Amar’e stared disbelievingly at the two flesh-colored floating shapes before him. He cleared his eyes, but the ethereal balls of light remained. When they began to speak to him, he pinched himself to wake himself up from his dream, but found that he was not dreaming.
“Hello, Amar’e. We’ve missed you,” said a voice that came not from the forms themselves, but from inside his very head.
“What do you w-want?” Amar’e stammered in response, wondering if this was Satan finally coming to claim him for not being a good enough Jew.
“Don’t you recognize us, Amar’e?” responded the voice. “We were very dear to you, once upon a time.”
Amar’e began to panic, as something so obviously supernatural could only be malicious. “I’ll call a priest, he’ll know what to do!” he yelled, thinking back to all the stories of exorcisms that he had heard in his life. “My time on earth is not yet over!”
“Calm down, dude,” replied the voice, clearly unmoved by Amar’e’s threats. “We’re not Satan. We’re your knees.”
“But my knees are right here,” Amar’e said stupidly, looking down at his legs.
“Okay, technically your knees are still attached to you, but there’s no life in them. They’ve been dead for years. We’re that life, the two of us, and we’ve come back to say our final goodbyes.”
Amar’e gasped at this revelation, seeing the floating light-forms in an entirely new light. “But…can’t you just go back into my knees and make me dominant again?”
“I’m afraid it doesn’t work that away, Amar’e. You have damaged our homes too much for them to be inhabited. But don’t fret! We accomplished great things, you and us. We thank you, and now we must part ways once again.”
Amar’e reached out to touch his knee-spirits, but found they were not tangible. “Don’t leave,” he whispered.
There was no response this time. The two glowing lights faded away, and, right in front of Amar’e’s eyes, they were gone.