Paranormal Summer (Indigo Moon Rising)

by Sherry Guyberson

  The fourth bunny looked at the third bunny with a frown. She stepped forward and began to dance as a ballerina, “Focus on the miracle you are. Love yourself. You are absolutely magnificent!” She did a pirouette and returned to the line.

  The fifth bunny walked forward, looked Jillian in the eyes and took her hand. “Everything you could ever need or want is waiting for you. Decide what it is. Feel gratitude for what you already have. Then focus on the feelings of already having it.” He kissed her hand and returned to the line.

  The sixth bunny bounded up the tree and hung from a branch over Jillian. His ears hanging inches above her he said, “You create your dreams. You create your reality. Everything starts with a thought. That thought creates feelings. Those feelings then create your future.” He bowed upside down and slipped from the branch, toppling onto Jillian. He stood stiff as a board, embarrassed and truly sorry, and backed into the line.

  The seventh bunny ran to the side, did a cartwheel followed by a flip and landed in the splits. “Every beautiful thing you see exists for you. You are the writer, the director, the set designer, the costume creator. You develop the remarkable effects, the stunts and all of the wondrous qualities that make you unique. It is truly your world.” She bowed her head, picked herself up off the ground and returned to the line.

  The eighth bunny stepped forward and sat in front of Jillian. She crossed her legs and big feet yoga style, put her paw tips together and closed her eyes, “How can you create more harmony? Trust and feel happy about the past. Trust and feel happy about the present. Trust and feel happy about the future.” She opened her eyes and winked at Jillian. She returned to the line.

  As the eight bunnies stood shoulder to shoulder, they took a step forward, and in angelic voices they sang, “Jillian really is a magnet, too!” Mirabella applauded with tears in her eyes. Jillian clapped, and Illianna whinnied with approval. The little ones bowed deep, one paw in front and one paw in back. They returned to their standing positions and then burst into all different directions, hopping everywhere!

  “This is all so amazing! I feel like a door has been opened and there is a bright, infinite future waiting for me!” Jillian said and bent down to hug Mirabella. She took a deep breath and let the feeling fill her chest. “Thank you so much!” she said bowing, and then methodically scratched each one of the bunnies behind the ears.

  Jillian and Illianna turned and waved goodbye, Illianna winked to Mirabella as they headed back.

  “Do you know them?” Jillian asked.

  “I have been here before,” Illianna said with a smile.

  “Really? Doing what?” Jillian asked filled with amazement.

  “My greatest pleasure is to help others, so that is what I do.”

  “That didn't really answer my question, did it?” Jillian said, intrigued by her answer.

  “Do you know that feeling you sometimes get that someone or something is familiar? There is a reason for that. We will talk about it later,” Illianna said, looking around at the gorgeous view.

  Jillian looked up. They were on a cliff at the edge of the meadow and the beach. The breeze was gently caressing Jillian's face. She closed her eyes and knew this was a moment for her spirit to drink in. It was a time to just ‘be.’ She wanted to remember all of this. The sounds of the waves tumbling onto themselves, the water crashing onto the shore, the warm breeze mussing her hair and caressing her skin, the smell of the water, and the peace in her heart.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  “I AM just…being,” Jillian said.

  “A human being?” Illianna asked tilting her head, watching Jillian.

  “Yes,” Jillian said.

  “A human being what?” she asked.

  Jillian kept her eyes closed and smiled, “I AM one with everything. It’s like I AM…the air. Everywhere all the time, always connected. I know I am loved no matter what I say or do or think. I will learn to accept others the same way with no conditions.”

  Illianna inhaled deeply and let it out slowly, like a sigh of relief. She watched as the pouch seemed be become transparent and the stone began to shimmer in a pool of colors.

  Jillian opened her eyes, and staring out onto the horizon said, “I wish I had all of it in front of me, like an instruction manual. Step one, step two, you know.”

  Illianna nodded her head and walked to stand beside Jillian. “You will, very soon, I promise.”

  “Put your hand on my mane and close your eyes. Free your mind and just ‘be.’ Send your mind to where it knows it must go, and your body will follow. What you are seeking, you will find!”

  Jillian took a deep breath and began to relax. To just ‘be.’ In her mind’s eye she could see the flowers in the field. Then she saw colors above of field, filling the void between the flowers and the sky. She could feel the breeze and hear the waves crashing. She could feel the excitement and freedom of riding Illianna. She began to feel the rumbling again. She trusted that this time she would be closer to answering what is behind the secret of the stone. And then the rumbling stopped.

  As if sucked back into her body, Jillian gasped a minute and sat up. Another dream? Oh my God. They are so real. I feel like I'm a little kid, she thought and picked Tiffany Marie up, watching her, cradled in her arm, as she stretched all the way down to her toes and yawned twice. She carried her over to the desk and opened the journal. She started writing where she had left off. Again, this was so real. I know I was riding a horse and I felt the love of God, and I met a rabbit named Mirabella, she began writing.

  When Jillian finished writing about what she had experienced last night into the journal she was amazed at how much she could remember, even the minute details. She was amazed at the creativity and the ways the animals all spoke to her. This is just downright crazy. I can't tell anyone. They will think I am nuts, like they do to the people who live on the streets. Some of them see and hear things that have been deemed imaginary, and then they get locked up or pumped full of meds so they are numb. She closed her journal and decided to hide it somewhere. Maybe on the bookshelf! This is where she put it.

  She sat down and turned her tablet on, bringing up Facebook. She had notifications! A couple were from friends from her old school, bored with nothing to do but see what she was up to this summer, not even knowing that she wasn't living at home. But there was one from Ryan!

  "Hey, spent all night looking over what we got at the cabin. We have some genuinely compelling evidence. Going to try and get some sleep now. I'll message you when I get up.” Jillian started to get excited. Not knowing if he had contacted Sonya, she sent her a message and waited. And waited and waited. So, carrying her tablet with her she thought she would investigate the house a bit.

  As she walked down the long hallway she was looking at the photos and artwork. Where was that one photo I wanted to look at again? she thought as she started focusing on a young girl. Amanda? She found it. She was the aunt that passed away when I was little. I don't know how. No, we don't look a whole lot alike, but she looks like the girl I saw in the waterfall. That wasn't me then was it? Why would I have a dream about her and I don't even know her? Jillian was staring at the picture now and she was convinced that she was in her dream. She started looking at some of the other photos on the wall. There had to be more of her...Focus, focus she thought. Here, here is another one, Amanda 10 Yrs. old in the green house, Jillian thought, that's here!

  She headed towards the green house that was attached to the kitchen in the back of the house. Looking around, she thought, Amanda, if you are here can you tell me? Can I please see you or hear you? She began to focus on the name and face of Amanda. She closed her eyes and could see something like a flash of white outside. She opened her eyes and walked through the glass door. Amanda? She asked again. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Amanda, let's talk, please. Then in her mind's eye she saw a granite bench and short wrought iron gate. She opened her eyes and thought I know that from somewhere....Where? F
ocus. She took another deep breath. The hill. Cemetery Hill out back.

  Jillian walked out of the garden and looked up to Cemetery Hill. “I guess that's where I need to go, huh?” she said out loud. She headed across the backyard, knowing that the builders of the house were buried there. But that was about all. When she was younger and visited she wasn’t allowed to go that far away from the house alone. As she approached the hill, a small, wrought iron fence surrounded the square of family graves. Towards the back was an outhouse. How strange, she thought. Someone must have visited here regularly and had a weak bladder.

  As she was about to open the gate, "Ding-dong Ding-dong" her tablet was beckoning. Oh crap, she thought.

  “I'm up now. Meet me at Sonya's," was Ryan's message. Torn between meeting Amanda at the cemetery and evidence from the cabin, Jillian had to make a decision, and started back down the hill to the house.

  "Hi!" Aunt Jana said as Jillian passed, so wrapped up in her own little world, she hadn't even known she was there.

  "Oh hi!" Jillian said and stopped, "Whatcha doin'?"

  "Repotting some of these plants. They get root bound, they need a bigger space. That way their roots can grow, and their foliage can flourish,” her aunt said, wrestling a small fig tree.

  "Can you tell me about Amanda, your little sister that died?” Jillian asked shyly as she helped her aunt set the roots into the larger pot and helped her fill it with dirt.

  "Well yes, she was the last of the six, and she had gifts we couldn't understand. Like an old soul. She had talents way beyond her years, painting, playing the piano, and writing. She didn't say much, but she smiled almost all of the time. Oh my, she was such a character, and she had an enormous heart and compassion, especially for animals. She wouldn't let anybody hurt anything; she'd pick up spiders and move them. She liked to climb this one tall tree out back at dusk and watch the bats; they would even teach their babies how to fly from that tree. There wasn't a fearful bone in her body, and she came to our family with no ego whatsoever. She could make us laugh so hard our sides would hurt! She is buried up there on the hill. Her room is on the second floor if you want to look at it. Most of her belongings are still there. Oh, except for the stone. The stone we gave you for your birthday, it was hers. We were hoping you'd like it as much as she did. She made the pouch for it herself, and she never took it off. We decided to keep it when she passed." Aunt Jana said as she took off her gardening gloves and took Jillian's hands in hers.

  As Jillian looked up into Aunt Jana's eyes she heard laughter, and turned to look up the hill where she saw another flash of white.

  "You go meet with your friends now," her aunt said, smiling. "Everything here can wait."

  Jillian took off for the Bed and Breakfast to meet with Sonya and Ryan. There has to be some decent evidence, so much happened, she thought. The TV shows certainly don't show much. Especially where thousands of people have died, you'd think there would be tons of irrefutable evidence. The evp's are usually hard to understand, and sometimes I think they are pulling strings, or throwing rocks. I would make a great debunker, she thought. I could find logical answers behind almost everything, except for what is genuinely being presented from the spirits. What we are doing, I know it's all real. But why can't I seem to talk to Aunt Jana about it? She believes. The whole family believes. Maybe they are letting me make up my own mind. Find my own answers. I bet we could have our own show with all of the evidence we could find.

  As she walked up to the B&B there was a couple sitting on the front porch swing. They smiled and waved to Jillian. That's Doreen and Thomas, she thought as she waved back. They were at the house last night with Aunt Jana and Uncle Tim watching a movie! As she followed the path to the back of the house, she saw an older woman standing at the window. She was solid so Jillian thought this must be Sonya's Grandma Hilde. She waved at her, too. When she got to the servants’ quarters, Ryan was already there set up at the kitchen table. Jillian sat down next to Sonya and awaited the presentation.

  "Well, I think we did a good job. Not just that - a great job, and you are about to see the evidence we collected,” Ryan said as he turned the laptop around to the girls. It was like a slide show. At the top of the screen were the photos, and beneath them Ryan had them synchronized with the audio waves.

  The first photo must have been from the second visit, it was of the outside of the cabin. The visual audio waves started, and it was quiet. Then there was the sound of the match being lit, then the candle.

  "Hello. My name is Jillian. This is Sonya and Ryan. We would like to talk with you. Please give us a sign of your presence." We don't mean you any harm. We just want to know about you. We want to understand. Some believe that after we die there is nothing. Some people believe that after we die they go to either heaven or hell. Some believe that there is a place between here and there. If you are in that place, we would like to know the truth, what it is like, and why you are there. Do you have any unfinished business we can help you with? Are you at peace with your family in heaven?"

  There was the sound of rushing wind.

  "You don't understand. I didn't do anything to hurt her,” the softer, higher pitched voice said.

  "You are not Jillian, are you? You don't understand what? Please tell us what you are talking about." Sonya asked.

  "I feel so depressed. My heart is breaking," Jillian said. "It... It's hard to breathe, it's so heavy." She said as she began to sob.

  "Please, help me find her, please.” The soft voice pleaded.

  Silence, then you could hear Ryan clapping and rubbing his hands together.

  "Oh my God, what was that? I have been depressed before but not like that. It felt like I didn't want to live, but there was no way to die either." Jillian cried.

  "What did you see? Who were you?" Ryan asked.

  "I didn't see anything. It felt as if my whole body was drenched in sorrow. My heart ached, lost. I didn't know that lost is a feeling." Jillian said.

  "Either you were transported to another reality and someone else was using your body, or girl, you are crazy. Did you ever think about being an actress? You are almost believable! Can you always cry on command like that?" Sonya said snidely.

  "You were not acting, were you?" Ryan asked.

  "I don't know what came over me... just feelings out of nowhere," Jillian said.

  "Oh, so maybe you people conjured this up to see if you could freak me out? Well, it aint gonna work," Sonya said. You could hear her brushing off her butt and turning on her flashlight.

  Then the picture changed to another one Ryan had taken on the second visit, the investigation. "Today is June 16th, 2012. It is 10:10 PM. We are investigating the cabin in the woods. We have Sonya, Jillian and myself, Ryan."

  The picture changed and the audio continued, "63 degrees on the front porch. 61..........61..........62 degrees in the big room. 59......59...58 degrees in the little room. Sonya, do you want to ask questions?”

  “Hi. It’s us again. We have come back to talk to you. This thing I have in my hand will make a copy of your voice in case we can't hear you with our ears. Jillian has a camera to make a picture of what we can or can't see of you. [Why?] What Ryan has in his hand can measure your energy and temperature. So we are here to help you. Sometimes I can make things move or disappear. Can you do that? Can you make noises that we can hear? [I don’t know.] Can you just talk to us and tell us what happened and what we can do to help you?" They clearly heard a faint voice where Ryan had highlighted the 2 audio segments.

  "60, 59,57,55,50,44, 44 degrees. The emf is starting to move. Thank you. You're doing it." Ryan's recorded voice was interrupted by the sound of the camera shutter. The photos changed and there were the ones that Jillian shot out of the wall into the garden of blackness. In the second photo you could just make out a mist, but by the 5th picture it had grown more solid.

  "Everything was fine," said in a soft voice. "The rains were over and the sun was warming the earth for the plants to grow
. Elizabeth was playing."

  "And then you had a visitor." Ryan said as the recording continued. "You took her into the house and made something for her. She paid you. When you came out, you didn't see Elizabeth. You started looking around, thinking she was playing hide and go seek. But Elizabeth was nowhere to be found. You saw something moving in the woods. It was that man. The woman saw him too and ran. You looked everywhere for your baby. She was gone. You kept looking and looking, everywhere. When darkness began to fall, a mob of townspeople came here asking where Elizabeth was. What did it matter to them? They did not want you in their town. They weren't there to help you find her, either. They tried taking you back, but you ran and hid. No one knew the woods like you did. You loved every inch of the land. The husband that followed his wife here threw the lantern to burn the house down. Emmy, he did not take Elizabeth. That's what you were thinking. He had just followed his wife here. When you came back outside and you couldn't find her, he wanted to get rid of you and told the people in town that he saw you murder her.