achilles heel was the other’s strength and so they tutored each other, upon discovering they had two shared classes that term.

Geoff tutored Kathleen in a Civil War History class, while Kathleen tutored Geoff in an Organic Chemistry one. The shared time under pressure allowed their mutual attraction to blossom into a relationship. The nearly six years were Geoff’s best. They’d married even though he was unsure if he should work toward a history doctorate or keep trying to jump start an acting career. After completing his history Masters, he had instead become his wife’s assistant as her promotion gave a staff of seven beneath her, three of which being allowed to be new hires.

Placing the photo of the two of them into the last box, he gave the office one last look to check he had packed everything. “Love you, Kathleen.” Geoff whispered while stroking a finger over her hair in the photo, and recalling the trip to Carmel Beach, California, where the picture was taken at. Knowing he was running low on time he popped the lid on the box. Pushing the cart that the boxes were on he left his office that should have been his wife’s for the last time.

It was less than six months for boredom to demand he do something. Geoff had got the yard and house straightened, finished the books he’d checked out from the library, and didn’t really want to go there a third time this week. He didn’t even want to play any more MMORPG, as he had spent far too many hours on them. The current random web surfing was to find something to capture his interest and alleviate his boredom. Seeing a deal to fly from Portland to Le Guardia, New York, and moments later he had a vacation planned to head to the east coast in a couple of days for five nights. When there, he would chose the next step based on what grabbed his attention next.

Geoff was returning from a moseying trip down Broadway on his fourth day in New York in the late afternoon. This evening he would do his random web surf to find out where he was going next. On Broadway he had watched a play and two skits. He could do three sides of the square or slip up Prior Street to get back to the hotel. If it was later he would have taken the longer route but four-forty in the afternoon wasn’t a bad time to be in a narrow alley close to busy New York streets. In fact there were a fair number of people walking the street. Of course famous last words and Murphy’s Law can cause things to go bad all too easily.

Geoff had turned at the noise of something running toward him from behind. He was just registering a young just teen girl was running toward him, barely dressed, when a loud bang rang out and he was surrounded by blackness and pain. Then he couldn’t feel any pain but was extremely dizzy.

Blinking, his vision slowly focused. He staggered, trying to not fall over, and one leg seemed shorter than the other. He was extremely dizzy and momentarily he thought he saw his foot of the shorter leg in the pavement. Concentrating on his foot he saw it was correctly on the pavement not in it, as his obviously dizzy senses had misinformed him on earlier. There was a lot of blood on the pavement near his feet.

Finally snapping out of his momentary feeling of dizziness, he noted that the street had emptied of people. It was just him and the girl, stood facing each other. The sounds of sirens caused him to turn and see two police cars arriving. Turning back to the girl he forced himself to look at the blood. There were two corpses on the ground beside them. Pointless to try to do anything for them as they had both been shot in the head. Probably with hollow tip bullets Geoff decided, as both of the corpses were almost headless. Brain matter was spread out over pavement and bodies. Blood was just about everywhere.

“I’m Daphne.” The girl suddenly said.

“Geoff.” He grunted. “Let’s step away and let the police investigate what happened.” Moving to one side as the police approached. “I only heard the one shot, and didn’t see the gunman officer.” He informed the first policeman. Daphne gave him an odd look but moved over to him when he beckoned her to back away and not interfere with the cops’ jobs.

“We’ll get the area cordoned off before taking statements.” The officer told him. Obviously expecting Geoff and the girl to stay out of the way.

The second officer arrived putting gloves on. “Likely the residents will in typical New York fashion deny they were looking through their windows, or even heard anything. Yep a Jane Doe here. Doubt John Doe over their will have I.D. either, Paul.”

“Did you see who fired the shots, Daphne?” Geoff asked.

Daphne looked at Geoff oddly. “Well I bet you anything it was Ralph, but you would have had a better chance of seeing him. What with you looking the right direction, and my back would be to where Ralph would have been coming up those townhouse basement steps. Lot of good it would do us knowing though. He’ll have bailed from the apartment, but I guess I owe you an apology so if you accept knowing who did it, as an apology then I guess I’m lightly off.”

“Officers, Daphne says the gunman Ralph lives in the basement apartment of the townhouse over there.” Geoff yelled out, but aside from one cop looking at them with a serious frown before ignoring them, the cops were too busy setting up barricades and caution tape. They would probably ask him to repeat what he’d said when they were less busy and able to make note of it later.

“Geoff, they’re not about to talk to us.” Daphne said incredulously.

“Daphne you might have had bad experience with the police, but if you are respectful and calm, they will listen and offer help.” Geoff said, realizing that the young girl Daphne was likely, due to her lack of clothes in the profession that often found itself at odds with the cops. With how young she was he felt bad that she had obviously been coerced into such a profession and obviously for long enough to have a jaded outlook on life. She had likely run away from home hoping to leave a bad situation, and as the saying goes jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire.

“Oh Mike, looks like Jane Doe ain’t a Jane. Think this Geoffrey Stillman was his John that tried to not pay on realizing the call girl were a lad, and it got them both shot for their trouble?”

“Ah, there the two of you are. Oh, you got your brains twisted together and that’s why you stayed around. I was wondering where you had both got to.” An older man in tux, top hat, and an evening jacket with tail walked up beside them. Tapping Daphne and Geoff with his walking stick to get their attention. “Come on I need to get you on, there’s a yacht needing to capsize off Nantucket. You think it can sink on its own?”

“I’m not going!” Daphne stated, while Geoff was trying to find a way of adding three and four, and not ending up with eleven.

“I’m dead? Do I get to join Kathleen?” Geoff finally found an acceptable way to take the new eleven.

“Nope, we need to get you two untwisted. What with the bullet that exploded the lad’s head entering yours next, along with most of his brain. Then of course all of that plus both yours brains punched through the rear of your skull and splattered all over the sidewalk. What a mess. Why if it weren’t for my desire to not get roped in with the two of you I’d likely be puking my guts out over all the grisly matter you two are standing in.” Geoff noticed that the older gentleman in evening wear, was actually floating a few inches off the pavement likely as he said to not stand in the grisly mess.

“I’m not going anywhere with you!” Daphne said.

“Well then Geoff will be stuck with you ‘till both of you as haunts fade away. Or you can be reborn identical twins, and untwist yourselves into separate entities once more.”

“After we fade away as haunts will I finally be with Kathleen?” Geoff asked.

“Nope, that way is oblivion. Once you can no longer hold your memories together you will cease to exist. You will never see Kathleen again.”

“So the only way to see Kathleen is to be reborn? Then lead on McDuff.” Geoff said.

“Not so fast Romeo. You likely will fall for another girl while you don’t recall Kathleen in your next life, and you can’t go anywhere ‘till the lad agrees too.”

“I am not a lad! I am a girl. My name is Daphne, and I will not be reborn. I am free of that horrible body. Oblivion is better than being stuck in a boy’s body once more.”

“Well Daphne, seems like you need to convince Geoff to the advantages of being a girl. So Geoff will you follow Daphne to the dark side? They allow for selling Girl Scout cookies.” Death inquired.

“If we are reborn, can I remember Kathleen? I don’t want to go through life, losing my identity and having no memory of this one.” Geoff declared.

“Did you not here me! I will not be reborn as a boy. I have no desire to recall this life. Oblivion is better!” Daphne declared adamantly.

“Fine so identical twin sisters with Geoff recovering all of his current life’s memories and identity after the passing of the first half dozen of years or so of your next life. Will you both then follow me?”

“A good life into a society that treats women fairly.” Geoff added, suddenly thinking of the numerous countries he would not want to be born a girl in.

“Well that I’ll attempt as best I can, but no guarantees. That’s as much as I can offer. Will both of you, now, finally follow, as I said before, I need to get to Nantucket to ensure the yacht sinks. Yachts need lots of help sinking; It’s the shape, trapped air….” Death mumbled on as he led the two twisted to be twins toward the opening he’d ripped through reality.