Cal Mackay was my auto mechanic for 10 years. He was a master mechanic and had started his own foreign car repair garage. He charged premium prices, but his work was excellent and when a repair didn’t work it was on him.

Like I said, Cal WAS a great mechanic. He had an accident with one of his car lifts. Actually, it was my Audi that was on the lift when the lift hydraulics failed just as he was setting up to work.

I wasn’t there, but Fred (his assistant manager) told me what happened that day. Cal died before the ambulance arrived and uttered his  last words to Fred. Cal declared he would come back as a benevolent ghost. I didn’t think any more about the ghost stuff because I knew Cal was always obsessed about the afterlife.

The accident happened 6 months ago. Five months ago my Audi started acting up. The radio would change channels, wipers would start on a sunny day, etc. Then strange happenings got stranger. While going to the dentist, the dashboard started flashing and words appeared on the screen: “Hey Jack, you are going to your dentist? Don’t go there, you’ll be sorry.”

Sure enough, when I got to the dentist’s office, I was told I wasn’t seeing my normal doctor. A fresh graduate would be doing my root canal. I looked at her, and quickly declined. In the car, I started my Audi then asked, “How did you know?”

“It’s easy, I can see everything, and I just wanted to warn you.”

I am about to put the car in drive when it hit me: Who/what is this thing? I turned the radio down, but it kept going back up, and the station went dead. The voice started singing “My Way” out of tune just like Cal sang it. This is very weird.

“Cal, is that you?”

“You bet your bippy!”

“What happened? Why are you in my Audi?”

“I had it all planned out and was going to ‘live as a ghost’ forever in my garage, but the accident short circuited something. So here I am! In your car.”

Cal had a sense of humor when he was alive. He started playing jokes when I was in the car. Cal hasn’t done anything dangerous so far. I never knew when it was going to happen. My wife was in the car once and Cal started singing. She tried to change the station to no avail. She came home telling me my car needed to be taken in because the radio seemed to have a mind of its own.

Cal used my phone to call people at random and texted messages to strangers. You wouldn’t believe the people who would call me about all the messages and calls he sent out. I now turn my phone off while driving. Turning the phone off isn’t that bad, I don’t get interrupted while listening to my favorite music.

Cal doesn’t say much but he does listen. I like talking to Cal while driving. He’s an interesting companion, and we can discuss any problem or issue. Cal is a counselor without the bills.

He can manipulate all the systems in the Audi. It’s like having a constant mechanic onboard. He’s saved me hundreds of dollars since he died and took up residence.

I did learn that my Audi had a faint glow at night thanks to Cal. So I made a bumper sticker saying “My Audi has an Aura. –Back off or my ghost will disable your car!”