Day 20 of VBT: Short Story: Ouija by Cheryl Kaye Tardif

Here's a short story you'll want to read with the lights on. Inspired by true events, OUIJA is the story of a woman who opens a box that should never be opened.

You know what they say about curiousity...

OUIJA
by Cheryl Kaye Tardif

Last spring, while packing away my aunt's belongings at her lakeside cottage, I discovered this letter in a box of old party games…

February 13, 2004

To Whom It May Concern:

If you found this letter, it means I'm dead.

DEAD!

Plain and simple.

And if I'm dead it's not by natural causes, I can assure you. I'm writing in haste cause I know I don't got much time.

It’s after me!

What, you're asking. Well, I'll tell you.

It all started with that gawdforbidden Ouija board. The board that my best friend and I found in her attic.

Liza and I had been friends and neighbors for more than 45 years. We even buried our husbands within 2 years of each other. And no, we didn't bury them in the backyard.

Let me make somethin clear, first off. I'm not crazy. I'm of sound mind. Maybe not sound body though. I'm not crazy and neither was Liza. I'm as sane as you, whoever is reading this, and what I'm about to tell you is true. TRUE! Not one word is a lie.

My phone rang a few nights ago.

"Liza," I said. "It’s 3 o'clock in the gawddamn morning!"

"You gotta come over, Sharon. Quick!"

"Why do I have to come over now? Can't it wait until morning?"

There was silence.

I sat up in bed and turned on my lamp. " Liza, you there?"

"I hear voices, " she whispered. "There's someone in my attic."

She sounded scared, more scared than I ever heard her before, and her voice gave me a chill up my spine...

Read OUIJA, a short, terrifying suspense story that will make your blood curdle.

Life without coffee...

Well, chalk this day to one of those days that I probably should have stayed in bed. You know, one of those days where things make you say #&*(% (and that's not "hmmmm!") Got out of bed (maybe that was my first mistake!) after a restless night of heartburn city. That's what you get for taking an Arthrotec pill before bed and washing it down with a sausage roll and ice tea. Well, it says to take with food! So I get up, take a rake through my hair and rip out half of it. Oh crap! No time for a shower this morning. Have to take Jessica to school. Thank God that's almost finished!!! After washing my hair down the drain (and probably clogging it) I head off to school. Of course that means taking the road that's still being worked on. (I think they started it back in...1862). Whew! I make it to school, drop off my daughter, who strangely enough is quite friendly and not in her usual PMS Barbie stage. On the way home, the gas vaporizes (I'm sure I had a quarter of a tank) and I head back home, thankful to be able to get some work done and enjoy my coffee. I call up a friend and talk to her about writing (is there anything else?) and go to top up my coffee...and lo and behold, it's cold. I mean, the entire pot is cold. But the lights are on!!! (Ok, no comment, people!) Let me clarify. The light on my coffee pot is on, which should mean the plate warmer is on. But the warmer is cold. So I go to heat up my mug in the microwave. Oh...did I mention that my microwave is broken? The darned thing won't "clear". That means that you have to use up all the minutes before setting it to a new time. So I used up someone else's 8 seconds and went 30 seconds more. Two hours later I decide to make a fresh pot. That's when I see it! There is still 2 cups of unboiled water left in the coffeepot. Two cups of coffee that should have been made. Ok, now what's going on here? I turn off the pot, turn it back on and...nothing. Oh my God! My life is nearly over and the past 36 years pass before my life! (Okay, 37!) So now I have a choice. I can continue to write the last few chapters of The River (which incidentally is getting really good...I wonder what'll happen next??) OR I can go buy a new coffee pot! Oh come on, people!!!! Is there really a choice! Of course I bought the new coffee pot! Because life without coffee is like...like... Death! ~ CKT