Playing With Fire

The floorboards creaked as I walked across them, making my way to the tiny window. Cobwebs hung from the ceiling, and dust covered the floor. My breath came in shuttering gasps, thanks to the hike up the lighthouse's steps. It had required much less effort to climb up them 40 years ago when Joey, George, Molly, and I had snuck up here to have some of her dad's beers.

George had suggested we bring the Ouija board since it was Halloween night. Joey, my boyfriend, was George's best friend, and he seemed excited, so I went along with it. We had practically run up the stairs, each carrying a six-pack, with the Ouija board tucked under George's arm. We had spread a blanket on the floor and made ourselves comfortable with the board in the center.

I remember how the planchette felt under my fingers. Wooden and hard, of course, but I swore it had energy coming from it.

"Do you feel that?" I had asked, but no one did.

George said, "Did you know they invented the Ouija Board in 1891 and claimed the device would answer questions about the past, present, and future with marvelous accuracy?"

We each had a finger on the planchette when he calmly said, "Tell me about my present."

The planchette moved, and we stared at one another. The device eerily slid to the left "F." Then "A." Then "L." Until finally, coming to a stop on "L" a second time. "Fall," George said, "Well, it is currently fall!"

Molly had piped up, "Maybe it means you are falling in love." The two exchanged a winsome look, and I rolled my eyes. Not to be outdone by his buddy, Joey asked the board to show him his past. It slowly moved to new letters... C... A... T.

"Cat?" Joey was not impressed, and none of us could figure out what that was supposed to mean. Molly quickly piped up because it seemed like the boys were losing interest.

"Show me the future, please!" No doubt, she wanted some confirmation from the spirits that she and George were soulmates. The planchette once again began moving on command. First to the W, then the E, then the D twice, and finally I, N, and G. She had squealed with delight, "Wedding!" This time it was Joey who rolled his eyes.

It was my turn now, and I also asked about the present. The planchette whipped toward "NO" on the corner of the board. We tried again, thinking something had gone wrong. It didn't move from "NO."

"Ok," I said, "Tell me about the future." This time the pointer moved and spelled out the word CANDLE. We got bored after that because 'candle' made about as much sense as 'cat.' We had continued to drink and tell scary stories about ghosts and demons. It was late when we packed up, leaving the forgotten board under the window.

George led the way out, rushing to get down the stairs. He turned to say something, but he had been drinking and lost his footing. I can still hear him screaming in my mind as he fell over the railing and hit the ground at the bottom of the lighthouse. It would be days later at his funereal that we remembered the Ouija board spelled out the word fall.

Life went on the way it always does. Joey and I had broken up, and he had come out as a gay man. We ran into each other one day, and he was gaunt, pale, and bald. I asked what had happened, and he told me he had contracted AIDS. He also had found out that at some point, he had been exposed to Toxoplasma. His prognosis was grim. I wasn't sure what that was, and he explained it is a parasite found in cat feces that lays dormant in the body. His AIDS diagnosis had caused it to flare up, and it was killing him. He died on Halloween night, 10 years after George.

Molly and I were still close, and it took her years to get over George and the way he died. She focused all her energy on getting a Ph. D. in Molecular Biology. That didn't leave much time for dating, which was why it took her 20 years to find Mr. Right. Their wedding was scheduled for September, but her mom got so sick she had to be hospitalized. They only day her venue could reschedule it was Halloween night. The wedding ceremony itself went off without a hitch, and we let our guard down. At the reception, while we were dancing, she tripped on her dress and hit her head on the speaker. She died later at the hospital.

I light the candle in my hand, setting on the window sill for a moment. At my feet lies the Ouija board, untouched after all these years. I open it back up, touching my fingers to the pointer. "Do you know why I am here?" I ask the board.

"YES"

"Why did you take my friends?" I inquire quietly.

"Because you lied. You said you would bring me back."

"I have tried for two lifetimes to bring you back, but it isn't working..."

"Try again."

I sigh heavily. The smell of my gasoline-soaked clothes is making my head hurt. I can't keep doing this. I should have never made that deal all those years ago. I grab the Ouija board and clutch it to me, thinking I have found a way to end it all. I set the candle on the floor near the bottom of my dress, as I wait for the flames.