My Life in the Bush of Ghosts

When the narrator arrives at the 10th town of ghosts, he sees his cousin who died when the narrator was young. The narrator, his cousin, and the other ghosts in town spend all night celebrating his arrival. After the narrator sleeps in a bed for the first time since he left the Super-Lady’s house, his cousin tells him that he traveled to different ghost towns after his death but didn’t like any until he arrived at the 10th town. His cousin decides that with his background in the Methodist church, he wants to build a Methodist community in his town. He receives permission from H.M. the King of the Bush of Ghosts to build his church, and he also builds a school, hospital, and houses that resemble modern homes. The narrator has many questions for his cousin, including where he gained the authority to call himself the bishop of the town. The narrator tells his cousin how he came to be in the bush of ghosts, and his cousin says that he will continue to teach him the language of the ghosts until the narrator qualifies as “a full dead person” (145). The narrator spends the next six months learning how to read and write as well as how to behave as a ghost.