*****
Beep, Buzz, Beep!
Sitting up, Jessie looked around trying to decipher his location. Underneath him lay a cot, adjacent to him sat a nightstand full of books.
He'd been strolling in the woods for an eternity trying to determine how to get back to campus. This was the last day of his final exams. He had to complete the study he'd been working on, the enigma he had to solve, and obtain the path that had been paved for him.
He needed to determine why the house kept changing, and not keeping one form as he had left. He picked up the top book, Nursery Rhymes, from the nightstand and leafed through it absentmindedly. He didn't remember taking this book out of his back pocket and leaving it on the table before he left the mansion.
Inside the cover of the book was his sister's name:
This book Belongs to: Lucy
Underneath she had written:
This is a world within a world that Grandfather has made. A time cycle, back and forth, that will not stay. It comes and goes in its own age, and in the end it plays over and over, a song repeated.
Jessie turned the page. Developing before him, similar to a photo from a Polaroid the cottage emerged. Below it was written:
Our cabin was built in 1970. It was small, yet luxurious, with a living area as you enter the home. To the left of it is the kitchen. If you enter our residence via the front door you view the parlor area then stairs that lead to a hallway holding three bedrooms, and one bath on the higher level used for family and guests.
Recently we had a party for our granddaughter before destruction took place by an unexpected fire. It occurred in the evening while cooking on my gas stove.
Jessie, your grandfather attempted to warn you to stay out of that chamber. The one your sister setup all those beautiful gold flowers in. We certainly adored them and both of you. The moment your grandfather walked in, he had smiled. You didn't detect that, but instead had to experience the anger he had for your disobedience, knowing the terror of what originated. You and your sister came down later to play with those ducks in the front parlor. You hoped it would cheer her up after Papa had hollered at her. Then again; he scolded you, shouting about respecting other people's property. He'd been such a good man until he became bitter. The sweetness eluded him. He had tried to keep the entity from entering the outside world, a parallel of the house. It was a spirit who lived here. The ghost never bothered you children. Yes, at times it may have persuaded you to believe it to be another child, or sought you out in a helpful way, but it was only pursuing revenge towards adults. You didn't understand much about the cabin, or this abode.
Jessie turned the page slowly. It contained more photos from the party. How they got there he did not fathom.
A picture of an unknown child lay on the next page. Lanky and tall she was with reddish hair and blue eyes. A thin girl who wore a tan colored dress with black flat shoes.
This child was killed at our log cabin. We were not aware of it before the purchase, nevertheless the space contained chaos. Neither adults nor anyone beyond age eighteen could go in without being negatively affected. I was unable to share this with you until now, and I'm dead. In the twilight, I found myself rushing into the washroom amidst the ducks. Your papa was there rinsing the blood from his hands. At that moment your sister raced by glowing angelically, disappearing into undefined shadows.
Now wondering if you'd forgotten, hints had to be given discreetly. I've been keeping an eye on you near the heavens, or the next world, in which I've been deposited. Please do not return to the mansion/cabin. It will only forge grief, death, and destruction maybe worse. Instead, move forward, graduate, erase harmful memories. Stop dwelling on the past, especially on your sister.
There were no more words.
Jessie closed the book and set it down beside him. "Forget! How can I?" he asked, out loud. Lucy was, still is, my inspiration for life, success...Not to mention countless creative outlets he had attempted to unleash within himself. The college classes taken had been so focused in order to understand the paranormal. He had never meant to stumble upon it.
I'm going to close my eyes, and all of this will disappear. It will be over. I'll be in class studying, or Jude and I will be in our dormitory watching some screwball comedy.
Jessie shut his eyes, took a deep breath in, and then slowly let it out. Opening his eyes gradually he felt a hand on his shoulder, and shuddered.
"Look at me Jess, do not fear me," said his sister. "Grandma and I... we didn't know how to tell you. When she saw you and Jude planning to use the old house for a party she had a revelation of tragedy. It had to be stopped! Bringing the past to you was the only way we knew how. Did you forget my death the beauty and ugliness in it? The pain you felt upon trudging in on Grandpa, finding out what he had done. My body laying lifeless while you cried in torment? Do you know where you are or if you are Jessie or Jude?" Lucy looked up at him. She didn't know what else to do here. Her spirit was sent to awaken him to a reality he did not realize existed.
"Jessie, what do you see?" she asked.
"My dorm room. Lucy I am in my dorm."
"Yes, it is a dorm room, but it is not a regular college."
"I can't be Jude, Lucy I recall conversing with him, seeing him... I've hugged him. He's real!"
A sad smile spread across Lucy's face.
A rapid beating of knocks echoed from the doorway into his room. Jessie, or was it Jude turned and his sister was gone. "I am losing my mind! I am Jessie, not Jude."
Someone was standing before him glaring. "Jude?" asked Jessie.
Jude paced back and forth a bit before speaking. "Don't leave us again, you had quite the trip. No pun intended of course. A haunted mansion, or did you say it was a cabin? That sister of yours has been dead for years now. You just can't seem to let it go. I missed you in class today. We were going to let you graduate, but then this transpires! You keep going back there, in your mind of course."
Jessie sank back on his pillow, letting tears trickle down his face. "I am really confused. Is this a hospital or college? Are you a doctor, a student, or my friend? I feel psycho."
"We created an atmosphere of a real college campus. We tricked you Jessie. Not very nice, of course, testing you to see how you would function in society while creating a career in which you could use the knowledge of your past. It's almost over. Now it's time to understand you can't go back. You can never go back. This is what has to take place once you face those facts. Then you can truly be free from the nightmare. What do you think that is laying next to your bed, on the night stand?"
"The nursery rhymes book," Jessie said. "It belonged to Lucy."
"It's a recollection of what happened that night. Things you have saved that belonged to Lucy."
That doesn't explain the writings in the book, or message left to me by my grandmother, Jessie speculated to himself continuing to listen to what Jude had to say.
"Your family perished in the fire that evening. You ran away trying to forget, and the sequence continued."
"Jude?" Jessie asked "Will I march with my class on graduation day? What about the other students who are here?"
"They are facing their own unique challenges. It is not something we share. In fact, you'll not be allowed to divulge any of what you know of this facility to other patients. The degrees we give out are real, the teachers are real, the classrooms, and physicality are what was created to distract you from the knowledge of what this place is, a psychiatric hospital. You'll graduate with your degree in paranormal psychology, but you'll have to meet with a psychologist once a week, stay on your meds and consent to home visits twice a month.
I'll have to play by their rules, Jessie thought. Once graduated he could explore the idea that his grandmother had tried to contact him.
"My sister is a ghost? I am not crazy," said Jessie.
"Yes, we are willing to consider it was a possibility that you were in contact with her spirit at one tim
e. Let me say again... it was a possibility. On the night of your sister's birthday party after the fire we found you wandering in the woods. You were out of sorts. We couldn't get you to speak for weeks. You claimed you had no recollection of what had happened. You were only fifteen. You've been here ever since."
Sources
https://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/meaning-of-colors.html
https://gardening.about.com/od/fallinthegarden/tp/Top-10-Fall-Bloomers.htm
https://www.signology.org/bird-symbol/duck-symbol.htm
Angela Crandall lives in Traverse City Michigan with her husband, three cats, and a very energetic dog. She has always dreamed of being a writer. This is her first attempt at making that dream come true. Any positive advice for this author to help her achieve such a goal is much appreciated
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