Dulce Lacrimae

Nadia and Aniela walked over to the spot they agreed to meet Darla at.

"Dad made me work at his stupid engineering job for a week." Nadia rolled her eyes. "I asked if we could ask a photographer or maybe some local artist, but he specifically asked at jobs he thought I should have."

She shook her head. "Where did you work at this week?"

"At my father's mortuary."

"Oh. He also made you huh?"

"No."

"You, wanted to work at a morgue?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I find autopsies interesting, and I wish to do it myself someday."

"Right. But don't you feel bad? Working with people who passed?"

"No." Aniela looked at her emotionlessly. "They are already dead." But they still can come back, right?

The girls walk silently side by side along their usual road. Birds flew out of Aniela's way and animals scattered.

"You know, you've been quite silent lately." Nadia spoke suddenly. "Is everything ok?"

"Yes." Aniela answered at once.

"You.... Sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Ok..." Nadia awkwardly walked behind her friend.

"Well, are you excited for the séance today?" Aniela nodded.

"Me too. Perhaps this one will actually work. The only one that ever worked was the one at the shack, remember?”

"Yes, I remember." How could she forget? The ring she found has been buried in her mind for the past years.

"We should investigate it again sometime. Maybe with Darla too." Aniela stayed silent.

Aniela and Nadia met Darla at their cemetery. Darla looked up at them and smiled in greeting. Aniela just blankly looked back.

"Hiii." Nadia said excitedly and hugged Darla.

"Are you ready to get spooked?"

Darla chuckled. "I'm always ready to anger spirits."

The three girls sat down comfortably on a slab of concrete in the middle of the cemetery. Darla and Aniela sat across of each other while Nadia sat down beside with a notebook. They prepared the séance and set up the Ouija board. In the light of the candles, Aniela put her hand on the planchette, and Darla put hers on top, making Aniela's heart skip a beat.

"Hello spirits." Aniela spoke softly.

"We'd like to speak to you tonight." The girls all waited with bated breath.

"Hello spirits. We'd like to speak to you tonight." Nothing happened.

Aniela repeated the sentence five more times and looked over to Nadia.

"Perhaps the cemetery was a bad idea, given that people were buried here but didn't die."

Nadia frowned. "But I read that the cemetery has a very strong connection to the afterlife."

"Hello spirits." Darla suddenly spoke.

"Could we speak to you tonight?" Suddenly, their hands violently moved to yes. Aniela and Nadia sat in shock while Darla stayed composed.

"That's great. Can you hear us well?" Their hands moved out and back to yes in the exact same jerking manner.

"That's lovely. Let's ask simple questions first."

"Are you a woman?"

No.

"Are you a man?"

Yes.

"Did you die naturally?"

No.

"Was it an accident?"

Yes.

"What was the accident?"

Their hands violently moved along the board spelling: b o g.

"You drowned in a bog?"

Yes.

"Was it in County Galway?"

Yes.

Aniela stared amazed at Darla, who socialised with ghosts as well as she socialised with people. Though Aniela wasn't too keen on the fact the spirit seemed a little violent.

"How old were you when you died?"

37

"Did you have a partner?"

Yes.

"Is she still alive?"

No.

The two girls stared amazed at Darla, its like they were put in a trance. How is the spirit not getting angry for asking such personal questions?

"Did you have kids?"

No.

"What was your job?"

f a r m e r

"Did you enjoy your job?"

Yes.

"Is any of your relatives alive?"

Their hands didn't move.

"Is any of your relatives alive?"

The planchette slid violently. dontknow

"What's your name?"

Nothing.

"What's your name?"

The only sound heard was the noise of the wind blowing at the grass.

"What's your name?"

Their hands jerked back and forward. liidddonnndttteeeeeeeeeerremember

"Oh." Darla flinched. "Well, I'm sorry. Thank you for talking to us. Goodbye." She moved their hands to goodbye.

"Jesus." Nadia said under her breath.

"Why'd ya do that?"

"Do what?"

"Move your hand to goodbye?"

"To close the portal."

"What."

"You have to close the portal, keeping it open can be very dangerous." Aniela and Nadia looked at each other.

"It can?"

"Yeah. Wait, did ye never close the portal?"

The girls looked at the ground.

"Seriously?"

"Look, we didn't know!" Nadia retorted.

Darla looked at Aniela. "You bought the board, clearly you knew about it."

Aniela shook her head. "I didn't. The board didn't come with instructions. I thought Nadia knew how to do it."

"I thought I knew how to do it as well!" Nadia furrowed her brow. "Look, nothing bad happened, so clearly it's not a big deal!" She stood up and collected her candles annoyed.

"No need to get mad, I'm just saying that's not safe."

"I'm not mad!" Nadia snapped at her.

"You are mad! What did you even think the goodbye on the bottom of the board was for?" Darla also stood up, and Aniela gathered her board and stood up, not looking either of them in the eye.

"For the ghost to stop talking! We are not meant to move the planchette! And I'm not mad, you are."

"Jesus." Darla rubbed her temples.

"Aniela, is Nadia mad?"

The two girls stared at Aniela, while she rubbed her arms. "Er."

"Tell her I'm not mad!"

"Well..."

"You very clearly are! You are raising your voice!"

"Guys...”

"You are also raising your voice!"

This is so pointless. Here they are, arguing. Wasting her time. All of this, a waste of time. What's the point? What's the point of continuing this cycle of meetings? When she could be doing something a lot more important. Something for her.

"Enough! Let's just go home."

The girls gotten silent and they stood together in the dark of the cemetery, neither daring to look at each other.