Friday night seemed to come quickly. Annie talked to her mom about going to Zelda’s for the weekend and received a “have fun honey” before her mom went back to her laptop. For once she was grateful that she didn’t get a lot of questions. Annie was nervous about what they were about to do though she told herself she was silly for being so. They were just playing after all.  

Apparently the parchment paper was for making the ouija board. That was how they did it in the book Zelda read and she wanted to feel authentic. Plus, no one had a ride to the toy store to get one. It struck Annie as odd that they sold them in toy stores but after all they were a novelty right?

Annie grabbed the roll of parchment paper out of the overstuffed kitchen drawer and prepared to head out. Her mom wouldn’t notice it missing. They hardly ever baked anymore.

When she stepped out on the porch to begin her walk to Zelda’s she was struck by how cold it had become. Fall had arrived and it was getting dark earlier. The shortened days signaled the coming of winter which Annie liked because it meant an excuse to stay inside and read or write.

Zelda’s house was just one block over. It was typical for their neighborhood, a two story three bedroom with a basement that was the size of the first floor. The outsides of the houses were all about the same with little touches of difference to the siding or the window trim and color. Annie liked their neighborhood. It was cozy and people took care of their homes. She didn’t think you needed to have a big fancy house like some others in town to be happy.

Walking up the front steps she was met by Zelda’s mom, Mrs. Williams. Mrs. Williams always seemed glamorous to Annie. She had her makeup and hair done no matter what they were doing and wore stylish clothes. The most striking thing about Mrs. Williams was her amazing hair. It was fiery red like you would read about in a book. She wore it long and full and curled it so that it was like a Disney princess, completely unreal. Annie’s mom was a practical black and navy and minimal jewelry kind of mom. She didn’t have time to pay much attention to what she thought were frivolous things. 

“Annie, so nice to see you. It’s been too long.” Zelda’s mom always had something similar to say even if she’d just seen her. It was predictable but still welcoming and warm.

“Hi Mrs. Williams. Thank you for having me. I like your scarf. It’s very pretty.” Annie liked to compliment Mrs. Williams when she could slip it in. She felt like it was returning the favor of feeling accepted and part of the family.

“Oh, you’re always so sweet Annie. Thank you. Zelda’s in the basement. Do you want to put your things in her room?”

“I’ll just run down first, thanks.” Annie didn’t want to call attention to her unusual package.

She made her way to the stairs by the laundry room, careful to circumvent Zelda’s two new dogs. Annie liked dogs in general but these were pomeranians and very jumpy and sniffy. Her parents said they didn’t have time for pets so she wasn’t used to being around animals. It was awkward trying to fend off Zelda’s dogs with Mrs. Williams in the background ineffectively calling them off. They had recently been rescued from a shelter and Annie wondered if the previous owners had lost them on purpose.

Zelda was downstairs with a coffee table pulled into the middle of the room. The basement had a mix of furniture that didn’t quite go together but still felt cozy. Ben had his t.v. and xbox in the corner with a gamer chair and his bed on the opposite wall near the bathroom door. It was like his own studio apartment minus the kitchen. Claire hadn’t arrived yet and Annie plopped her stuff down to join Zelda at the table.

Zelda greeted her with “O.k. pull out a sheet of paper this big.” She put her hands apart about three feet.

Annie obeyed and placed the paper on the table. Zelda had a short, unlit candle, a clear drinking glass and a sharpie marker next to her. She proceeded to use the sharpie to write the alphabet around the parchment paper in a circle. Then, she put x’s in circles within the alphabet circle on opposite sides of each other. In the middle she drew an empty circle.

“What are the x’s for?” Annie asked.

“They’re if the board wants to take something back.”

“Take something back?”

“Yeah, like a do over or a backspace.”

Annie doubted that the ouija board would autocorrect but she knew better than to argue with Zelda when she was this determined.

Just then a shadow obstructed the light coming from the stairwell. Zelda grabbed a towel she produced out from under the table to cover the ouija board. She took the candle and placed it in her lap.

“Oh it’s just you,” she said when she realized the shadow was Claire.

“Nice to see you too,” Claire retorted but she wasn’t offended. It took more than that to upset Claire. “What’s under the towel? You’re not very subtle,” Claire laughed.

In an overly dramatic low voice Zelda declared “It’s our portal to another world.”

Annie looked back and forth between them and waited for Claire’s reaction. She again didn’t seem affected and took the towel off to see what they were dealing with.

“Well, for a portal it’s not very intimidating is it? Is that parchment paper?” Claire was not impressed.

“It is.” Zelda was unphased by Claire’s scrutiny. She brought out the candle and matches and began to explain.. “We light the candle and hold the glass over the flame. Then we whisper our question into the glass, put the glass upside down on the circle in the middle and wait for our answer. We each have to put a finger on the glass and it will move from letter to letter to spell out what it wants to say.”

Claire let out a derisive laugh that was almost a snort. “O.k. and what happens when one of us is obviously pushing the glass?”

“That’s not gonna happen. We’re putting our finger on it gently. You’ll see!”

Annie wasn’t so convinced. This was kind of silly like playing the magic 8 ball game they had when they were little. It wasn’t going to work.

“Come on,” directed Zelda. “Let’s do it. I’ll go first.”

Zelda first lit the candle and placed it next to the parchment paper. Then she picked up the glass and hovered it over the flame for a few seconds, the flame burning brighter the closer the glass closed in on it. She then held it up to her mouth, looked at Annie and Claire with a mischievous wink and placed the glass on the middle circle.

“O.k. put your fingers on it.”

Annie and Claire did as they were told and placed their fingers lightly on top of the overturned glass. Zelda did the same.

They waited a good thirty seconds and… nothing.

“Well?” Claire queried.

“O.k. maybe I need to say it louder.” Zelda again took the glass and held it to her lips. Her whisper was more audible but Annie and Claire still couldn’t make out the words.

“Again.” Zelda said.

They placed their fingers on the underside of the glass and waited. And waited. Just when Annie was about to say she was done, it budged, just the tiniest bit, a little hop.

Claire immediately turned on Zelda. “You did that!”

Zelda tried to object but couldn’t keep a straight face. “O.k., yeah, that was me,” she laughed. “I’ll try again, louder.”

Claire sighed but waited patiently while Zelda prepared to do her ritual once more. Annie felt silly and uncomfortable sitting on the floor. Any trepidation Annie had had was fading as each of Zelda’s subsequent attempts yielded nothing.

Finally Claire said, “Let me try.”

Claire took the glass from Zelda, held it over the flame as she had done and held the glass to her mouth. “Is this ever going to work?” she asked it loud enough for Annie and Zelda to hear and placed the glass on the circle.

The girls waited, fingers poised on the glass as they had done before. Annie had little hope until the glass moved just the slightest. “Come on Zelda,” she said.

“No. It’s not me.” 

They all stared back at the glass as it started to move slowly in a small circle, circling the rim of the starting place on the board.

Claire looked at Annie and Zelda. “It’s not me,” she whispered.

Annie knew she wasn’t the one who moved it and by the looks on the other girls’ faces they were telling the truth. The glass was moving under their fingers, lightly and deliberately in a circle. Annie’s fingers were touching it but she knew she wasn’t putting enough pressure on the glass to make it move and if Zelda and Claire were it would have felt like dragging. 

The glass started to move toward the letters now more swiftly and deliberately, zeroing in on the letter “y”, then the letter “e” and finally, the “s” before finding its way back to the circle in the middle of the board. When it stopped they snatched their hands away as quickly as if it had burned them.

Annie, Zelda and Claire stared at the glass. Annie wasn’t afraid at that moment. She was exhilarated and breathless, like she had just gotten off a roller coaster.

Claire, not so much. “I’m out of here. I’m not doing this. This is crazy,” she said and jerked away from the table. She looked at Annie and Zelda eyes wide with shock. “This isn’t o.k.”

“Come on Claire. We’re just getting started. If you don’t like it after five minutes we’ll stop.” Zelda was bargaining, hoping Claire would be her normal laid back self but this wasn’t feeling like a normal laid back kind of night.

“Maybe we’re just moving it and don’t realize it,” Annie offered the explanation but didn’t believe it herself. This was a shock for sure, an astounding discovery. The three of them looked from one to the other, not sure what to do next.

Then Annie was the first to break the silence and said to Zelda, “Wanna try again?” The answer from Zelda was obvious judging by the eager look in her eyes. Annie and Zelda turned to Claire who nodded ever so slightly, resigned to trying once more.

Zelda again took the glass, held it over the candle and whispered into it. They placed their fingers gingerly on top and didn’t have to wait long before it began to circle the starting point on the board, as if thinking of its next move. Again, it spelled out “yes.”

Zelda looked at Annie and Claire, “I just asked it ‘are you here?’”

“Ask it something that’s not yes or no. Ask it something more complicated” Annie insisted.

Zelda whispered into the glass again, this time forgetting the candle step. Again, the glass circled the starting point, thinking, before it started to spell out “if you like.” Zelda gasped and Annie felt her heart speed. Claire was pale.

“I asked if it was alright if we asked more questions.”

“That’s a yes or no question,” Annie pointed out.

“Don’t be so picky. It worked didn’t it?” Zelda said while Claire seemed frozen, unlike her usually outgoing self. 

Zelda picked up the glass again. This time she not only forgot the candle but just asked straight out loud, “Can I ask about my family?” The glass moved again, more quickly this time and spelled out, “of course.”

“Well it’s awfully nice isn’t it?” Annie giggled nervously. The glass moved again to “of course” and Annie and Zelda both let out a little squeal of delight. Claire was silent.

“Will my brother ever get a job?” Annie was exasperated that it was another “yes or no” question, but the board didn’t disappoint. Quickly the glass moved over the letters, finally spelling out the word “packing.” This was odd to Annie but looking at the expression on Zelda’s face she knew it meant something.

“My brother is trying to get a shipping job at Amazon. I wonder if that’s what it means. My parents are pissed that they paid for college and now he’s going for that. It’s a whole thing.”

Zelda and Annie looked at each other and Annie felt this was so unreal. How could this be working? It was just a piece of paper that Zelda scribbled on. 

Claire’s hands seemed to be shaking and she wiped them on her pants. Annie could tell she was nervous but didn’t want to break up the trio or stop for that matter. This was too amazing to jeopardize losing Claire in case it might only work with three people. Annie felt that that might be selfish but it didn’t stop her from saying, “Let me have a turn.”