It’s not a game

Twirling a strand of dirty blonde hair around a slender, pale finger, Sarah glanced nervously around the room at the group of five friends, tension clogging the warm air. Everyone present was sitting in a tight circle, save for Sarah’s best friend, the devoted Christian of the group, Rachel. She was impatiently tapping her knuckles against the wall she leaned against, sweat pouring down her face from heat, and something else. She kept on glancing at the item the others had converged around, the reason why they were all here, and all so nervous.

In the center of the group was a wooden board. Carved into the board was two rows of letters, in alphabetic order, a row of numerals under that, then three words; yes, now, and good bye. Above the group creaked an old fashioned chandelier, ornately designed crystals pointing down at them like a dozen spear tips.

Julia, the one who had invited her friends over to her house on this hot, Halloween Night, glanced up at Rachel, who had increased her rhythmic tapping to a frantically annoying beating sound. Flipping her brown hair out of her eyes, she said,” Would you quit that and get over here?”

Fixing Julia with narrowed eyes, Rachel stopped tapping, and said,”And what, participate in the satanic act you’re about to commit? No, I don’t think so. But I’ll watch. As a believer of God.” As if to specify her comment, she reached inside her shirt, and pulled out her small, wooden cross, which hung around her neck on a simple gold chain.

Snorting, Julia glanced around the circle, looking each pale faced friend in the eye, and asked,” Fine, suit yourself. Who wants to go first?”

Nervously eyeing the Ouija Board, Carlos, the only guy there besides Josh, let out a held breath, and said,” Nah, I don’t know. I think I’m with Rachel on this one. Just watching this time."

Snorting again, Julia turned to Josh, and said,” You’ll do it, right?”

Now it was Josh’s turn to be nervous. “I dunno. Maybe this isn’t such a good idea...”

“Oh, you’re no fun! ", Julia snapped. “Fine then, I’ll go first.”

Suddenly as nervous as everybody else, Julia reached a trembling hand forward, and lightly placed it on the reader. Hesitating for a second, she asked,” Does this thing work?”

For a second, nothing. Then, like magic, the reader slowly slid across the floor, Julia’s hand to light to be pushing it on her own. The first letters were a W, an H, an A, and finally a T.

“What! ”, Carlos said excitedly,” The first word is What!”

After a second long pause, the reader moved on, marking a D, and an O; do.

Next came Y-O-U, then finally T-H-I-N-K. The final phrase was What do you think. Sarah was sure that if a question mark was on the board, the reader would have ended the sentence on that.

Snorting, Josh said,” What luck. Looks like this thing likes sarcasm.”

Sucking in an astonished breath, Julia next asked,” Is that true?”

Once again, as if by magic, the reader slowly slid across the board, until it landed over the Yes.

Rachel came closer, more out of fear than curiosity, holding her cross out like a shield. “God, it works”, she said in a hushed voice, then said, much angrier this time,” You must stop now! Satan’s agents only want to hurt you, not help you. Continued use of this object of evil will lead you to your doom.”

Ignoring her completely, Julia looked around the circle again, and said,” What should I ask it next? Something personal? How about the name of my next boyfriend. That would be cool.”

Shaking his head, Carlos said,” Nah, something more serious than your love life. How about... how about what college you’ll get accepted to!”

Sarah, who hadn’t said anything since they began using the board, spoke up, broaching,” How about when you’re going to die?”

Sarah’s quiet voice sliced through the group’s thoughts like a hot razor through butter. Horrified, Josh said,” Is that such a smart idea? I mean, do we really want to know that?”

But Julia seemed to make up her mind. “That’s a great idea, Rachel. Let’s put this board to the test.” Moving her hand to rest on the reader again, Julia quietly, almost unwillingly, asked,” When am I going to die?”

Once again, the board moved like magic, sliding smoothly to the first set of letters, which spelled R-I-G-H-T; right.

Heart pumping, Sarah felt a sense of foreboding overshadow her as the reader began moving again, and spelled out N-O-W. Now.

“Right now?”, Julia asked,” this thing must be bro-”

There was a sudden, unexpected snapping noise from above, then a loud, thundering crash. Looking up from the board with wide eyes, Sarah stared at the scene in front of her, absolutely horrified with what she just witnessed.

The chandelier, which had been hovering above them, had snapped free from its wire. And Julia, who had been sitting underneath it, had been crushed beneath it, her head on the floor, pointed at a weird angle, shards of broken crystal embedded in her cut up cheek. Blood slowly trickled out of her still open mouth, which had been about to form the word ‘broken’.

Rachel walked over, her mouth wide open, then instantly bent her head, closing her eyes and saying a prayer for her friend. A movement tore Sarah’s eyes from the horrifying site; the reader on the board was moving again. Silently, almost triumphantly, it moved to rest upon the words ‘Good Bye’.