“So, if this isn’t a dream, then where are we?”
“I was waiting for you to ask. We are In Between.”
I waited for more explanation. When she didn’t give any, I cleared my throat. “Ah, in-between where? Exactly?”
She looked at me patiently. “In Between the Planes of Existence. A meeting place of sorts.” My face was blank, and she continued, “There are Physical Planes such as Earth, where you live. And then there are Spiritual Realms.” My face was still a blank. She made a small tsking sound. “Spiritual Realms—some have called them Heaven, Hell, Limbo, Purgatory, among others, but those names you’re most familiar with,” she said it all so matter of fact.
“Sugar, if you don’t close your mouth soon, you’re gonna start catching flies in that thing,” she laughed, the sound whimsical and light.
I touched my mouth with my fingertips, and sure enough it was hanging wide open. I snapped it shut.
Granny chuckled lowly, “Come on now. We don’t have all night, and this food certainly isn’t going to eat itself. And we do have plenty to cover before our little visit is through.”
I felt so full, I actually wondered it was possible for my stomach to explode. For real. I just couldn’t resist that last slice of chocolate cake. My mom and I had tried, to no avail to replicate it, but the cake just never came out as good as it did when Granny made it.
As I tried to recover, I rested my head in Granny’s lap, watching the sun shining through the oak leaves as they danced gently in the breeze. But when I started to pay attention, I realized there really wasn’t any breeze to speak of. “You know,” I paused, “that tree sure does look a lot like the one at your old place.”
She laughed. “Took you long enough. That tree has been waving its leaves at you since ya got here, girl. It is the same tree from my place.” I raised my eyebrows, scrunching up my forehead, and she swatted at me playfully. “Stop that, you’ll end up with wrinkles before you’re thirty. Now this tree, is an old friend of mine, it has witnessed all the comings and goings of my physical life.”
“I’m sorry, Granny, I feel so confused.” I still was convinced I was dreaming, like a lucid dream or something, no matter how she kept saying I was not. That was okay by me though; I was in the best, most wonderful dream ever, and I didn’t want it to end.
“Everything that has life has Spirit; goes for you, for me, the trees, the grass, animals, all that lives,” She paused. “Spirit is the energy animating us, and in a sense, what binds us together as well, for all souls are connected through this way. It’s our Godliness.” She paused as I sat silently.
“So, now for the real reason I brought you here. When I was living and breathing on your Earth, I was entrusted to help the souls in and around Chatham County. All over the world, you’ll find there is a special network of people doing this. Most of the time my job entailed helping lost souls cross over, passing messages to loved ones, and protecting these souls from parasitic entities.” She was nodding her head. “Ummhmmm. Yes ma’am, the souls near the home place have been waiting for you, Krystal. I am passing my God given gift down to you.”
“Gift? What gift?”
“You will see the world through new eyes. You’ve seen glimpses, heard glimpses before, you remember?”
“You know about that?” I felt dumbfounded as you could be, even after all the hoopla of magic picnic baskets, waving trees, and grandmothers risen from the dead. And now I’m supposed to deal with parasitic entities?
“Oh, yes, sugar. You are already more powerful than most coming into the job. It’s going to take some practice and work at first,” she tapped her finger to her lips, “to be able to shield yourself so that only what is important comes through. But you won’t be alone. Your Spirit Guides and teachers will assist you every single step of the way, as will I.”
“Why me? Why not mom?” I said with a shake of my head. I had no idea to what to think, what to feel about this turn of events.
“You have always been my successor. It was decided long ago, but that’s really a story for another time when you’ll understand it better. Besides, your natural abilities are stronger, and with your mother being married to Bobby, well, I’m sure you understand.”
And I did. “Um, okay. So, how am I supposed to find these Spirit Guide people?”
She put her arms around me, and looked down into my face, her eyes brimming with compassion. “Oh, you won’t need to find them, dear. They’re already with you.”
She began to glow brighter and brighter as each second passed. “Send my love to your mom. And don’t worry, Krystal. You’ll be amazing. Happy Birthday, sugar, time to open up.” She placed one of her thumbs on the middle of my forehead, her touch so hot it almost burned. “I love you. Now, off you go.” And she became brighter even, until I was blinded by her white light.
I began to feel a sensation of drifting, just like falling asleep, and then there was nothing but pitch blackness.
Chapter 10
I woke with a start, my eyes darting open. My breath came in tiny gasps. What a strange dream, I thought, snuggling deep down into my warm blankets. It had been so nice to see Granny, though, even in a dream. I looked around my bedroom, my view sideways as my head lay on my pillow, the stillness of night heavy around me. My alarm clock read 2:22 AM.
“Well, happy birthday to me,” I whispered. I had been born at 2:20 in the morning. I sat up, rubbing my forehead, which felt weird and tingly. I was now seventeen. I glanced up and froze, too afraid to move a muscle. A boy stood on the other side of my bedroom, looking out my window. I watched him as I debated what to do. I could scream and hope Bobby or Mom heard me, or I could call 911. I slowly reached out to my bedside table where my new cell phone lay, quietly tip toeing my fingers over the cheap particle wood and clutter until it was in my grasp.
“You don’t need to do that.”
His voice should have come from the other side of the room, instead, it was right in my ear. My muscles bunched under me as I rose to take flight, but all of a sudden he was in front of me, gently pushing me to sit back down on my bed, then he raised his fingers to my lips in a shhhhing motion. His face was amused.
“They won’t see me,” he added. I studied him more closely. He looked like he was about my age, maybe a little older, like eighteen or nineteen. His hair was a sandy brown color like a beach. I couldn’t quite figure out the color of his eyes, but hazel was my closest guess. He had a handsome face, actually, and his lips were rather full for a boy. His face lit up in a smile that made his eyes twinkle, almost as if he had heard my thoughts. He didn’t seem tall either, but it was hard to tell since I was sitting down.
“Why don’t I know you? Do you go to the community college or something?” I asked, ignoring his earlier comment. He shook his head no.
“Well, who are you then? And why are you in my room?”
He gave a little bow at the waist. “Abel, at your service.”
Rationally, I knew I should have been screaming my head off or something akin to that, instead my heart was doing little flips inside my chest. “Abel?” I had never heard of that name anywhere other than the Bible. “And you are in my room because?”
“I’m your Guide. I’m here to help you in any way I can.”
That sounded familiar. I tried to clear my foggy brain. Granny had said something about Spirit Guides in my crazy dream.
“You’re right,” he said. I noticed then his lips didn’t move when he answered.
I let out a groan and plopped backwards onto my bed. “Okay, still dreaming.” I lay still a few seconds before looking back up at him. “At least, I have good taste in my dreams.”
He roared with laughter.
“Hey, take it easy, you’re going to wake everybody up.”
“They can’t hear me, Krystal. Or see me. Only you can. But, for future reference, they can hear you talking to me. To them, it would seem like you’re talking to yourself.”
“Great. I already h
ave such a wonderful reputation,” I mused.
No worries. You will become comfortable talking with me like this. His voice echoed inside my head.
“Oh,” I breathed, “that was so creepy.”
You’ll get used to it.
“I doubt it, I shivered. “Are you, um, like a ghost?”
“No, a ghost is a spirit that has not crossed over to the other side. I have crossed over.”
“Why aren’t you in Heaven, then?”
“We come and go when you need us. I will teach you about it in time.”
“Okay,” I drew the word out slowly, trying to wrap my mind around his words. I gave up. “So, is this your first day on the job?”
“No, I’ve been with you since you were born. You used to be able to see me when you were smaller. I think that stopped around the time you were going on four.”
My mouth hung open. I tried to speak, but nothing would come out. I could vaguely remember having an imaginary friend my mother had tried to get me to give up way back when.
“You had many imaginary friends then. You gave up interacting with us to be socially acceptable at the time. We understood the reasons. But we have still been watching you and helping you at times, even though you weren’t aware of us most of the time.”
“Okay. So why can I see you now?”
“You were blessed with the gift to do this when you were born. It’s always been available if you chose to use it. Your grandmother just helped you to release the blocks you had in place and get your “gears moving again,” so to speak.”
“That’s why she touched my head?” I touched the middle of my forehead with my fingers.
“Exactly. That’s where your third eye chakra is located.” Just when I was wondering what the hell a chakra was, Abel spoke again. “Don’t worry. I will teach you about them later. You should rest now. School’s tomorrow, you know.”
“You sound like my mom,” I groaned.
He smiled at me, and I slid back under the covers. It may have been going on three AM, but for some reason, I didn’t want him to leave yet.
Good night, Krystal. Happy Birthday. May you wake refreshed and rejuvenated in the morning.
My eyes were heavy, and I quickly fell into a deep restful sleep.
Chapter 11
I woke with a start, my hands fumbling to reach the obnoxious alarm clock. Successful, I sat for a moment enjoying the blissful quiet. My body was tingly and seemed to pulsate with each contraction of my beating heart. And I felt so light, as if I’d shed pounds of weight overnight. The closest thing I could liken this feeling to was happiness. Happy? Me? I wondered why. I usually woke up so grumpy. Then I remembered it was my birthday.
I jumped out of bed and with a spring in my step, took a look around my closet. I didn’t usually give much thought to what I wore, but since it was my special day, I figured I’d dress up a little. I pulled down a pair of jeans from the top of my closet. I held them up to my body, wondering if they’d fit. I wiped away at lines of dusty residue from where the jeans had sat in my closet for months. These came from Tara’s cast offs from last year, and they looked practically new. Fingering through forgotten clothes, I found a lovely teal blue button down shirt. It was sheer, so I picked out a dark sea green camisole to match and laughed. Tammy had gotten these last year for my birthday. Gleefully, I tugged off the tags; I’d never worn these either.
After I dressed, I turned slowly in front of the mirror. I was surprised by my appearance. The teal blue looked great with my rich mahogany brown hair and warm complexion. I wiggled in the skinny jeans. These were going to take some getting used to, and I hoped I’d be able to sit down. Glancing at my feet, I realized I didn’t have any shoes that would match. Maybe, mom would lend me a pair of her work flats?
I rummaged under the sink in my tiny bathroom for the old Tupperware container where I kept the make-up Tammy had so insisted I needed. I lightly applied mascara to my upper and lower lashes. I thought it looked pretty good, so I added some kohl black liner to the upper corners of my eye lids before realizing next time, I should put it on before the mascara. Puckering up my lips, I added a pop of bubble gum pink colored lip gloss. Playing around with my hair, I decided it looked best with my hair pulled up from my face but long in the back. I dug out a few bobby pins with one hand and struggled to get them in place. When I was finished, I tried to look at myself like someone else would. I almost didn’t look like me. I had always felt so plain with my brown hair and eyes, but now I actually looked somewhat pretty by society’s standards. Maybe, I was just in a really good mood.
In my room, I grabbed my backpack, laden down with my school books and the cell phone I had splurged on when I’d gotten my first allowance. It was just a prepaid kind since I wasn’t old enough to sign-up for a contract on my own, but the phone could still send texts and take pictures. On my way into the living room, I opened up a text from Tammy, Happy b-day, Girl! C-ya soon! J
“Good morning, Mom!”
She looked up from her task of removing cheddar baked biscuits from her cookie sheet, her spatula falling from her hand and clattering to the floor. Her eyes took me in, mild surprise showing on her face. “Wow, Krystal, you sure look nice today.” She met me as I walked in the kitchen and gave me a great big hug. “Happy birthday. How does it feel to be seventeen?”
“Great.” I kissed her cheek. “Can I borrow your black flats? I don’t have shoes to match. Oh, and I can I use your hairspray too?”
She gave me a strange look, and then a huge smile lit up her face.
“What?”
“I’ve been waiting for you to outgrow your tom boy stage.” Before, I could say another word, she disappeared down the hallway to her room to get the shoes and hairspray for me. No way, would I attempt to go back there with Bobby sleeping. I grabbed a couple paper towels, placing several of the cheddar biscuits inside.
“Thanks, Mom.” I slid my feet into her shoes. They were a tiny bit big, but were doable. Placing my food on the table, I took a few steps back and bathed myself in Aqua net hairspray. “Okay, I’m outta here,” I hugged my mom bye. “Thanks for the biscuits.” For every year in my memory, Mom would get up early on my birthday to make my favorite breakfast.
“Be careful driving today. Make sure you leave plenty of room between you and other drivers.” She beamed a big smile at me, so happy to see me all dolled up, I guess.
“I will Mom,” I called over my shoulder, closing the trailer door behind me.
I walked over to Granny’s old Buick, now parked in my driveway. I had talked my mom into letting me drive the old beast as my birthday gift. I had been able to pay for the whole year of car insurance with my first allowance payment even. Course, it hadn’t cost a whole lot seeing the car was going on twenty years old, but it still ran real good. I sat in the front seat taking it all in. I was so happy, I felt like I could fly. Turning the radio dial, music clicked to life, and I cranked it up. Some Jason Aldeen tune. I saw my mom peeking out the curtains in the living room, and I waved to her as I started down the long driveway.
It was warm for October so I cracked my window, enjoying the fresh air, singing to the radio at the top of my lungs in between bites of hot biscuit. I thought about my crazy dreams from the night before. They had seemed so real; even now thinking back on them, I could remember them in great detail. Granny had looked so good too, and that brought me great happiness. Deep down I hoped my dream had been real somehow, and I had gotten a sneak peek of Heaven. I shrugged to shake off my own silliness. I wondered about the young man who called himself Abel. I must have seen him somewhere before in passing, but for the life of me, just couldn’t figure out where. After about five minutes, I gave up as I pulled into Malcom’s driveway. I gave the horn a light honk, which was still so crazy loud I resisted the urge to sink down in the seat and hide, and Malcom was on his way out the front door.
“Happy birthday, Kris!” He put his stuff in the backseat and got settled in. I passed him a
paper towel laden with the rest of the cheddar biscuits.
“God Bless your momma,” he groaned in appreciation. “She can sure make a good biscuit.”
I laughed and changed the radio station looking for music Malcom would appreciate, stopping when Adele’s rich voice, singing “I’ll Be Waiting For You,” filled the car. Malcom and I sang along. He danced in his seat, and I tapped my hands to the beat on the steering wheel. We would see Tammy at school. After regaining her driving privileges earlier in the week, she was riding in her own car.
When the song was over, Malcom turned the radio dial down. “Girl, you look slamming today. What’s the special occasion?”
“Um, my birthday?”
“That’s all? Girl, you’ve never dressed up a day before in your life when your momma didn’t make you.” He made exaggerated motions of checking me out. “Much less, when have you ever worn skinny jeans?” I stole a spilt second glance down at the dark denim while he went on. “And Oh. My. God. Krystal Abigail Haggart, are you wearing make-up?”
The Spirit Who Loved Me: Spirit Whispers Book One Page 7
