The Honolulu Murder Files

Chapter 17

Being dead was proving to be exhausting. 

And you can't sleep when you are dead.

I decide to visit the North Shore again, Haleiwa this time. Waves crash over and over as the sea is lulled to sleep, or to life, whichever way you choose to look at it. Wondering if I can go into the actual water, I float towards the surface and dive down. I can! The darkness becomes more intense as I travel deeper and towards the shelf or drop off. 

I pass by a few sharks and schools of fish that dart quickly away. Tiger sharks used to scare me when I surfed but they were always a part of life in the ocean. Now they just look majestic. I travel further out towards the open ocean before I decide to cut back towards shore. A high pitched clicking sound resounds in the water. 

Dolphins!

They swim and seem to swirl around me. Can they see me? One stops mere inches from where my ghostly face was and turns its head side to side, as if it is talking to me. I reach out with my arm and touch the hard rubber skin of the dolphin. I can feel it! The dolphin squeaks and clicks more. Then it takes off to join its friends. 

It could see me! 

Knowing that animals can see me brings back the look Timothy Earl Jones was making from detective Jones's upstairs window. He could see me and recognized me. Legends and rumors of pets being able to see passed on people were really true. It was stunning but not too surprising at the same time. There is always some truth to stories that you hear. 

I come out of the water and laze on the sand, well, above it rather as I can't actually sit anymore. I am able to feel sensations from when I was alive, such as the dolphin but not others like the feeling of sitting on something. Being dead is complicated still. And I haven't figured out anything about the actual 'afterlife'. 

There appears to be time though, so I decide to check out more of my favorite island town. 

🩸

Haleiwa was formed officially in the 1800's with the establishment of a grand hotel, for that time. It attracted railway workers and the Waialua Sugar Cane Company. Mostly barren save for red dirt and palms, the ocean proved to be the backdrop that drew people in. Before this though, history is fraught with the stories of how Queen Liliuokalani was displaced and held under house arrest by owners of the sugar cane and pineapple companies. 

The US government then annexed it as a territory until 1959, when it became in effect, the countries 50th state. Native Hawaiians, those with roots well back in time before any outsiders came, still hold anger and hatred for the US coming in the way they did. It was and still is a hot button issue for certain families. Though surfing has revived the island economy and also the large military presence, Hawaii still retains something other states haven't been able to do. It is the most isolated place on earth. 2,400 miles from any other land masses.

My family loved bringing me here as a child and my dad taught me to surf in Haleiwa. He would say how much better the breaks were compared to Ewa Beach. I had hoped to bring my child here someday, if I was given the chance to have one. 

Life though, had other plans. 

Floating by the empty shopping centers, I marvel at how beautiful this part of the island is. It's country charm and surf style rolled into one. There really is no other place like it on earth. 

Meow!

I glance down and see a mangy cat looking up at me from within the shadows of the parking lot. 

Meow, meow!

I float back down to the ground by the cat and crouch, extending my hand. 

"Aren't you a cute thing? I bet you want food!"