Here’s another excerpt from The Doug Skinner Dossier (see last post). It’s the first bit of “Trevor’s New Job.”

TREVOR’S NEW JOB

“I didn’t think I’d need a job in the afterlife,” said Trevor.

Mr. Wallingford smirked at him from across his desk. “Didn’t you need a job in life?” he asked.

“Well, yes,” said Trevor, “but I thought I’d be a spirit here.”

“Spirit is just attenuated matter,” explained Mr. Wallingford, “and everything is as solid to us here as it is to the living. And just because you’re dead doesn’t mean you get free food and rent.” He thumped his desk for emphasis. It sounded solid to Trevor.

Mr. Wallingford picked up a sheet of paper.

“You,” he said, “will be put to work acting in people’s dreams.”

“What?” said Trevor. “Don’t people just dream?”

“Of course not. Dreams are professionally produced, and broadcast into sleeping brains.”

“What’s the point of that?”

“The point of all broadcasting: advertising. The sleeper may not remember his dreams, but his unconscious remembers the product.”

“Don’t I get to choose my job?” asked Trevor.

“Free will ended with your last heartbeat,” Mr. Wallingford curtly informed him. “Things are less anarchic on this side.”…