Page 39 of A Very No Strings Halloween

Donna clears her throat. “Good evening… We now invite friendly spirits to communicate with us… Is there a spirit here who wishes to communicate with us?” She opens one eye and glances down at the message indicator. We both wait. We hold our breath.

About ten seconds of nothing later, Donna sighs and says, “Is there a spirit here?”

A few more seconds of nothing.

And then something.

The dim light above the stairwell flickers.

The candlelight dances.

All of a sudden, I feel a cool breeze, the door to the bedroom slams shut, and all of the candles in the room go out.

Which is certainly not unheard of in a drafty old house at night.

But I can feel the hairs on theback of my neck standing up.

Because I’m cold.

The room is now lit by moonlight.

The message indicator moves to the wordYes.

“Holy shit,” Donna whispers. “Did you do that?”

“No.”

She shivers so hard I can hear it. “Okay…I’m gonna move it back to the center now.” She doesn’t say that shedidn’tmove it. She slides the planchette away from the wordYes. “Hello. Thank you for joining us. Are you willing to communicate with us?” The planchette immediately slides back to the wordYes, like the spirit is impatient. “Okay. Thank you. Can you spell out your first name for us?”

After a few seconds, the message indicator slides to theL.

Then to theA.

Then to theR.

Then there’s a long pause.

“Lars?” Donna asks. “Is it you?”

Then the message indicator slides jerkily to theAagain.

“Lara? Are you Lara Olander? Lars’s wife?”

The indicator slides toYes.

Donna inhales sharply. “Okay. Hello, Lara. Do you know who I am?”

The indicator jerks away fromYestoNo.

“My name is Donna. This is Billy. Is Lars with you, Lara?”

HardNo.

“Okay. We’re here to help you, Lara. Is there something you need?”

Yes.

“Please tell us what you want.”