The Message

Something is contacting Janine from the other side and they've got something to say.

A heaviness filled the air, claustrophobic, setting Janine’s hairs on end. A fist gripped her chest. Something lurked in the room with her.

The mirror above the fireplace shook as if someone grabbed it. Her eyes widened but she couldn’t see anything else in the reflection. The lights flickered on and off, casting shadows they lit up just as quick.

“Stop it,” Janine screamed. “Stop it.”

A voice, disembodied and everywhere at once, said, “I have a message for you.”

“No,” she said, “Leave me alone!”

She covered her ears, sinking into the corner of the room. The lights flashed on and off, blinding, not blinding.

“Please.” The single word swirled echoed through the air.

The voice repeated, “I have a message for you. Listen.”

The mirror fell off the wall, shattering against the tiled floor. A couple of books tumbled off the shelf, landing spread out with their spines broken. The lights flashed so fast, they pulsed in time with her thundering heartbeat.

“Janine, we know you’re with us. You can move on,” the voice said, “You don’t have to stay here.”

The words punched her in the chest. Her hands lowered from her ears. As soon as she did, the lights froze on.

The voice repeated, “You can move on, Janine.”

Memories flashed through her mind. Playing hide and seek, tripping, hitting the corner of the brick fireplace, the darkness.

“No,” she whispered.

It couldn’t be real. Scattered mirror shards wiggled on the floor.

The voice repeated, “Let it go. You don’t need to stay.”

Understanding flared through her. The voice was right. It was a terrible accident. She traced her fingers across the mantle of the fireplace, feeling her death in the bricks. Now that she had acknowledged it, she let it go.