"Friend!?" Annie exclaimed, "She's just using me. At least that's what she thinks. Actually, I've been using her." She tried to put on an arrogant pose but her eyes were worried.
When she saw Gloria's surprised expression, Annie continued, "You didn't know, did you? You've messed up!" She thrust her knuckles into her sides and leaned condescendingly towards the other girl. "That means that Connie has truly been using you. All the more reason for me not to go back. Who knows what else you've messed up!"
Well, Gloria had gotten drunk and fallen unconscious. She had gotten and lost the red dress. She had been stripped and photograph naked. Yeah, she had pretty much messed up Annie's life and she dared not confess it.
"What about your family?" Gloria asked, "Don't you want to be with them? Remember all the good times you've had with Se-, with Carrie?"
"No, I don't want to," Annie said, "I like it here much better."
"Don't you miss shopping with Carrie? Or talking with Mother?"
"You seem to think it's a good thing," Annie said, "Why don't you go back to them instead?"
"Because it's you who's supposed to be there, not me," Gloria argued.
"What do I care about that?" Annie asked, "It's not really my concern. And if you go back, they won't miss me. You've said so yourself that everything was fine while you were there."
"You've got to go back," Gloria pleaded, "It's the right thing to do. You've got to make things right."
"No, I'm not going back." Annie spun on her heel and ran into the distance.
"Annie!" Gloria called after her.
After she had taken a few steps, Annie faded away. Then from a distance, Gloria heard a girl shriek.
"I just love playing pranks on naughty little girls," the stranger quipped. He pulled out a white dress that looked just like the one Annie had.
Gloria remembered that Annie was a prude. She shuddered at the thought of a mighty being wielding his powers so frivolously. It was worse than Mother loose in a power plant.
"So what now?" she asked the stranger.
"You have a choice." The stranger put away the dress. "You've already lived a full life and died once. So you can go on to the afterlife, or return to the real world as Annie Billings."
"If I choose not to return?"
The stranger shrugged. "Annie Billings dies then."
"But if I return and live life till the end, who will I be? Whose memories will I have?"
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