Billy Monroe was raised in a family that did not believe in participating in any type of organized religious pursuit. Knowing this, Billy was free to dabble in what some might call the occult. He was first drawn to the strangeness of the paranormal when he realized that his sister, Sophie Monroe, experienced an odd phenomenon in which she failed to recognize reality once she had awaken from sleep. On some occasions, she would seem lost for days while on others she would only appear displaced for a few moments. Billy did not know what could possibly cause this strange behavior, but he grew up watching his sister suffer as a result of this mystery.

One evening, Billy and his sister, found themselves looking through some old boxes that were located in the shed that sat in their parents back yard. They were simply looking to see if they wanted to keep anything before it was placed in a garage sell the next week. Billy, tossing everything of disinterest to the side, suddenly came upon a certain box. He turned toward his sister,

 

“Sophie,” he said slowly and quietly as if trying not to be heard, “look. We might be able to find out why you have those dreams.”

Sophie looked at the box that her dear brother held facing upright in both of his hands, and saw written on the front of the box, “Ouija.”

The siblings worked hard to sneak this box, which had been previously owned by their parents, into Billy’s room, which was located on the second floor. They had planned to go into Billy’s room after everyone else was asleep. Billy had seen this type of communication take place on television and claimed to have tried it with a friend once before. Sophie simply wanted answers as to why she experienced the things that she did.

 

They cleared Billy’s floor, pointed a flashlight toward the Ouija Board, and turned out the lights just in case their parents were to pass by. Sophie closed the door and sat down with her brother, who already had his hands on the eyepiece. Sophie placed her hands on it as well and both of their hearts began beat slightly faster than just moments before. The two siblings noticed that there were scratches on the surface of the board. They looked at each other and Billy began to speak as he had witnessed people on the television speak, “Are there any spirits in the room with us?”

 

When the eyepiece began to move, it startled both Sophie and Billy. They quickly moved their hands away. Still the eyepiece moved closer to the upper right-hand corner of the board and over the word “yes”.

 

Billy and Sophie, now breathless, looked at each other once again. Sophie asked the question that had been haunting her for as long as she could remember, “What is happening to me?”

The two watched as the pointer began to move once again on it’s own: first to the letter D, then to the letter R. The two siblings glanced at each other very quickly and their hearts began to turn within their chests. The eyepiece continued to the letter E, then A, then M. The pointer stopped for a few moments then moved over the following letters: R-E-A-L. Then it moved up and paused over the word “yes” and the word “no”. Billy looked at his sister and whispered, “I think that was a question.”

Sophie, now drawing closer to the board answered, “Yes.” Whatever could have been communicating with them obviously knew about the phenomenon occurring while Sophie slept. “What is happening to me?” asked Sophie once more with a slightly harsher tone. The pointer began to move once again. This time spelling the words: S-I-C-K-N-E-S-S, D-E-A-T-H.

At this moment, Sophie became more afraid than she had ever been in the past, and both siblings began to shed tears. This was not the answer that Sophie wanted, “Why?” she screamed. The pointer moved again, only this time quicker and more violently than before: I-A-M-K-I-L-L-I-N-G-Y-O-U.

Sophie backed up against a wall and covered her face with both of her hands. Now she was crying so profusely that the carpet directly under her face became damp. Billy, who was also crying, hit the board, breaking it in two, while asking, “Who are you?”

The pointer stayed on the left side of the board and moved over the letters: G-O-D.

The eyepiece then hurled through the air, almost as if it was thrown, and hit the wall next to Sophie’s face. Billy stood up, grabbed his older sister by the hand, and pulled her to her feet, “We have to get out of here.”

As they ran from the room, the flashlight that they had used so that they could see caught fire.

The smoke detector began to sound, waking up Billy and Sophie’s parents. It was early in the morning and this family was now watching their house burn to the ground. This was the moment that Billy Monroe decided that he would be a paranormal investigator. Sophie did not die, but she did become a sort of recluse. The mystery behind her dreams would not be solved for some time, but she would not give up hope. The two siblings would have many questions to answer in the days that followed and perhaps they might learn the story behind the scratch that had previously tainted the board.

 

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This short story does not answer many questions about the characters presented. The book I am currently working on, Rebellion, portrays Sophie at a later stage in her life in high school. No, the mystery behind her dreams is not answered, or even brought up, in the book but you may notice some things that this mysterious phenomenon might cause to happen. I plan on expanding this particular short story in the future into two books. One elaborating on and solving Sophie’s mystery and one following Billy’s future career as a paranormal investigator.

 

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To download your free copy of the already published, Six Feet Deep, please visit www.christoa.com

 

Thank you for your support and God Bless!