Today is the first day of school.

From where I stand, in a garden classroom, I can see the main campus. A towering Victorian structure in such a severe state of disrepair as to be almost falling down dominates an open green surrounded by barran willows. To its right and up onto a low knoll, a five story lighthouse rises, striped like a barber pole in black and white.

On the left, down a long hill, a village stands at harborside. In that harbor are anchored three ship. One is huge, a steamship from the early Twentieth Century, another is a tall ship, sails hanging limply in a lack of wind. The third is a liner from the 1950’s.

I know these ships – a stab of recognition flows through me. They are the Titanic, the Flying Dutchman and the Andrea Doria.

“Class, class, come to order,” a disembodied matriarchal voice intones.

A buzz of conversation falls away to silence, as the voice continues, “Ecto-university welcomes all new ghost students. This class is called Haunting 101”

The teacher materializes.