" How tidy this one is; so unusual for a man his age. Look how careful he is with his boxes, he has even put labels on them too: dishes, shoes, books..oh I like him already!"
Anna stood by the window watching the newcomer with wide eyes, occasionally smoothing the creases of her ancient skirt with her fingers or tucking a black lock of hair behind her ear making little comments about how he did this and that and letting out short, delicious sighs about his shoulder blades, his glossy brown hair or his bright, green eyes that focused here and there.
"My point exactly!" she blurted out "This is where I had my bookcase too, it is the obvious spot for it. This is what I was trying to tell the others but noooo, they put it by the window or opposite the door..but not you. You know where to put your things...I like you already." she sighed and watched the man collapse on the sofa, closing his eyes from exhaustion.
Anna went to him and sat by his feet. She waited for the man's breathing to deepen and then she leaned over his ear.
"What is your name?" she whispered
"Oliver..my name is Oliver." he mumbled.
"Welcome home Oliver." Anna said and tenderly ran her fingers through the man's hair.
"Your name is Oliver and you are going to set me free." Anna muttered softly.
The razor blade run like a snowboard through the shaving cream on his neck opening a smooth, glistering path right over his Adam's apple.
"His name is Oliver and he is the same as all the others before him."
The voice startled her and she turned around, walked out of the bathroom and followed the voice to the living room where a young, pleasantly looking man was sitting casually on the sofa, his legs resting on the coffee table in front of him.
"Surprised to see me?" the man asked with a smile. "Anna, you have another calling. It's time to go..come" said the man offering his hand.
"I will not do such a thing." Anna snapped and turned her back on the young man who lowered his hand and sighed.
"There is nothing for you here. It's time to move on..."
"He will find me and set me free. I will travel around the world, see the places I haven't seen. I will fly over the sea, this time I will succeed, you'll see.."
"It doesn't work this way, I've told you a million times before..." the man said.
"And how would you know? Have you ever done it? The answer is always the same, isn't it?"
The man moved towards her.
Just then Oliver walked in the room; he spread his feet on the sofa and turned on the TV.
"He is a good man, he will do it." she said.
"No, he will not and in the end he will go like all the others, one way or another.." the man said looking at him.
"Why are you here?" Anna asked suspiciously.
"I told you, tonight you have another calling."
"Calling...I am not giving up my consciousness for your spiritual crap. I am staying right here.."
"Why? What's left for you here? The trunk in the attic?"
"My body is here, I still have hope."
"You don't belong here, you should come with me."
"I went with you once and this is what I got..you tricked me Nathaniel...God's gift. Why do you have that name anyway? You were anything but a gift to me. I should never have followed you, never!" she said sadly.
"You had no choice, it was your time..how can you hold a grudge on me after all this time Anna?" Nathaniel's buttery eyes melted and she quickly regretted her words.
"Well.... I have a choice now. I am keeping my memories, I am keeping myself, I'm keeping this life, he will set me free and I will go far away."
"Where will you go Anna?"
" To New Zealand, the Easter islands, I will fly over the clouds.." Anna said and looked tenderly at Oliver who was now in the tiny kitchen fixing something quick to eat.
"Come with me tonight, and who knows, maybe you will visit these places sooner than you think. I'll pull a few strings, people owe me favours, I will set you somewhere South, maybe Australia, maybe New Zealand...just please come with me. It's been 100 years Anna, it's time."
"And what about my consciousness? What about that? My memories, my feelings, my life, everything I've done? What will happen to them?"
Nathaniel came close to Anna and took her in his arms. She rested her cheek on his dark corduroy jacket.
"I am sorry..." Anna whispered
"Maybe next time Anna, whenever you are ready, when you see that he.."
" You don't know that..he is different, he will do it."
"Goodbye Anna." he said and pulled away.
Anna raised her hand in goodbye but God's gift was already gone.
From experience Anna knew that a new resident needs at least one month to settle into a new home, get to know the surroundings and familiarize oneself with its sounds, so she allowed one month go by without attempting any contact with Oliver. She followed his every move in the house and tried to get to know him better so as to have enough information to decide how to approach the task of assigning him the unearthing of her long dead body.
Apparently, Oliver was not the social kind, with only a couple of friends visiting him, no steady girlfriend and a love for his computer which was where he spent most of his time at home.
He woke up early every morning, showered and shaved and went to work which had something to do with computers. He came back early in the afternoon and either went out or spent the evening quietly alone.
"Definitely not the spiritual kind." Anna decided first.
Won't convince him in his sleep so I will have to use the board again" she thought and sighed.
Anna didn't like the board; no privacy, no safety, can possibly put him in danger.
"And I hate all the stupid theatrics." she mumbled.
On the night of the Grain Moon, a hot, sticky night, the attic floor started to shake and pound.
"Wake up Oliver! Wake up and meet me in the attic! Wake up!"
"What the..." Oliver said and his eyes popped open only to see the IKEA ceiling light dancing above his head.
Despite his young age and tech background, Oliver turned out to be braver than Anna expected him to be.
"Who's there?" he shouted while climbing the narrow stairs to the attic empty-handed. He pushed the door open and turned on the light.
Someone or something had obviously been in the room because here and there books, old clothes and broken furniture had exploded covering every part of the small room.
"Look down Oliver! At your feet!" Anna shouted almost pressing Oliver's head towards the floor.
"Look! Look!" she beckoned.
And this is how Oliver got hold of the old Ouija Board.
Step 1 complete; he found the key now he has to use it.
"Ouija, Ouija, Ouija..."
"Is anybody here?"
"What is your name?"
"Are you a good spirit?"
Anna was pacing up and down the living room. Things hadn't gone as she had expected.
Oliver had spent the previous night on the Internet researching the Ouija board which led him to turn to one of his colleagues for help, a silly, faint-hearted woman. Supposedly, she was an expert in these matters.
"What is your name?" the woman with glasses as thick as beer bottles pressed in a deep voice.
"Always the same stupid questions, the same stupid rituals, as if the dead need special instructions." Anna said and sat down next to the woman.
"Please go, I need to talk to him alone, just go!" she breathed on her face and watched the woman's hair move slightly.
"It's obvious there's nobody here Oliver." the woman said finally, "Maybe we should try another time."
"I'm sorry for dragging you here Marion." he apologised
"Nonsense! I'd love a good scare if there was one to be had.." Marion said shrugging her shoulders.
"Ts..ts..." Anna said shaking her head.
Marion was escorted to the door, at least she was easy to get rid of. When Oliver came back into the room he was shocked to see that the old wooden planchette was moving like crazy on the board.
"What the....?" he exclaimed and picked up the notebook and pen.
"H-E-L-P-M-E!" Anna spelt, she thought it was always better to cut to the chase, and so she moved the thing over the letters again and again.
"Who are you?" Oliver asked sitting on the floor, addressing the board.
"A-N-N-A" the planchette said.
"Anna...Are you a good spirit Anna?" he asked his mouth almost touching the board now.
"No, unless get a move on..." Anna said her arms clutching her waist like a scorned mother. A few moments later the planchette moved to yes.
"What do you want?" Oliver asked in a trembling voice.
Five hours and a six pack later, Oliver had the whole story written down letter by letter.
"This isn't happening.."he muttered. "I have to dig out an ancient skeleton from this very house, your skeleton so that you can travel the world?" Oliver said and emptied his last can.
"Ancient???" Anna bellowed. "This isn't happening!" Anna said and collapsed on the sofa.
"This is crazy...I don't even know if this is really real, I need some other proof that you are here...I need another beer!" he shouted and picked himself from the sofa.
Anna saw his red eyes glister against the cold, fridge light. He stared at the six pack for a long time before picking it up.
"I don't know Anna," he said sitting right next to her. "How do I know I am not hallucinating or something? Madness runs in my family you know...I might be next. Schizophrenia...Oh God." he said and drained the can.
"The board is all we have Oliver." Anna said and her eyes itched. "Please, you are my last chance.."
Anna spelt it on the board and let the planchette fall on the floor; the board was all she ever had and this time it would have to do.
"Anna, is that really you? I found it in the city records, died of tuberculosis..you died so young..I am sorry.."
"Me too." Anna whispered and together they stared at the pretty picture.
"So is this really you?" Oliver shouted looking at the ceiling.
Anna smiled and moved the planchette to yes.
"My...you are ancient, beautiful but ancient.." he said and laughed.
Anna looked at him angrily and slapped him across the face.
"You don't like it when I call you ancient, do you? I can almost smell it in the air." he said and sniffed.
"I found your photo in the Town Hall, I thought I should do some digging before I do the actual digging of your remains. Tomorrow I will look for the house plans, your....body should be buried in the old part of the house, I just need to find which part is that.
Anna felt her eyes well-up. He was worth the wait after all.
"T-H-A-N-K-Y-O-U-O-L-I-V-E-R"
"You are welcome Anna. So tell me why are you still here, are there others with you?"'
The planchette moved from side to side, sometimes fast others slowly. Oliver wrote down every letter one by one and beer after beer. He never run out of questions and she never run out of things to say. Her picture was placed on the board over the word goodbye, which was never used anyway.
The flat-line between life and death had been erased and existence had just been redefined. Conscience had persevered; it flowed and intermingled with the conscience of the living. Anna had defeated oblivion and death was nothing more but an option she had rejected. Present, grounded and bound to the moment she was.... just like him.
. . .
When Oliver came back home the following afternoon he was not alone.
"According to the original plans we have here, the house was built on top of a well which they used for a main source of water. The well was in the middle of the basement."
"The house has no basement, as far as I know." she heard Oliver say.
"Basement, was there a basement?" Anna thought and her mind was unwillingly drawn to distant almost faded memories. She ached as she tried to put a mental finger on the dark hole that dominated the damp basement.
"This is more complicated than I thought. The house was built in 1810 and was originally used as a stable. It was part of an even larger house. That house was completely destroyed in the earthquake of 1836. In the 1900's it passed into new hands. They must have added the extensions but kept the basement."
"I'm telling you there is no basement."
"Let me finish. In the 1960's it was bought by your landlord, his wife and their 5 children. I know that one of them died in the house, maybe he was the one who sealed it. I am telling you there is a basement, look!"
The hard wooden steps echoed her footsteps as she ran down to the cellar. A creepy, place damp, always brought her cough back. Once she started coughing she could never stop, her chest ached. But she wanted to get her ball back, it must have fallen somewhere here. She covered her mouth with her hand and looked around.
"Oh no, I can't see it, maybe it fell into the well."
The hole was so dark and deep, she coughed over it and tried to look down. She could hear her mother's voice bouncing on the stone walls. She was standing on her toes coughing into the well.
Anna screamed.
"There is no door." Oliver said feeling the walls.
"Of course not, they must have sealed it."
"Isn't there a way to find it? Maybe use a scanner or something?"
Inch by inch the kitchen was searched and the walls around it but no door could be found. Oliver was the last to quit the search.
"I'm so sorry Anna. I really thought I could find it." he muttered but she couldn't hear. She was still in the basement, her mother's face outlined in the ceiling staring at her in horror. She could still hear it as she fell, from the ceiling echoing down.
The planchette fell on the wooden floor making the three men jump to their feet. Oliver went to the coffee table and placed it on the board.
"C-E-I-L-I-N-G-D-O-O-R-I-F-E-L-L"
. . .
Anna stared at the cardboard box Oliver had placed on the coffee table. He was still in the kitchen contemplating the wide hole on the kitchen floor.
"I don't know how I am going to explain this to the landlord. Any ideas? Anna are you there?"
Anna had waited for that moment for so long that she felt nothing at all.
"I'll find a pretty box for you, wooden, nicely carved..are you happy Anna? This is what you have always wanted right?"
"T-A-K-E-I-T-O-U-T-S-I-D-E" she spelt and her heart expanded inside her chest.
He picked up the box and walked to the back kitchen door leading to a small garden at the back of the house. The key turned and Anna heard the door unlock.
It was a beautiful summer morning, the sun was shining down on the unkept lawn from all directions.
His hair turned honey -yellow as he stepped outside and walked to the middle of the garden where a small wooden table with small chairs were perched for all intents and purposes.
He opened the board, recovered the planchette from his pocket and placed it in its centre. The box was placed lightly on the ground and there he waited.
The light was so bright, so determined, it left no hiding places, no secrets.
Anna felt bold for a tiny moment and stepped outside her eyes locked on Oliver. She was immediately penetrated by the light and as she moved she could see her body no more.
Her dress, her shoes were shattered leaving her utterly exposed. She just floated by will and felt her mind expand, occupying more space than usual.
"Something is wrong, this is not working." she thought and felt herself spread to all directions, high and low.
On the table the planchette moved.
"N-O-T-W-O-R-K-I-N-G"
"Do you want to go back? I can take the box back into the house." Oliver said but his voice sounded distant.
"Well.. do you? He can take the box back." a voice right next to her ear said.
"You again, what is it this time?" she exhaled.
"It's not working, I told you so." Nathaniel said. "It's so hot today, I'd better take off my jacket." he added and carefully placed his corduroy jacket on the back of the chair. Sitting back down he looked at Anna full of concern.
"What are you going to do?" he asked
"Nathaniel...I ..." she whispered
"I know, it's scary being outside."
"What's happening?"
"What should have happened long ago, Anna."
"Can I go back to the house?"
"Is this what you want?"
Anna looked at Oliver who had already picked up her box and waited for the planchette to move.
"He helped me, I told you he'd do it."
"Yes, I was wrong."
A light brown cat emerged from under the table and sat down exactly were Anna was supposed to be standing.
"I thought cats could sense spirits and ghosts." she said.
"They can but you are neither anymore. Are you ready to go now?" he asked.
"Where?"
"oh, everywhere and nowhere.."
"Do I have a choice?
"Of course.."Nathaniel said and with his eyes he pointed to the house.
"I want to say goodbye...and thank him."
"Of course."
"Without the board between us." she added.
"And then you'll come?"
"Well, I won't go back there.." she said turning around to have a last look at the house. When she turned around God's Gift was gone.
...........................................................................................
The moment I saw her standing in the middle of the garden in flesh and blood I knew that something had gone wrong with her plan.
It was the way she looked at me, her eyes flooded with panic, her fists clenched. I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out.
She was leaving, she couldn't travel to the far away places the way she wanted after all.
"Oliver." she said and gave me a forced smile.
"I'm taking the box inside." I said and started to move.
"Please no, I am not going back in."
I nodded and put the box down next to me.
"Will I see you again? Maybe after I..."
"I don't know, you have to ask Nathaniel."
"Nathaniel?" I asked
"God's Gift." she said and smiled widely.
"You are so beautiful Anna, not ancient, just beautiful."
"Thank you Oliver." she said and something attracted her attention. I turned around to see what was there and when I turned back she was gone, just like that.
The planchette never moved after she was gone. I still have it here on the coffee table next to the old wooden box filled with dust.
