I died, [ he quips back, with a grin and a spark in his eyes — it's easy to laugh about this, make jokes like it doesn't matter, far easier than it is to talk about it all in seriousness.

he does try, though, sobering up a little as he thinks of the mechanics of it all. ]

Well, you see, back home when you die, Death comes for you, yeah? But if you hide from her, you'll stick around on Earth as a ghost. That's what I did.

[ yeah — he is only focusing on the part about becoming a ghost, not his actual death. even though it's been so long, he still can't talk about it casually like this. ]