Chapter Thirteen and a Half

Part Three

My first instinct was to yank my hands away and quit but, somehow, I managed to resist the temptation to do so and wrote down the letter and placed my hand over the planchette again. These actions continued until the planchette finally moved to the center of the board and stopped.  I picked up my small pad and read the message:

“Your sister Gina has had a curse placed on her and the only way you can lift the curse and save her is to follow the directions in Chapter Thirteen and a Half”

I stood up and carried the notepad with me and set it down on the table.  I automatically picked up my cup and drank a mouthful of tea wondering: “Could this be the point where I learn the joke?  Why would the board instruct me to read chapter thirteen and a half when I had read the entire contents with no mention about a curse or how to end it?”

Without thinking about it any longer, I picked up the book and opened to chapter thirteen and a half.  The first message was gone.  In its place, a whole new set of instructions filled the page. I fanned the pages before and after the chapter to see if I had opened the book to the wrong page but all I saw were blank pages and had to fight to ignore the flurry of questions invading my mind.

“You must return to the Ouija Board and turn the planchette over three times from right to left.  Then repeat the process from left to right. Next you must turn it over again three times from right to left while repeating “knock do--my to–sis--can miss— it will go through—bypass who—find my bliss—give a kiss—knock do—my to.” 

The lines didn’t make any sense no matter how many times I read them.  My only thoughts at that moment were that the person who had conjured this whole thing up was insane and I was just as insane for going along with it.  If it weren’t for the fact that I have a sister Gina, I would have followed through with my thoughts and ended everything right there.

I called Gina to check on her and got no answer.  In fact, I didn’t get directed to her voicemail as was normal when she didn’t answer.  That gave me a really sick feeling in my stomach.  I picked up my cup of tea and noticed my hands shaking quite a bit. Tears welled in my eyes while fear’s tentacles slowly wrapped around me.  I had to take action.  I had to know Gina was safe.  Even though I kept reminding myself to remain calm and not to panic because it could all be nothing, I had all I could to keep from running from the house to go find her.  My eyes shifted to the words in the pad.  If the prediction was true, it was all I had to go on and I had to follow the instructions if I were to stand any chance of helping her.

I positioned myself in front of the Ouija Board once again, took a deep breath and picked up the planchette.  It slipped from my fingers and I heard a loud gasp escape my mouth.  With trembling hands, I gripped the planchette firmly, hoping beyond all hope that I hadn’t destroyed my chances of saving Gina.  When I felt ready, I slowly turned the piece over in my hands repeating the incantation:

“knock do--my to–sis--can miss— it will go through—bypass who—find my bliss—give a kiss—knock do—my to.” 

 The last word no sooner left my lips and the planchette flew from my hands and crashed against the kitchen cabinets; the board began vibrating so violently its ends lifted from the floor and scared me.  Then, as quickly as it had started, it stopped and I felt a sudden blast of cold air rush by me and I shivered.

For reasons I can’t explain, I sat there for some time before moving.  It was as though I were fixed there in a trance because I don’t remember having any thoughts at all.  I don’t recall feeling anything or hearing anything.  Yet, as unnerving as that was, I casually stood up and nonchalantly moved to the table and sat down.  It never even fazed me that I wasn’t doing anything but letting myself bask in the quietness.

  (continued)

  Chelle Munroe©

  June 21, 2015

Chapter Thirteen and a Half

Part Two

The phrase, “curiosity killed the cat” kept prancing in and out of my thoughts while I pondered my next action and I tried my best to not let it unnerve me and must admit that I was losing the battle quickly.  I hurriedly, as if unwillingly, clicked on the name and another page popped up with just the directions to Zenda’s.  At that point, I kept telling myself it was just an advertising gimmick to get people into the shop and that there was nothing to worry about.  That worked to calm me down except for the hairs standing up on the back of my neck and the goose bumps springing up along my arms.

I was about to close the page when this sentence, as if rising out of a cloud, slowly appeared:  “DO NOT HESITATE”.  I glanced down at the bill to see the same words in the message.  Coincidence or mystery?  I had no idea which and no idea what to do because I was beginning to feel this was real and way out of my league.  Yet, for unknown reasons, I felt compelled to do something.

It was still early so I printed out the directions, grabbed my jacket and pocketbook and headed off to Zenda’s; wondering all the way if there was going to be some practical joke awaiting me when I arrived.  Imagine the look on my face when I discovered that the shop was real.  It didn’t occur to me until some time later that when I parked alongside the curb, there was no one else around or, for that matter, any other traffic.  I was so caught up in my thoughts I hadn’t paid attention to my surroundings; a danger in and of itself.

I don’t know what I had expected when I opened the door and entered the shop, but no matter what it would have been, I definitely would not have envisioned it the way it was.  To the left was an old book shelf with one book and an Ouija board on it; in the center was a two-foot long counter and to the right, nothing at all.  The book, of course, was “How To Overcome Mysterious Powers and Improve Your Life”.

As soon as I picked the book up, an older lady came from ………now that I think of it, I’m not sure at all where she came from.  She reached out and lifted the items from my hands and said, “I’ve been expecting you.  That will be $5.00.”

Robotically, I reached into my pocketbook, took out the money and paid her.  As I was leaving the store, I could have sworn I heard her cackling but when I turned, she was gone.  My first reaction was to drop the bag and run to the car in the hopes of getting as far away as I could as fast as I could.  Instead, with great restraint and will power, I calmly walked away and got into my car and drove home.

Back at home, I set the Ouija Board on the coffee table and the book on my kitchen table and made a cup of strong tea.  Part of me still wanted to believe it was some elaborate prank, but somewhere inside, I had the sinking feeling that it was real and true.  Those thoughts didn’t help to quell my nerves any and, as much as I knew I was going to look up the chapter the message had instructed,  I had to give myself more time to muster the courage to do it.

Feeling confident I was ready, I opened the cover on the book and looked at the index. All the chapters appeared normal with the exception of chapter thirteen and a half.  Nothing else was listed on the page.  I found chapter thirteen and a half and proceeded to read the instructions:

“Set the Ouija Board in the middle of the floor and place the planchette (the heart-shaped piece) in the center space.  You will need a pen and paper to record the words you will receive.  Put your two hands together with thumbs overlapped and index fingers touching at the tips; while keeping them no less than six inches above the board move them over the planchette.  If they are positioned correctly, the board will begin to spell out each word, pausing after each word to allow you to write them down.  When the message is complete, the planchette will move to the center and stop.”

At this point, my curiosity was surely piqued and I had to find out what was going to happen if I followed the directions.  I set about moving the coffee table and made sure I had everything out of the way so I could set the board in the middle of the room.  That accomplished, I placed the planchette with the glass eye in the center space and took a deep breath.  The moment of truth had arrived.

In Native American or yoga style fashion, I sat in front of the board and took a deep breath.  Putting my hands together as had been described, I held them approximately six inches over the planchette.  At first, I thought I had them wrong because nothing happened, but then the planchette began to move until it hovered over the “Y”.

   (continued)

   Chelle Munroe©

   June 21, 2015

Chapter Thirteen and a Half

 

Computers can be a blessing, but they can also be a curse.  Well, it seems that way especially when you want them to do something special and they freeze-up; can’t find what you’re looking for:; or just plain refuse to cooperate.  That happened to me recently.  I was trying to find the cheapest place to buy a mid-heel sandal and the search engine I was using seemed to take me on a thousand mile trek to nowhere and when I tried to refine my search, it froze up and then took me right back to the beginning.

Of course, the ironic part to this is that while I was calling the computer stupid, I was the stupid one for sitting there stubbornly persistent that I could get this machine to circumvent all the problems and get me to what I wanted.  Naturally, the computer was more successful at being stubborn than myself and I had to resign myself to shutting it down.

Not one to be daunted by disappointment, I headed off to find local stores I may have overlooked in hopes they would have the shoes I wanted.  Six or seven stores later, I’m not sure which having lost track of the number, I found a pair of beige sandals that were nice enough to wear for dress, yet equally nice to wear with casual outfits.  What made it even better was that they were marked down from $45 to $13.  An offer I easily could not refuse.

An odd thing happened at the register.  I paid with a twenty dollar bill and when I received the change, I noticed some writing on one of the bills and because I didn’t want to hold up the customers behind me, I stuck the bill with the writing into my coat pocket, separate from the other bills. I stated this was odd because, normally, I would have paid no attention to the writing on the bill as many bills have notes written on them and it is usually a laundry list of things, or a phone number or something entirely meaningless to the reader.  This writing on this bill, however, was different in that it almost looked to be some form of ancient writing like you would see in a movie or book concerning the 4^th or 5^th century. 

Inside the car, I pulled the bill from my pocket and read the following note:

 “You must go to Zenda’s House of Time and purchase an Ouija Board. It cannot be from any other place as someone will meet dire consequences if you deviate from this. To find Zenda’s you will need to Google it. Google is the only search engine that will lead you to Zenda’s.  Once at Zenda’s, you will also purchase the book:   “How To Overcome Mysterious Powers and Improve Your Life”.   Read chapter thirteen and one half for your next instructions.  Time is of the essence, so do not hesitate once you have read this message.  Remember, a life is in serious danger if you don’t.”

I practically laughed out loud and shoved the bill into my pocketbook thinking that someone had a wild imagination or it was a game that some kids play online or something. The rest of my day was spent out running errands and stopping for a bite to eat.  I was about to pay for my lunch when I realized one of the bills was the one with the writing and hurriedly exchanged it for another from my wallet.  At the table, I re-read the message and again I laughed out loud, which brought about some strange looks from the patrons nearby as I was by myself and not on the phone with anyone.

At home, I put my purchases away except for the sandals.   Like most women, I had to put them on and walk around the house to get an idea how they were going to feel when off the store carpeting.  When I was finished parading back and forth like a super-model, I sat at the computer and retrieved the bill with the writing from my wallet. A little over fifteen minutes passed before I decided to Google Zenda’s, genuinely believing it didn’t exist.

While Google was searching, I made a cup of tea and was astonished when I sat back down to see “Zenda’s House of Time”, in bold letters on my screen.  Amazingly, there was nothing else on the page --- nothing at all.  So, I did what anyone else would do—I closed the page and did it again and again it came up with the one listing and the rest of the page blank.  I sipped my tea and must honestly say that it kind of spooked me to see those large bold words seemingly staring back at me.  I can’t say they were ominous, but they sure as heck were eerie.

(continued)

Chelle Munroe©

June 21, 2015