By Paula Bianchi –

Emma and Justin stood frozen in disbelief. They stared at the door, which had, without warning, slammed shut all by itself.

“Look at how big the gray cloud is, Lucy, and it’s rolling like a storm in the sky.” Dobson pointed to the cloud hovering above Emma and Justin.

Suddenly, the door flew open making Justin and Emma jump back and gasp with fear.

“What the hell is going on in here?” Michael stood in the doorway. “Why are you yelling at each other, and who slammed the door?” He demanded in his stern dad-voice.

“We didn’t touch it. It closed by itself.” Justin ran his fingers through his thick brown hair. “I was just asking Emma if she saw something that I’ve lost.” He glared at Emma in a threatening way to make her go along with his story.

“That doesn’t sound like a reason to be yelling, so tell me what’s really going on.” Michael said directly to Emma, after he noticed the way Justin looked at his sister.  

“Justin’s accusing me of taking something of his, but I don’t have it.” Emma responded, knowing her brother wished she hadn’t said anything.

“What did you lose? Maybe we can all look for it together.” Michael said, stepping into the room.

Lucy was astonished to see, after Michael entered the room, the misty gray cloud as it began to shrink smaller and smaller in size, until, just like that, it disappeared.

“I guess I was wrong.” Justin muttered. “I must’ve left it at school.” He turned to leave.

“Wait. Aren’t you forgetting something?” Michael asked.

“Sorry.” Justin added, before he quickly left the room.

“What’s going on with him?” Michael whispered.

“What do you mean?” Emma tried not to sound too defensive. She began to busy herself by loading up her homework and books into her backpack.

“He looks like he’s lost weight, and he’s never home anymore.” Michael shared his observations.

“I haven’t really noticed.” Emma said, as she tried her best to avoid eye contact with her father. “Have you talked to him about it?” She asked nervously.

Lucy felt elated on account of Michael finally seeing that something had changed with his son and recognizing he might have a problem. She wished, with all of her heart, that she could speak to him and tell him about Justin’s drug use.

“I barely see him these days. He tells me he’s at practice, but I’m beginning to believe he’s lying to me.” Michael reached out to stop Emma as she busily tried to rush past him. “Why won’t you look at me?” He lifted Emma’s chin until she was looking him in the eye.

Lucy tuned into Emma’s thoughts. She was searching for something to say without incriminating her brother. In an instant, Emma decided to share part of the truth.

“Well, he does have a new girlfriend. He’s been spending a lot of time with her lately.” Emma cringed because she just told him one of her brother’s secrets, but she also hated that her father was in the dark about what Justin’s been up to since their mom passed away.

“Really? How long has he been seeing her? Do you know her?” Michael’s interest was rising, and he felt bad for not being in the loop, as far as his kids were concerned.

The sound of the front door slamming echoed throughout the house. Lucy was disappointed because she knew Michael had wanted to talk to Justin before he left for school.

“I’m not sure how long they’ve been together. I’ve seen her around school, but I don’t know her name.” Emma lied without looking at her dad, then, she turned to pick up her backpack and a couple of her metaphysical books, then headed towards the door.

After they had left the room, Lucy and Dobson floated down from the ceiling. They both shared the same look of concerned surprise.

“I never thought Justin would blame his sister for what we did.” Lucy said, with regret.

“Yeah, you never know what they’re going to do.” Dobson said. “I felt really bad for taking your yarn, when you were searching, all over the house for it. I just knew you really liked the color, so I took it.” He smiled.

Dobson’s smile was infectious. Lucy couldn’t help herself, when she smiled back. She was also feeling happy due to the fact that Michael was finally seeing something’s wrong with their son.

“When you saw how much I wanted my periwinkle yarn, why didn’t you bring it back?” Lucy asked.

“I wanted to, and I tried many times to give it back, but I couldn’t create the same energy to do it.” Dobson said, with sorrow. “But now, after what you and I did, I could do it with your help.” He perked up.

“That’s lovely, but I really don’t have much use for yarn these days.” Lucy chuckled.

“Oh, I forgot.” Dobson blushed.

“What do I do now?” Lucy sat down on the edge of Emma’s bed to collect herself and recoup.

“Sondra said you should give your family signs. Have you thought about how you’re going to do that?” Dobson sounded so eager to help.

Lucy put her elbows on her knees, then rested her chin upon her fists, so she could puzzle out her situation. While she was thinking, she gazed around at the different array of books scattered around the room.

One book in particular jumped out at Lucy from across the room. The title was: Psychic Protection. She quickly floated over to it.

“Look, Dobson.” Lucy pointed to the book. “There has to be something in here to help protect Emma from Carl.”

“Touch it.” Dobson nudged Lucy’s shoulder, then, he smiled a knowing grin.

Lucy reached down to touch the book, and when she did, her mind’s eye was flooded with the contents of every page. She was filled with wonder as she scanned each page in search of something that would protect her daughter from negative entities like greasy Carl. Finally, she found what she was looking for on page 88, then, she let go of the book.

“That was crazy!” Lucy stared at Dobson in wonder. “I could ‘see’ everything in this book. On page 88, I found a prayer of protection, but how am I going to get Emma to see it?” She was hoping she could do exactly what Sondra asked her to do. To leave signs for her family.

“You just have to concentrate on the page number you want as you use your energy to open the book.” Dobson instructed.

They both huddled around the book while Lucy built up her energy. She could feel an electrical current, beginning at her toes, travelling up her legs into her torso. When this electricity reached her shoulders, she pictured the page she wanted clearly in her mind.

Suddenly, a tingling current shot down Lucy’s arms, and when it did, she reached out and opened the book. She looked down at the page before her. It was page 88.

“Did you see that?!” Lucy’s enthusiasm, at what she had just accomplished, filled the air, so much so, that she found herself floating up to the ceiling.

“That was great, and you did it on your first try!” Dobson was impressed.

“I can’t wait until Emma comes home. Come on.” Lucy tugged at his arm. “Let’s go. I want to tell Ava and Ben about what I just did.” She felt so proud of herself. “Oh, and we have to tell them about how we took Justin’s box too. But, where are they?”

“They’re usually down in the basement. Race ya.” Dobson laughed, as he dove down through each floor, like a falling brick, into the basement.

With a gleam in her eye, Lucy followed Dobson, and to her amazement, it was quite fun. Like riding a ride in an amusement park.

The surprise of their visit seemed to catch Ava and Ben at a bad time because they put a quick distance between themselves, and Lucy couldn’t help but feel the guilty energy that was pouring off of them.

“I’m sorry we startled you.” Lucy said, as she drifted closer to them on the other side of the darkened, musty, basement.

“All is forgiven, dear. Now, what has the two of you so excited?” Ava quickly recovered, but Ben still seemed a little tense as he tried not to look at them.

Lucy and Dobson shared the whole story of what they had been up to through the night and early morning, and most importantly, about seeing the misty gray cloud again, and how it slammed Emma’s bedroom door closed.

“I feel for Emma.” Ava said.

“I do too.” Lucy responded sadly, as she tucked her short, A-line hair behind her ear. “I hope she sees my sign to her.”

Lucy couldn’t help but notice an odd moment between Ava and Ben. For an instant, see saw an intimate look, then it was gone.

“Are you two all right? We didn’t interrupt you, did we?” Lucy asked.

“No, dear. You didn’t interrupt a thing.” Ava assured her, while Ben nodded his head in agreement.

For a moment, Lucy was tempted to tune in to the both of them, but she really didn’t want to intrude. It would be better if Ben and Ava shared their story with her instead of her nosing around in their business. She instinctively knew something was going on though.

The vibration from the front door slamming shook the floorboards above them announcing one of their living roommates just came home.

“I have to see if that’s Emma.” Lucy sprung up threw the floor just in time to see her daughter walking across the second-floor balcony to her room.

Without hesitation, Lucy popped into Emma’s room, so she could see if the sign she left behind was noticed. Once she was in there, she realized she wasn’t alone. Dobson had followed her because he wanted to see if Emma saw it too.

Emma tossed her backpack on the floor by her desk, then, she bent down and picked up the opened book.

Nothing but joy filled Lucy as she watched her daughter receiving her sign, but to her dismay, Emma just closed the book and tossed it onto her bed, then, she kicked off her shoes and ran downstairs to the kitchen.

Feeling defeated, Lucy sat down, next to the book, on the bed.

“It’s okay, Lucy. Most times they don’t realize they’re seeing a sign.” Dobson put his hand on her shoulder to try to console her.

Out of the blue, a current of energy made Lucy sit straight up. She felt bound and determined to leave a sign for her daughter. Bending over the book, she charged herself with the energy she needed to open the book to page 88 again. To her surprise, it was a lot easier the second time, but she knew this wouldn’t be enough to get her daughter’s attention.

Lucy’s fast thinking sent her into the bedroom she once shared with Michael. She couldn’t help but be flooded with emotions and memories, but she had to put that on hold because she didn’t have any time to reminisce.

Feeling taken aback, Lucy was surprised to see Michael hadn’t put any of her things away. She immediately crossed the room to where she would hang her necklaces from display hooks on the wall, but the one she was looking for was on her nightstand next to the bed. Michael hadn’t moved one single thing. Everything was just as she had left it.

Without giving it much thought, Lucy swiftly scooped up her favorite gold chained necklace with a capital cursive letter ‘L’ hanging from it, then, she rushed back to Emma’s room and laid the necklace on page 88 of the opened book just before Emma came back into the room.

Lucy laced her fingers together in a double fist and put them to her chin as she prayed for Emma to notice her sign.

Emma was carrying a plate with a sandwich and a glass of milk, when she entered the room. As she walked to her nightstand to put the plate and glass down, Lucy could see she was staring at the now opened book on her bed with a puzzled expression on her face, then, she noticed it.

Slowly, Emma reached down to pick up the necklace, then, tears came streaming from her eyes, as she hugged the necklace to her. “Mom? Are you here?” She cried out softly.

Come back next week for my next episode of: Lucy in the Afterlife, to see how Emma responds to Lucy’s sign that she’s okay. Thanks for the visit. I truly appreciate your time. Bye for now.

Email: Remyel@aol.com

If you would like to read Lucy’s story from the beginning, click on this link: Lucy in the Afterlife: The Beginning. Stay safe, everyone.