what makes a ghost linger on the moon? it has secrets. it's the secret things that it can't let go of, can't disentangle itself from. the ghosts are in bondage to yesterdays dreams, they're covered with the dust of the prison of their false expectations. they could be free, they could be alive, but they won't ..or can't.. let go of the chains they've forged for themselves. or the chains they've accepted from someone else.

you can tell they are ghosts because they leave no footprints, they effect no changes, they do not make a difference. they walk the same routes everyday, from pillar to post, from post to pillar, and they think they can do no different, that they have no other choice.

last year the union had a new president, a young guy, he wanted to shake things up. when it came time for the contract negotiations he put a new demand on the table. he said, the ghosts up here do a lot for the economy, they perform an important public service, and we want, we demand, more than we are getting, he said, we want a guarantee of job satisfaction. we want jobs that we enjoy, that we look forward to going to in the morning, that we hate to leave in the evening.

well, what do you think happened? Sparky took a look at him and blew some cigar smoke in his face. Sparky said, kid, if you know what's good for you you'll take the three percent we're offering and you'll be happy with it. don't make a mistake boy, Sparky said.

the kid said what are you going to do about it?

Sparky just shook his head, then he picked up the phone and called the tv station. said he wanted to have a press conference. tomorrow at six pm he said. then he hung up the phone. then he picked up the phone and he called Sam Whitebread.

Sam, Sparky said, Sam, I want you to go out and find every ghost you can and i want you to tell him that this son of a bitch they elected to run their union wants them to have jobs that they can't wait to get to in the morning and that they don't want to leave at night. he wants them to have freedom, Sam, do you understand? you've got twelve hours Sam, got it? and then he hung up the phone.

the ghost kid across the table sat back in his chair, his arms crossed. you could see the back of the chair right through him. he had a crooked smile on his face. what the heck difference do you think that will make? he said to Sparky.

Sparky just sucked on his Cohiba (you can get them up here).

about fifteen minutes later there's a knock on the door and one of the ghost ward bosses comes in and leans over and whispers in the kid's ear. The kid goes pale (you should see a ghost go pale sometime, it can happen) and gets up. excuse me, i'll be right back, he says.