Overview
Will is a central character in “Spirit of ‘87.” He is a ghost connected to The Formosa Club, where Rosemary Carson encounters him decades after his death.
Biography
Will appears to Rosemary as a blond young man in a collared shirt and loose red tie. He first watches her dance at The Formosa Club, then leads her toward the smoking section and a staff-only hallway. When Rosemary finds him in the dark, he introduces himself and says that he wanted to talk to her because he liked her dancing.
Will is partly translucent, fades in bright light, and cannot touch ordinary objects at first. He initially seems unaware that he is dead. He believes he lives in the San Fernando Valley and has come to the club to dance.
When Rosemary returns after closing, she shows Will the empty club and tells him that she thinks he is dead. He remembers trying to get home after leaving the club in 1987 and never making it back to his car after crossing Western. Rosemary tells him that the year is 2024.
Will is distressed when he realizes that his parents would be elderly or dead and that he cannot hold a drink. Rosemary tries to comfort him by describing her own life and the future’s changes.
The next night, Will dances with Rosemary in the empty club. He can touch her more easily while she is not looking, so she blindfolds herself. During the dance he becomes tangible enough for her to feel him.
He is last seen disappearing after an intimate final moment with Rosemary. The story leaves his fate unresolved, but Rosemary interprets the stillness afterward as a sign that he may have found rest.