Stories Fiction Books talk about what happens when a soul returns. Serena’s dad had paid a funeral home to set up a large tent in the front lawn of his home. This tent housed the party of mourners who came to pay their respects to Madame Flint.
Serena sat at one of the tables under the big tent. The tent was well lit with lights and ventilated with fans affixed to the poles and structure of the tent. Guests arrived and took their places at tables. Serena was following the proceedings when suddenly, an insect flew down and swooped down on her table. It walked on the table cloth.
What a strange insect. It was by far the most unusual insect Serena had laid eyes on. The flying insect was brown in color and looked like a cockroach but it wasn’t. It was too strange looking to be classified as a cockroach. Its body arts did not look like those of a cockroach. It didn’t look like a beetle either. In fact, the insect looked quite out of this world. Serena was afraid. She felt goose bumps all over her skin.
The insect crawled across the table like a runway. At the end of its walk, it took flight and flew away. The insect never returned again.
Serena knew what the insect was. She had heard stories about the manifestation of a recently departed soul. The deceased, having lost their mortal body, does not have a shell to house the soul and thus cannot show themselves. The soul would borrow a temporary body to manifest themselves to others. The soul would usually return to their family to have a last look at their beloved family members before ascending to heaven or descending to hell, whichever route or destination the soul has been assigned to.
Serena suspected that the strange insect was a manifestation of her late grandmother Madame Flint. The shell that was usually used would be a moth, but other insects could also be hosts to souls.
The myth goes to say that a soul could be granted the privilege of visiting its former family within the first 7 days of its death. This legendary belief was followed up by the customary practice of the funeral wake whereby mourners had to accompany the body and stay awake for the duration of the night. The traditional belief suggested that someone should be awake to greet the return visit of the soul.
Serena felt that the insect communicated to her. Madame Flint was trying to tell her that she was all right in the other world.