Note: This was an assignment for my Langauage Arts class... Yes, this actually happened.

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An eighteenth century poet, Thomas Gray, once stated “Ignorance is bliss” Sometimes I smile in envy at those who are completely ignorant, at other times I want to laugh at them, because they do not know what they are missing out on. Please, do not misunderstand me; I believe that everyone is in some way ignorant. I also believe that, if people in society today became open minded and empathetic, the world would be a much better place. I perceive myself as a very empathetic person, however this event in my life taught me to think more deeply in situations. I became a bit more open minded than before. This is why I chose this particular event; it was a small turning point in my life.

Another flash lit the room as I took a picture of the corner of the room with my digital camera. I snapped another picture and scanned through them searching for even the smallest distortion. A friend of mine, Richard Hathaway, told me the story of his house being haunted. About how at night, his closet rattled and shook. Why would this be so interesting to me? It is a hobby of mine, I ghost hunt. I took one last picture and set down my camera on the living room table. Besides Richard, there were a few other people that I had brought along with me. This included Isamar Valenzuela, Morgan Harper, and Tiffany Bubryckie.

“I brought the board with me.” I said as I took the light neon green board from my backpack.

“You brought a ouija board?” Tiffany asked in excitement. I nodded in reply and asked where I should set it up. We all decided to go in the kitchen and try it out. A ouija board is a board allowing the user the speak with the deceased. There are many rules that must be followed in order to use the board. If even one of them is failed to be followed, the outcome could be dangerous. But, because of my lack of experience then, there was one rule that I did not know of. When using the ouija board, one must always have a cross nearby. We failed to follow that rule, simply because there was no one to inform me. All of us were very interested in the supernatural. However, Tiffany had more experience with the ouija, but she still did not know of this rule.

The board was placed in the middle of the kitchen table; everybody placed one finger on the planchette while Richard turned off the lights. The planchette is a small triangular device with a hole in the middle, it is used the point to the letters on the board. The board glowed bright green in the dark. The only thing that could be heard in the darkness was the heavy breathing of the others.

“Who are we going to contact first?” asked Morgan. We hadn’t exactly thought of that, before we set up the board.

“Could we try contacting my brother?” Isamar asked out of the blue. Everyone was silent for a second and we all agreed. We also agreed that Isamar was the one who should be the channelespeakr, she had the most closest relationship to him.

“We would like to contact Walter Enrichée Conrtreras Valenzuela.” Isamar said in to tthe dark. We all stared at the board, waiting for something to happen; even the breathing noises were gone. The planchette didn’t budge, and everyone let out their breaths that they were holding.

“It’s not working; let’s try talking to someone else.” Isamar suggested. We agreed, so that our minds would be off of it.

“I know who we can call. Lets call my grandpa; he and I were really close.” Richard urged us to call him. “Paul Irving Hathaway, we would like to speak to you. Are you there?” Richard began, “Poppy, are you there?” There was more silence, but this time there was a small twitch. The planchette slowly moved toward ‘yes’. My heart was pounding in my ears, or maybe I was hearing the pounding of my friend’s hearts. We asked him some questions and gradually became relaxed.

“So, how is the afterlife Poppy?” asked Richard as a joke. The planchette did not budge. From the glow of the board I could see the puzzled looks of my friends. “Poppy are you there? Who is this?” The planchette moved, but it didn’t go to the ‘yes’. It crept over to the ‘W’. The next letter was ‘A’ and after that followed an ‘L’. Isamar covered her mouth with her hand to hold in a gasp. The air in the room suddenly became chilly, and had a faint melancholy feel to it.

“Walter?” Isamar choked out. The breathing quickened as the board continued to finish the name. ‘T’ the room felt like ice. ‘E’ my face started burning up. By ‘R’ everyone was having mixed feelings of panic and excitement. I could see Morgan next to Isamar covering his own mouth with a tear streaming down his face. Witnessing a once in a life time experience.

“Walter? It’s me, your sister.” She cried, trying to keep her tears back. I kept my face expressionless, as still as stone. Just staring waiting for the message. “Are you okay?” the planchette moved to ‘yes’.

“Isamar, keep asking him questions to make him stay.” Tiffany urged her. Isamar nodded and asked if he missed their mom and dad. He replied with another ‘yes’. Suddenly the planchette stopped moving. It was slowly movingto the ‘D’ and then from there it moved to the ‘E’. Tiffany gasped,

“Guys, if the board spells out ‘dead’ that means we’re talking to the devil.” A hush fell over the room. Everyone stopped breathing. It felt like time stopped, I could feel the vibrations of everyone trembling, it felt like someone was pressing ice against my skin and putting lit matches near my face. The planchette inched its way towards the ‘A’ but, before it could reach it Richard got up and flipped the board over and ran out of the kitchen with everyone else following behind him. Everyone left, but me. Right then, my mind was trying to comprehend the events that had just happened, but there was this noise. It was a small buzzing noise that hummed in my mind keeping me from thinking straight. I snapped back into reality and noticed that I was sitting alone in that dark kitchen with no one else around.

Richard quickly turned the lights back on and popped his head in.

“Esther, what are you still doing here?” He scolded. I stared up and asked,

“Where’d the board go?”