It was the same day last year, October 31st, when Owen Montes died due to a car accident on his way home from his company's Halloween Party. It had been a year since he left his forty-three-year-old wife, Dona, and his nineteen-year-old son, Theo.
The pair of mother and son went to the cemetery to visit him for his death anniversary. Dona couldn't help but cry in the arms of her son. She was still very heartbroken for her husband's passing.
This was only the second time that she had visited her husband's grave. She still couldn't accept that he was gone. Without her son's encouragement to visit his father, she wouldn't have gone here.
It was almost dark, the sun started to set. So, Theo lit a candle that illuminated his father's tombstone. The name and the date of his father's birthdate and death date were engraved on it.
Dona caressed the cold tombstone of her husband. Her tears kept falling in her eyes and dripped down to his grave. She was howling.
"Owen, I missed you," she cried, "I missed you so much."
Theo rubbed his mother's back to console her from crying. He kept silent but his eyes showed the same sadness that his mother felt.
"You wouldn't even show in my dreams," Dona complained to her head husband.
The wind around the cemetery felt so cold. It blew so strongly that the trees around them had rustled and bustled. The candle that Theo had lit grew dim and shook from the wind. He covered the candle with his other hand.
Dona felt shivers scrawled on her skin due to the wind. She inhaled deeply as her tears kept falling. Her heart ached with the thought of her husband. She truly loved him deeply, she wanted to see him even in dreams but he wouldn't.
"Please, I wanted to see you," Dona whimpered.
"Even just for a minute," she added, "Or even a second."
'I really missed you, hon,' she thought sadly.
She didn't know if she was hallucinating but she could feel the wind around them grow stronger and stronger. Now that the sun had set, the only source of light was the lamp post near them and the candle that they brought.
The sound of the strong wind felt like a chanting whisper in their ears. It was eerie. Theo and Dona could feel that the wind circled them that Theo couldn't cover the candle anymore and the candlelight had gone out.
Theo suddenly felt a heavy headache that he couldn't help but whimper from pain.
Thanks to the light from the lamp post, Dona could see her son was in great pain, she said, "What happened? Are you okay?"
Theo didn't answer as he fell dizzy from the headache. His hands held his throbbing head. He felt so weak that he leaned closer to his mother.
Dona hugged her pained son, "Theo? Tell me what's wrong."
The bustling sound of the leaves went louder which made the surroundings feel ominous. Dona was frightened when that happened, so she pulled up her son to take him in their car. Thankfully, Theo was able to walk since it would be impossible for Dona to carry her 6'2"ft son.
When they were in front of the car, she opened the passenger seat and let Theo in. She walked to the driver's seat, entered, and started the car. Theo had driven them earlier, however, since he had a sudden headache, she drove their way home.
Theo laid his head on the side window and his eyes were deeply closed. He still looked like he was in great pain so Dona was really worried about him.
"Would you like to go to a hospital?" she nervously asked.
"No," Theo groaned and shook his head.
Dona just continued to drive, she was very thankful that there was no traffic at this hour. Her eyesight kept lingering on her son and on the road, she wanted to make sure that he wouldn't pass out from pain.
When they were halfway to their way home, Theo's complexion turned good. Dona couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. She focused herself on her driving. It didn't take long when they were in their subdivision and near their house.
"Dolly," her son suddenly groaned.
Dona suddenly hit the break, she was lucky that there were only a few cars on the road and none were near them. She looked horrifyingly at her son. Did she just hear him call her husband's nickname for her?
Her son opened his eyes and looked at her with hazy eyes, "Dolly."
This time it was very clear that he called her that. Theo never called her Dolly and always called her Mom, only Owen would call her that when he was still alive.
"Dolly, I missed you," Theo said with teary eyes.
Dona felt that her breathing stopped. She was astounded and didn't know what to say. Suddenly, she heard the honking of a car behind them. She remembered that they were still in the middle of the road.
She absentmindedly drove into their house. Since they were already near, it only took them minutes to arrive there. Theo didn't say anything and just stared at her throughout the ride. He looked at her like he couldn't believe something.
She stepped out of the car to open their garage gate, Theo on the passenger seat got out of the car as well.
"Dolly, talk to me," he said almost pleading.
Dona didn't answer and got in the car and parked it in their garage. She closed the garage gate and entered their living room through the garage door. She was shaking.
"Dol-" Theo didn't finish calling her.
"Stop calling me that, Theo!" Dona lashed out.
Theo looked at her with wide eyes, and he said, "No, I'm not Theo. It's me, Owen."
Dona looked at her son, who very much looked like his father but younger. She said firmly, "This is not funny, Theo! Go back to your room."
She went upstairs hastily like she didn't want to be in the same room as him. She was going crazy. She missed her husband so much but she wouldn't be happy to hear her son talk to her like how her husband sounded.
It had been very hard for her to not feel sad and lonely about her husband's death since whenever she looked at Theo, she was always reminded how he was a spitting image of her husband. She couldn't just not pay attention to her son, she would wake up early to cook their breakfast then they would eat together. After she went home from work, she would see him in the living room.
It was too hard for her.
"Dolly, please listen to me first," Theo said as he pulled her wrist when they were at the top of the stairs.
"Theo-" Dona was shunned when she looked at her son's face.
"It's really me, Dolly. I didn't know what happened as well and how I ended up in our son's body," Theo uttered slowly.
"But I know I missed you so much," he added as his eyes moistened.
"If you still wouldn't believe me," he said as he stepped closer to her and held her hands with both of his.
"Remember the night we first met in the bar? We were both so drunk that we ended up naked in a motel. You said to never tell Theo about it because you didn't want him to think he was a drunken mistake when I knocked you up the first night that we met," he said and hugged his wife.
They both started to cry as they reminisced about the first night of their love story.
"I got your number and saved it as Dolly because you looked like a doll. We went out on dates after that. We fell in love and you found out you were pregnant. I still remember how happy I was back then," he said as he caressed the hair of his sobbing wife.
"If you still need proof that it's me, you have a heart shape birthmark on your thigh which was very close to your-"
Before he could continue, Dona pinched him very hard on his back. She pushed him away and glared at him. They both looked like a mess from crying.
"You don't have to say it, it's weird to hear it coming from your son," Dona said.
"Then do you believe me now?" Owen, on Theo's body, asked her and hugged her again.
Dona nodded and laid her head on his shoulder as they embraced each other tightly. They stayed like that for a while until their feet hurt from standing too long. They went to their bedroom and lay together in their bed.
"How about Theo?" Dona asked.
"I could feel his soul was sleeping on his body," Owen answered.
"I- I think I won't stay for too long, Dolly," he said as he kissed her forehead.
Dona tried to dodge his kiss when she realized that he was on their son's body. But then she hugged him so tight and cried harder than earlier.
"Shhh, it's going to be okay," Owen tried to calm her down. However, the tears in Theo's eyes betrayed him.
'This is so cruel,' he thought.
"Maybe I was given a chance to bid a proper goodbye," Owen said.
Dona howled louder. Theo's shirt was now drenched with her tears. She couldn't accept it. She wanted her husband to stay, but what about her son? She also loves him very much.
Owen tried to raise her chin so he could look at his dear wife. He wiped her endless tears with his thumb as he placed their foreheads together.
He said, "I love you, Dolly."
Dona's eyes were closed as she cried so when Owen kissed her, she didn't move to resist. As she felt the peck on her lips, she opened her eyes and was greeted by her son's face. She quickly pushed him away.
She sat in the bed and glared at him angrily, "Don't do that! You're in your son's body!"
Owen looked up at her, "When will I be able to kiss you with my body? When it was already six feet underneath."
Dona was stunned. He was right. He could no longer kiss her. He was dead. He was just on their son's body for now.
She didn't say anything and looked away. She was confused.
"Dolly," Owen called her.