Story/Books
THE DOOR KNOCKER
I'm cold - extremely cold. I'm only able to move my finger tips slightly as they lightly push down on a surface that my brain registers as hard and deeply chilled. Probably steel or hard aluminum. A cloth fabric weighs loosely down over my face but I can't open my eyes. My eyelids seem to be glued shut. In fact, I can't move any part of my body nor do I have any feeling except for slight sensations in my fingertips, the tip of my nose and my forehead. It takes all of my willpower and determination - fueled by an increasing flow of panic - to wrinkle my forehead in an attempt to discover what is covering my face. As if in a long deep tunnel, I hear indistinguishable sounds and voices coming from far away - but they are coming for me. I fear that in an instant someone is going to tighten the cloth down around my face and smother me. I scream but no sound comes out. It's only in my tormented, besieged mind that I shriek out for help. My lips are also glued shut. My vocal cords do not work. I find myself praying that this a dream. It has to be. I convince myself. It is.
Human voices are muddled and jumbled in a room close to where I lie. A metal latch is disengaged. I hear a rat-a-tat-tat and a clack-clack-clack and just as the noise registers, I feel movement. I'm being moved. Soon I can feel rubbery hands moving over my body, lifting and bending my arms and legs; they're doing something to me but still, I can't move a muscle on my own. Suddenly, I feel lukewarm, starting at my toes and progressing up to the top of my head. This simultaneously happens as I hear a machine start up and a sharp needle of some kind enters the right side of my neck. Feeling is coming back, my nervous system is reacting to whatever they are doing to me. There's a lapse in time - as there always seems to be in a dream state - and then I feel motion again and I get this sense that I'm lying down in a vehicle, rolling down the highway with a heavier cloth fabric covering me entirely.
Memories of my life begin to ripple quickly to the surface of my nightmarish induced mind. The smell of freshly brewed coffee lingers in the comfortable caverns of my home, as I sit reading the Sunday paper in a sun-splashed kitchen. In an instant, memory shifts and I’m sitting in a movie theatre with a large bag of popcorn by my side. A divinely alluring smile springs forth from the woman sitting next to me as her fingers delicately pull popcorn out of the bag; the aroma of her perfume lifting my libido to happy heights. Her name. What was her name!? Of course, it's Mary! Oh, the flood of love comes pouring back to me; memories of the summer sun, the beach, the cool grass under the huge oak tree where we made love, the velvety softness of her skin as our bodies touched, and our June wedding day under a perfect blue summer sky. The white painted house with the wraparound porch and the adjoining sea of cornfields compliments the old stone wishing well with the big red barn that sits next to it. It all waits for me. I must go home. I must wake up!
My eyes spring open as I gasp for air. Blue sky. Puffy white clouds. I leap to my feet from the cold ground below. I'm wearing a suit; the teal blue Italian piece that I wore at our wedding and on my feet, an expensive pair of black alligator oxfords that I only wore once - also on our wedding day. The nightmare that I just had leaves me feeling anxious with a throbbing migraine of a headache. The light of a morning sunrise sends jack-hammers to my eyes. And then, I see that I'm standing in a cemetery. My suit is dirty from sleeping on the ground. I brush off my pants and tuck in my shirt. I try to recall the night before. I remember being at the Big Moose Tavern with Dan and Albert. Alice the bartender, the one with shocking red hair and breasts that were even more stunning, kept sliding Blue Moon beers across the bar to me, courtesy of Dan and Al. That explains this monster of a headache. I vaguely remember leaving the bar and getting in Dan's Ford F150. It was a tight fit. Alice asked Dan for a ride since it was the end of her shift. I was sitting in the middle and I remember Alice's humungous breasts in my face as I reached down to pick up my cell phone, which I had dropped onto the passenger side floor of the truck. I was about to call Mary to tell her I'd be home soon and it was my intent, as I always did, to tell Mary that I loved her. It would be an affirmation of my deep and powerful affection for her - even if I had to do so while staring into the vastness of Alice's melons. I wanted Alice and those melons to know that I was a happily married man.
The last thing I can recall is all three of us, including Alice's breasts, bouncing along in Dan's truck on a hard rutted dirt road. Alice, the flirt, after seeing the wedding band on my finger, was stupidly asking if I was married, and I was asking Dan if he could please stop the truck so I could pee out the contents of my bulging beer-bloated bladder. Dan and Alice both got out of the truck with me so they could stretch their legs. After I flushed myself out on the side of the road and zipped up, I looked at my watch which showed that it was only 7:35pm. It was a very unseasonably warm late spring night and Dan was sweating and mopping his brow with the bottom of his t-shirt suggesting that we all go swimming in the nearby river.
I poked a finger at the jeans I was wearing and told Dan, "I can't go swimming...not in these." Alice smirked and giggled and Dan picked up on it.
"You bonehead, we went skinny dipping two weeks ago. It's hot out here. Don't let a pair of jeans stop you from cooling off -"
After a quick glance at Alice I said, "Dan, you know I can't do that -" Alice caught the inference and rescued me with a sardonic perceptive grin.
"Dan, the man's married. The pair of jeans that he's wearing - that's not what's bothering him. It's this pair that he's worried about." Alice hefted up the objects of attention as if she were an intelligent produce shopper. I was exasperated to have to put up with this kind of intimidating pressure from a friend and a beer joint floozy.
I turned my drunken gaze to Alice and spat out, "I'm not worried about those." I said, poking one of them with my finger, "It's sort of obvious; you have more boobs than brains. And I have more man in my pants than you've ever had...and a lot more brains in my head to realize that I'm looking at a woman who has no class at all."
Dan rolled his eyes and started back to the truck. "Come on you two, cool it and get in. We can talk about what we're going to do in the truck. I need to get some airflow. It's way too fucking hot out here..." As Dan made his way around to the other side of the truck, out of sight, Ms. Tits leaned hard into me with her body, knocking me up against the box of the truck near the passenger door.
Quick as a cobra strike, she grabbed my package, squeezed gently and in a loud whispery voice she barked into my ear, "Baby, I have class, and I can tell, you'd love a piece of ass - from me..." She blew into my ear and began to rub me with the palm of her hand. I immediately felt the reaction - and so did she. She took her hand away, moving both of her hands to my hips, and smiled into my face. "You're right, there's a lot of man down there." She added, "and more importantly, you're not pulling away from me." With a mischievous grin, she began to slowly move a hand over her breast, letting me see how hard and big her nipple was becoming. I started to protest as she began to push her hips into me.
"I don't think -" Her finger went to my lips.
"Shhhh...I want to tell you something, big boy. In your drunken and hardening state, I'd have no problem stripping you down right here, even with Dan watching...and I'd do you right here. Then I'd take you down to that river there and wash me you off you...but to be honest, I like my men dressed up first. In a nice classy suit. You want class. Class is what you'll get."
I quickly turned from her and grabbed the door handle of the truck and opened it, gesturing to Alice. "Get in! I'm sitting next to the window."
She smiled demurely. "Oh, I love a man who gives orders." As she nestled in next to Dan, she spoke with a growing tone of authority. "Dan, let's take big boy home so he can pick up a suit. I feel like dancing into the wee hours over at Marcinni's night club." Dan put the truck into drive and looked over at Alice.
"You've got to be crazy. How would he explain removing a suit from his house with his wife standing there?" Alice smiled over at me and put a hand on my upper leg.
"Oh, he'll find a way. Dan, one thing is for certain. After what happened back there, outside your truck, this man wants me and I'm going to prove something to him before the night's over...and he's going to love every minute of it. We're either going to go dancing and I'm going to show him what class really is or he's going to beg me to go swimming naked with you and him in the river." She glanced over at me, moving her hand up further along my thigh. "Isn't that right, big boy?" I reached down, grabbed her hand off my leg without a word and plopped it down on her lap. I stared out the window at the road in front of us as Dan sensed the tension and after some moments passed he tried to cool the heat that was simmering inside and outside of the truck.
"Alice, what is it with you and married men? Why do you need to have what isn't yours?" Alice paused, giving Dan a long thoughtful gaze and then her tenacious personality took hold once again.
"I grew up not having anything. Now, when I see something that I want, I go after it. Simple as that. I can also sense a winner and the man sitting next to me isn't going to lose a thing...if he does all that I want him to do." I remember thinking that I was dealing with a psychopathic sex addict and all I wanted to do was go home to Mary.
The next thing I know I'm standing here, all dressed up, in this cemetery. The bitch got her way. And somehow, she juiced me up and dumped me here. With confusion still clouding my brain, I began to walk the long winding country road back towards home.
~~~~~
Five years had passed since she moved away from Maple Valley, Minnesota and now, she literally wasn't the same person that she was when she left her home town. The plastic surgeon had erased who she had been; she had lost fifty pounds and changed the color of her hair, and now she assumed a brand new identity. Everything had been changed. She was even able to alter her voice, but the memories remained which still brought the pain and rejection that even now, burned deeply inside her. Oh, there were thoughts and desires to return to her girlhood home of Maple Valley but what difference would it have made? She would have been a stranger to everyone who knew her and she had vowed that she would never reveal her true identity to anyone - especially to the people of Maple Valley.
She was now Brenda Silverstein living in White Bear Beach, almost 175 miles north of Maple Valley. She had recently, within the last three years, opened up a metaphysical book and gift store - a project of spirit and mind which was a complete departure from her former personality. It was a purposeful remake of a whole new persona that was in and of itself a work of pride for Brenda. But it was no mistake that she found herself pulled into the field of tarot cards, incense and Spirit Boards. The veil of death and what was on the other side had always fascinated Brenda and since the fragility of life always seemed to be licking at her heels, she felt quite ready to pour herself into exploring another plane of existence. Why not embrace the shadows of death while at the same time holding close all of the treasures of life? "SPIRIT RAYS BOOK STORE & GIFTS" was the beginning of a new adventure for Brenda.
New shipments and inventories had just been completed for the first quarter of the year. Brenda had poured herself a cup of espresso and was sitting down at the store's front desk to sift through fifty e-mail orders when a name on an e-mail punched her heart rate up, causing her left hand to shake, sloshing some of the hot coffee over the rim of the cup. "Oh. My. God." The e-mail order was for a book: The Spirits Beyond - Summoning Loved Ones and also for a Spirit Board. In the comments section of the order was written:
"I found your store online and noticed that you are quite a ways from Maple Valley. I'd like to order the above items but after some thought, I think it might do me some good to drive up to visit your shop. Spring is good for the soul and Heaven knows, I need to shake off a heavy dose of cabin fever that still clings - so I'll be up to pick up my order myself. Besides, I'd like to look around your shop. Never know what else I might find there. I also have some questions for you that I would like to ask you in person. The pictures of your shop look lovely. I look forward to visiting SPIRIT RAYS BOOK STORE & GIFTS."
Mary Delrosa.
After grabbing a napkin to mop up the splash of coffee, Brenda sat staring at the name that seemed to fill the computer screen. Instinctively she looked around her, wondering if someone might have entered the store and noticed her obvious reaction. She was alone. The dread of memories that Mary Delrosa's name brought up was choking the life out of a beautiful spring day. Her voice cracked as she whispered to herself, "How could this be? 'I also have some questions for you'? Is this a set-up? Does she know? She couldn't possibly make the connection to who I once was." She sipped her coffee and let the liquid warm her all the way down into her belly, trying hard to come to terms with this new development. She moved the cursor to the reply button and clicked, ready to send a return e-mail to Mary Delrosa. The uncomfortable feelings began to ease somewhat, replaced by a simmering resolve that lifted the corners of her lips into a slight smile. "Of all people, she is the last person that I want to see, but I need to deal with these issues that are still brewing inside me. Whatever happens, I'll be ready for her. I'm not going to let this ruin my day. "
"Mary, thanks for visiting our web site. The items you ordered are in stock. I'll put a hold on them and I look forward to meeting you. I'm here alone most days. I just know you'll love our store. Have a safe trip.
Sincerely,
Brenda Silverstein"
After she hit the 'send' button, Brenda noticed the date of Mary's e-mail: Thursday, May 17, 6:00am. It was now Friday 10:09am. Only seconds had passed when the bell above the door tinkled. Brenda spun around in her chair to greet her first customer of the morning. It was Mary Delrosa. Short, dirty-blonde hair bounced against a cute face beaming with a very pleasant smile. This woman was well into her early forties yet she displayed the grace of someone still hanging on to her youthful twenties.
Brenda was hoping her greeting would come off as if she were welcoming a new customer whom she had never met before. The turbulence that swirled around inside her would have to wait for the proper time.
"Good morning! It's such a nice spring day, can I help you?" Brenda flashed her sincerest smile, ready for the confrontation which never came.
"Oh yes, you must be Brenda..." Mary approached and held out her hand for a handshake. "I'm Mary Delrosa. I sent you an e-mail order for The Spirits Beyond - Summoning Loved Ones and a Spirit Board." I know who you are, you bitch. Brenda gripped Mary's hand in a conveyance of friendship. Mary glowed. "I'm sorry, I sent the e-mail yesterday morning after being on your site and I couldn't wait for a reply. It's such a wonderful day that I just hopped in my car and drove here from Maple Valley. I hope you have what I'm looking for." Brenda glided around the counter and walked briskly to a display counter.
"Mary, we sure do! The book is right here and the Spirit Boards are right over there on the table near the window, next to the incense. And you said you have some questions for me?" Mary picked up the book, turning it over to read the back cover.
"Um, I'm sorry, I did have some questions for you. How did you know?" Brenda chuckled, relaxing her shoulders.
"I'm sorry, I didn't tell you. I just read your e-mail before you walked through the door. In it you said you had some questions for me." Mary smiled.
"Yes, I do have some questions for you." Brenda reached out and touched Mary's arm with her hand.
"Well, ask away."
"I have some questions but first I'd like to look at the Spirit Boards." Mary began to stroll over to the display table near the window, with Brenda following. The sweet aroma of incense permeated the front of the store. Brenda reached out and picked up a Spirit Board used for display and ran her hand along its glossy surface. She gave Mary a slight nod and a deep sigh, looking down at the object in her hands.
"There's been a lot said about these boards. You know, the usual stuff about them opening the door to demons and such but in reality, you don't need a Spirit Board to call evil spirits or even good spirits into your life. You can do that with just about any kind of medium open to communication. It's just that the planchette, this pointer device here, makes it easier for the spirits to communicate. It slides easily on the glossy surface. People say that it's very hard for spirits to muster the energy to move material objects in our world. It drains them, so the Spirit Board is the medium of choice for them. So, Mary, I'm curious, why the book and why the Board?" For the first time since entering the store Mary's demeanor changed. She clenched her lips together, her eyes shifted shyly, blinking several times. She finally dropped her head down somberly.
"I guess it's time to ask you a couple of questions." She brought her head up and looked into Brenda's eyes. "Brenda, I haven't been able to talk about this to too many people, but of all people, I think you might understand - you being the owner of such a shop as this." Mary looked around and nodded towards a couch under some hanging ferns. "Can we sit?"
"Sure."
The deep comfort of the couch relaxed Mary as she and Brenda sank down in it. Mary sighed. "Brenda, it should be no surprise to you with me purchasing these two items that I would ask such a question but do you think it's possible to actually contact a dead person?" Mary dropped her head back down. "You see, I lost someone very special quite a few years ago and I believe he's been trying to contact me through dreams that I have been having..."
Brenda felt the surrealism flow through every aspect of her being. It was bizarre that she was about to involve herself in a conversation such as this, with a woman who had once despised her for even breathing. But beyond being weird, the words out of Mary's Delrosa's mouth brought an icy fear that crept in and squeezed the core of Brenda's soul. The challenge was to contradict what was racing through Brenda's mind and to be a comfort and friend to the woman who sat next to her. Brenda reached over to reassuringly pat and squeeze Mary's hand.
"Mary, honey, you're not alone. Others whom I have met have experienced what you are going through. In fact, I've had some experiences of my own." Brenda kept her hand on Mary's without objection. "To answer your question - yes, it is possible to contact the dead, but you have to be very careful. The dead have a way of embracing someone. If there's too much contact, you could end up with them before your time."
~~~~~
The afternoon was bright, the heavy severe thunderstorms of the past two weeks having given way to a lush green countryside - which now fell past Mary's open car window. The three hour drive from SPIRIT RAYS BOOK STORE & GIFTS was one hour from being over and she was enjoying her quiet time on the open road. But as the highway began to curve to the right, opening a view of the river through the trees, bitter and painful memories began to invade her mind. As her SUV began to near the river's edge, revealing a swollen angry torrent of water, Mary's foot went to the brake pedal to slow down her speed, allowing the stinging memories to capture her. Her intent was to drive until she rolled into her driveway but the memory pull was too much. She found a rest area half a mile up and parked in it. A riveting stare at the river's roiling waters caused five years to slip away as her trembling hand glided over the Spirit Board on the seat next to her. Jerry, why did this have to happen? Why did you do this to me? A tear rolled out of her eye and moved slowly down her cheek. I gave my life to you, with every ounce of love I had - didn't you realize that your cell phone was connected to me, and that I heard everything that bitch and you said? Mary reached into her purse and found a tissue. She dabbed at the tears which were now flowing as much as they had at Jerry's funeral five years ago. And now, you've come back, in my dreams - every night. Why? Haven't you put me through enough? Mary reached down to the Spirit Board and traced the letter "J" with her finger. Since you don't seem to want to let me go, I need answers, Jerry. No dreams in the middle of the night anymore, all right? I want my life to go on just as I want your death to go on." Two teenagers, hand in hand, were now walking towards the river's edge, obviously awed by nature's fury. Mary put the SUV in reverse, backed out of the parking space and headed for home.
~~~~~
The peacefulness of her family's farm, with the cornfields acting as a security barrier to the outside world, had always been of comfort to Mary. Three generations of Stanley's had nurtured the land and even though the world's economy was making it difficult to continue to harvest the soil, her cousin Bobby who lived just up the road did all that he could to keep the business alive. Lately, things seemed to be turning around in the cushion of a lucrative profit. Mary climbed up the aged wooden steps to the porch, inserted her key into the beautiful oak door, letting her eyes fall to the large brass door knocker that Jerry had pride fully and lovingly installed just two days after their wedding day. Deeply etched into the brass above the knocker was their married name - DELROSA. In the moments after Jerry installed it, he stood back with a broad smile on his handsome face, held Mary tightly in his arms and told her, "I'm so proud to be a part of your family, and this house, wow, it's magnificent! Mary, we're going to spend a lifetime of love beyond that door. I love you." Before they entered their century old house, Jerry "christened" their life together by rapping the door with their new knocker. Knock-knock-knock-knock---knock knock. Mary blinked away the bittersweet memory, entered into the foyer, shook off her jacket and hung it on the door peg. She placed the Spirit Board and book on the coffee table and pulled Brenda's business card from the pages of the book, recalling Brenda's words before she left the store.
"Remember, you call me. You shouldn't have to go through this alone. I'll come to your house and I'll help you - if you need me to." Brenda, I think I'm going to need you. But, tonight, I've got to do this alone. Just me - and Jerry.
~~~~~
The grandfather clock struck 10 chimes as the darkness of night battled against the flickering flames of four candles that Mary had placed on the mantel of the fireplace. The Spirit Board, with its wooden planchette, sat on the coffee table, seemingly taking on a life of its own - waiting for instructions from Mary. Jerry's widow wondered if the dreams would end tonight or if they would increase after her emergence into the unknown supernatural world of a Spirit Board. All she knew was that she needed answers and she needed them now. She leaned forward, sitting on the edge of Jerry's favorite living room recliner and glanced at the Spirit Board. "Jerry, if you're here with me, right now, use the board to answer....Yes." The grandfather ticked on and on. Ten minutes had passed. The planchette did not move. Still, Mary felt a wave of spirit around her in the house and she desperately tried to put her intervening thoughts into words. "Jerry, I'm afraid of all of the unknown answers of what happened to you the night that you died - and afterwards. Dan was murdered two years ago. Albert just committed suicide four weeks ago and Alice..." Mary tried to soothe the anger out of her voice. "Alice has been missing ever since your funeral. I've just recently been able to piece all of these strange occurrences of death together, realizing that it's completely out of character for Albert to die at his own hand. Such a sweet guy who loved life. And Dan - his murder is still unsolved. There seems to be a connection here, Jerry. To your death. How is it that all of the people that were with you that night are now gone? Something is not right and I think the dreams I'm having of you are also connected....and the feeling....I'm getting right now. I can feel...you...here."
Mary didn't move from Jerry's chair. She allowed the night to drift on past 11 o'clock absorbed in her thoughts and feelings. The planchette still didn't move. Just as Mary was getting up to make herself ready for bed, she was startled to hear a sound that sent a flutter of chills down her spine. From the front door came knock-knock-knock-knock---knock-knock. Mary tried to be rational. At this time of night - who could that be? She peered through the peephole - no one in sight. She pulled the door open with a balance of curiosity and anxiety gripping her. The night was empty of sound, no one could be seen within the perimeter of the porch light. Must be those Henderson kids again having fun with their little pranks. But as Mary fell asleep, the dreams of her late husband were much more acute and Jerry consumed her thoughts even after she woke at 4:30am. One thought clenched her tight. Only Jerry knocks like that.
~~~~~
After a morning spent tending her flower garden and talking to Bobby about expenses and the season's corn crop, Mary clicked open her cell phone and called Brenda.
"Well, good afternoon Mrs. Delrosa; or can I call you Mary?" Something about this woman. She always makes me smile.
"Hi Brenda. Please, call me Mary. Your kindness and helpfulness has elevated you to friendship status, if you don't mind -" Brenda's giggle again.
"Oh Mary, thank you! I like you too. What's on your mind?" Mary walked over to the front porch steps and sat down.
"Brenda, I could really use your help." She couldn't keep the despairing resignation out of her voice. "The dreams are stronger than ever. Could you come to my house tonight? I know this is sort of an imposition on you with so little notice but I -"
"Mary, it's no imposition at all. I'd be glad to come. In fact, I'm insisting upon it. I want to help you with this." Mary's eyes began to well up with a grateful swell of tears. After giving Brenda her address, she clicked the phone shut and wiped her wet eyes with the heel of her hand.
~~~~~
Brenda arrived at 6:00pm to a long welcoming hug from Mary. Mary pulled back from Brenda in the doorway, her eyes still moist.
"I'm sorry Brenda, I'm probably being too forward with you." she said. "It's just that I feel connected to you. I really believe you can help me." Brenda took both of Mary's hands in hers and squeezed.
"Dear, you've been through a lot here. I can tell." She nodded to a canvas bag she carried over her shoulder, a smile spreading across her face. "Mary, I've got just the thing for you. I brought you some tea. It's Schizandra tea. It originates from a berry that grows primarily in China and Japan. It promotes sleep and it will relax you. Hopefully, it'll ease those dreams you are having." Both women made their way into the spaciousness of the living room. "Oh my, Mary, what a beautiful old house." Brenda tilted her head up and was looking all around. An approving smile filled her face. Mary was flattered and happy that her friend liked her house. "Yes, this old house goes back several generations. I'm glad you like it."
~~~~~
As the evening wore on, Mary filled Brenda in on all of the details of the dreams and the loss of her husband. At 10:35pm Mary suggested that they use the Spirit Board before it got too late. "Brenda, I know I bought this from you, but I don't mind telling you I feel a bit embarrassed and foolish using it." Brenda took the board out of the box and placed it on the coffee table.
"Don't. There are a lot of people who use these. And, a good number of them get results." Foolish is exactly what you are, Mary dear, Brenda thought. As they settled in Mary finally got around to asking the board questions. Most were Yes or No questions. The planchette didn't move. Then, right after the Grandfather chimed in 11:00pm, Mary more pleadingly than ever asked the board: "Jerry, please, I beg you. Talk to me." Tears cascaded down Mary's cheeks. The two women sat there for several minutes, until they were almost ready to call it a night. Then at 11:14pm the planchette shifted ever so slightly to the left. Mary gasped. "Oh! Did you see that!?" Brenda nodded in open-mouthed surprise. Ten seconds later, the planchette began to move all by itself. Ever so slowly it moved and finally stopped on the letter "A". "Brenda, it stopped. What does that mean?" Brenda was visibly shaken. Eyes wide.
"I don't know." Just then, the pointer jerked again and unlike before, it quickly skittered to the letter "L". Three seconds later it swung to the letter "I". Brenda put her hand to her chest. Mary squeezed her hands and fingers together in a very tight prayer grip. Neither woman could speak. With little pause, as if the planchette was now on an enthralling joy ride, it moved very quickly to the letter "C". Brenda's lips tightened together. Mary's eyes were still wide and fixated on the Spirit Board.
"Oh Jesus!" she said. She erupted in nervous laughter that unnerved Brenda. "This is like Wheel Of Fortune!" Mary said. "I can solve that puzzle, Pat Sajak! It's ALICE!!" Brenda shifted in her seat.
"What?" Mary didn't answer as the planchette moved to the letter "E". But, it didn't stop there. It moved more quickly than before to the letters "R", "U", "N". It stopped. Mary came quickly off the couch. Confusion spread across her face. Her voice cracked.
"I don't understand..." she said. Brenda stood up and cautiously looked at her.
"Honey, I think we need some tea," said Brenda. "My mouth is dry. If you don't mind I'll go fix us some." Mary stared at her in shock.
"Yes. We need some tea. I'm scared, Brenda! I don't know what this means." Brenda wiped her sweaty hands on her jeans.
"Do you know an Alice?" she asked Mary.
"Yes, I'll tell you about her after you bring the tea."
~~~~~
Mary joined Brenda in the kitchen and sat down with her at the table. They both sipped tea as Mary told Brenda everything about the night that Jerry died. She told her about the cell phone call and how she overheard Jerry and Alice talking and how Alice, "That bitch was coming onto my husband." Mary tipped the cup to her lips, finishing the warm and soothing tea. "Brenda, honestly, if I could ever find that woman, I would kill her. She seduced Jerry. He let her - and that led to his death." Brenda saw a deep and biting anger flash in Mary's eyes.
"Honey, I think we should call it a night. It's late. I'll take you up on your offer of spending the night in the guest bedroom." She walked over to put a calming hand on Mary's shoulder. "Mary, I think you should go to bed now. The tea should relax you. It does wonders, if you just let it, okay?" Mary smiled.
"Oh Brenda, thank you. It's been an exhausting but shocking night. I can't believe it. Jerry actually communicated with me. Thank you for being here." The tears came again and Brenda led Mary to her bedroom beside the living room. Mary laid her head down on the pillow and soon, she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
~~~~~
Mary woke with a start. The bedside clock glowed 3:18am. There was a loud noise that Mary couldn't ascertain. Then she heard it. It was the door knocker but whoever was using it was knocking with a determined urgency. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! Mary slid out of bed and shuffled to the door. She peered through the peephole and there in the light of a full moon stood her husband. Mary's hand shook as she unbolted the door. I'm dreaming. I have to be. The door opened and Jerry walked past her. He looked disheveled and alarmed, still dressed in his funeral suit.
"Oh my God, Mary! What did she do to you!!?" Mary was frozen with fear and disbelief as she slowly approached her un-dead husband.
"Jerry? You're alive?" Jerry sighed, looking down to the floor as if in defeat. He lifted his head up slowly to look into the eyes of his beloved wife. He held out his arms to her.
"Come here, baby." He squeezed her tight and she squeezed him back and they both cried. Jerry picked up the scent of lemon shampoo in her hair and he felt her warmth against him - after all these years, they were together again. He couldn't bear the thought of what he had to do next. He held his wife out at arm's length, searching her eyes for any clue as to what she might be thinking. There were only tears of shocked joy there. "Baby, listen to me." Concern shadowed Jerry's face. "Take me to the bedroom - where you were sleeping." Mary gave a puzzled look. "Why?" Then a smirk. "First, you've got a lot of explaining to do mister -"
"I'll explain after...please, Mary." The somberness seemed to envelop her husband as he led her by the hand to the bedroom. Before he would let Mary step through the doorway of the bedroom, Jerry leaned in to have a look. He confirmed the reality of it all. There was no easy way of showing his wife what was in the room. He pulled her to him and led her through the doorway. There, on the bed, lay Mary's body...
The reality of it all settled in quickly. Mary sobbed into her husband's chest.
"Shhhhh, baby, it's okay. We're together now," Jerry said. He cupped Mary's chin and looked once again into her sweet, watery eyes. She whimpered her husband's name to question all that had happened.
"Jerry?" His eyes met hers and he held them. Now, he would finally be able to tell Mary the truth.
"I woke up in the cemetery where I was buried, thinking I was alive. Before that my spirit heard you pleading for me to explain what had happened to me. Because of this and my desperate need to make you understand, my death went into reverse, from the embalming room to the ride back to the hospital where they had taken me after they pulled me from the river. Dan dove in and found me wrapped around a submerged tree limb. You see, the day that I died, I did go into the river with Dan and Alice. Dan found some old trunks behind his seat. But I swear to you, nothing happened between her and me. I was walking along against the current when Alice approached me. She tried to seduce me again but I yelled at her to 'get away!' She did not like that. She began making threats to me, saying 'I'm going to get what I want. If I don't, I'll ruin you, Jerry, and everything you hold so dear. I'll ruin Mary too." I turned around in the fast flowing current and yelled "No, you won't!" and that's when she hit me in the temple with her fist. I never saw what hit me. I went under the water and well, that was it. Dan had already left the river on his way back to the truck." Mary's demeanor changed from shock to anger.
"The autopsy showed that you most likely hit the side of your head on a rock on the river bed. It was her fist!? I knew it! I thought all along, from the cell phone conversation that I heard of you two that she was behind it. The police had no evidence that connected her. It was only speculation on my part. I pursued that bitch on my own until she disappeared -" Jerry grabbed Mary's hand in his, intertwining his fingers through hers.
"There's more, baby." he said, as he braced her with his eyes. "Alice moved away but she was intent on removing herself from the events of that day. You scared her but her resolve remained. The rumors flew, as you know, that she had something to do with my death. Dan began to suspect her. So did Albert. Alice killed Dan. She also drove Albert to suicide." Mary's eyes went wide.
"Oh my God!"
"There's more. Alice moved to another town. She changed her appearance. She had plastic surgery. Baby, last night. You remember the Spirit Board message I sent?" Mary nodded. "I wanted to get your attention. I also wanted to get Brenda's attention. I wanted you to run, honey. I also wanted Brenda to run - away from you. It's hard to move things as a ghost. The door knocker was easier than the Spirit Board because I had a connection to it in life."
"I don't understand, Jerry," Mary pleaded.
"Baby, the woman you know as Brenda is Alice." Complete and utter shock registered on Mary's face.
"Oh sweet Jesus. You mean she... the reason I'm with you now..."
"Yes. Brenda spiked your tea with hydrocyanic acid. You didn't just die in your sleep. Alice killed you. Baby, I tried so hard to communicate with you through dreams and then when you met Brenda, I was so damn desperate...to stop her and to save you. I failed."
~~~~~
The sunshine poured in through the guest bedroom window. Brenda stirred and let her eyes open to a glorious morning. Her smile was as bright as the sun. Well, Brenda dear, time to go see how that tea worked.
Mary's skin was pale as Brenda checked for a pulse. Nothing there. Brenda's hand stroked the softness of Mary's dead face. Bliss. Such sweet bliss. Brenda reached for her cell phone and made a call. After a few long minutes his annoyed voice was heard through the phone.
"Hello, Mrs. Silverstein. How can I help you?"
"I'm so sorry to hear about the death of your colleague, Dr. Pearson." She said nothing to soften the hard sarcasm which she intended the doctor to hear, adding a menace of warning to her voice. "He did wonders for me. I love my new face but I heard you were involved with that face transplant that received world renown. Listen, I have a rush job for you. I want you on the next plane. We'll take care of things on my end and then we'll need to use your marvelous facilities over there..."
~~~~~
Three months later...
"Bobby, it's so nice to have you around. The corn looks good and profitable this year, don't you think?"
"Yes, Mary, it does. Things are turning around. This should be a very good year. How was your trip to Europe?"
"Fabulous! It's completely changed my whole outlook on life."
September...
Mary settled in for a nice evening by the fire. Autumn was approaching and there was nothing better to chase away the chill than a nice cup of hot tea. Grandfather Clock chimed 11:00pm. No sooner did the final chime silence when she heard it:
KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK---KNOCK KNOCK...