Evelyn’s face creases into a smile. ‘Because, my dear, I’ve been there. I’ve crossed over.’

Dominique feels her flesh crawl.

‘Happened many years ago when I was living in Miami, right after Hurricane Andrew. Once the storm had passed, I went outside to walk my basset hound, Oscar. Stepped right in a puddle of wet leaves and zap—never noticing the downed electrical wire. Charge must’ve hit me like a ton of bricks.’

Dominique looks at the older woman as if for the first time. ‘So what happened? Did you really die?’

‘As they say, I was dead as a doorknob. The first thing I remember is feeling free, every physical burden instantly gone. My consciousness floated above my body, and it was a strange sensation to look down at myself, sprawled across the sidewalk like a puppet who’d lost her strings. A lifeless body is never very flattering. And poor Oscar, barking his head off. You know, I think he actually sensed my spirit hovering overhead.’

‘Were you scared?’

‘Not in the least, and I’ve never been scared since.’

‘What happened next?’

‘My consciousness began moving through a dark tunnel, and up ahead, I could see a light. It was God’s light, and it bathed me in a kind of love I had never experienced before.’ She pauses. ‘This is making you uncomfortable?’

‘A little. If this is some sort of sales pitch to convert me—’

‘Believe me, I’m the last person to preach religion. Fact is, I died an atheist, and not a very happy one. Of course, none of that ever occurred to me, until I experienced the life review.’

‘The life review?’

‘It’s your entire existence, every moment, every deed, every thought and feeling of everyone you’ve ever been in contact with, and you don’t just experience it from your own perspective, but from that of others—the people you hurt, the people you helped. It was amazing and incredibly intense, some of it quite sad, but most of it wonderful, like being immersed in a sea of unconditional love. Still, I saw my shortcomings, and it was quite an awakening. And then I realized I wasn’t alone, that my parents’ souls were by my side. I didn’t want to leave, but they told me it wasn’t my time just yet, that I still had things I had to do in order to fulfill my mission in life. And suddenly, just like that, I was back in my body. It felt so heavy, like a lead suit, and I hurt terribly inside. I could hear and feel the paramedics working on me, and I felt sad, because I really wanted to stay with my parents.’

‘You said you came back to fulfill a mission?’