Each time I wrote a text message, I heard a voice. Whenever someone called instead of getting the usual ring tone, they got connected straight away. Never sure who was the most surprised. But my phone was different in that I also received voices of the dead.

Brad told me about his son Mikey who turned to alcohol after his brother died when his new car stalled on the railway crossing. He wanted Mikey to know that drink didn't solve anything and his mother needed support, not another lost boy.

Jane"s mother was a shopaholic. Her spare bedrooms had railings crammed full of dresses still unworn with price tags attached. She couldn't stop giving into her fashion urges even though she was now four sizes bigger than the clothes she buys. Jane came through on a Sunday. A quiet voice, humble, apologetic for disturbing me.

Ray was the one that unnerved me the most. Ex gangster. Aggressive in his insistence I pass on a message to his girlfriend April who had just given birth to his child. His name had to be the father on the certificate. Not that cheating Pete Davis. If that happened there would be hell to pay. Literally.

When the messages first started I did consider helping out but afterwards it proved difficult.

Today I spoke to Lorna as she started texting her boyfriend. She dropped the phone in shock. Lorna is my sister. She watched me die.