Adelaide Literary Magazine - 9 years, 70 issues, and over 2800 published poems, short stories, and essays

OUIJA BOARD NIGHT

ALM No.73, February 2025

SHORT STORIES

Isaiah J Carrasquillo

2/4/20254 min read

On a cold quiet night three cousins have decided to make the most of this spooky night. The vibes were too perfect so the oldest of the three Felix decided to ask Amy the youngest and Tony the quiet one if they wanted to try out something spooky.

“Hey!” Felix shouted. “Amy, Tony, look what I found in the basement closet,” Felix lifts a Ouija board over his head. “Soooo… what do you guys think about this?” said Felix while shaking the box. “Let’s make this night to remember, aye.”

“I don’t know about that, Felix, what is that thing anyway?” Amy said hesitantly. “I don’t want to get in trouble with Tio and Tia. We shouldn’t touch their stuff.”

“Oh, come on, Amy where’s your sense of adventure?” Felix said. “It won’t take too long. How about for an hour, just one hour we use this thing the night is just too perfect not to.”

“I’m not sure?” Amy turns her head. “What do you think about this Tony should we give it a shot? Amy said while grabbing Tony’s hands.

Tony glances at Felix, turns back to Amy noticing her hands shaking in his hands. Tony moves his right hand on top of Amy’s shaky hands to comfort her, as he notices how afraid she is and nods his head in agreement “Sure.”

“Yes!” Felix pumps his arm towards himself. “But before we do this guy’s lets set the tone shall we.”

Amy and Tony look at each other in confusion and shrug their shoulders upwards. Felix stumbles around collecting candles from around the house. Amy and Tony sit down by the coffee table with pillows as cushions to sit on waiting for Felix to finish setting up the room. As ten minutes went by Felix turned off all the lights and lit all the candles around the living room.

“Okay guys before we get started, I need to lay some ground rules aright,” Felix said while moving his head left to right looking at both his cousins. “First, we need to say goodbye before we are done. Secondly, I’ll be the one to ask the questions, okay so if you guys want to ask something write them down now. Mind you they need to be simple questions and respectful got it. Third, lightly rest your fingers on the planchette and do not and I mean it do not lift your hands planchette. Fourth, no looking through the glass on the planchette because it can lead to bad karma, and finally be respectful of the answers we get alright,” as Felix sits down and hands them both a piece of paper and pencil. “Oh, we all get two questions okay guys we don’t want to do this for too long either. I know that was a lot but let’s be safe about this, I’m not joking around here okay.”

“Okay,” said Amy

Tony nods his head. “Here I’m done with my questions Felix.”

“Here you go, Felix. I’m done with my questions.”

“Thank you,” Felix said before taking a deep breath to calm his nerves. “alright guys before we start remember I’ll be asking the questions so Shh,” as Felix puts his index finger on his lips. “Phew, Is there anyone here who would like to communicate with us?" the planchette slides over to YES on the board. As the planchette moves Amy gasps in surprise and Tony’s eyes widen in surprise. “Did you live here when you were alive?” said Felix and the planchette stays on YES. “Yes, Okay how old were you before you’re passing?” said Felix. “Seven, zero, so seventy years old.”

“Wait you guys aren’t moving it are you?” Amy whispered

Tony shakes his head from left to right.

“Me neither I’m not moving it either,” Felix replies to Amy, “Were you a grandparent?” as the planchette slides over to YES on the board. “How many kids did you have before you past?” said Felix as the planchette slid over to the five. “Okay,” Felix said questionably. “How many boys and girls did you have?” the planchette slides over. “Two… G… I… R… L… S… Five… B… O… Y… S, so two girls and three boys hmm weird. You guys don’t these answers seem a little familiar to you?” Felix asks.

Both Amy and Tony nod in agreement to Felix’s question. “Okay? Last question written down. How many grandkids did you have?” Felix said in anticipation. As the planchette slides over to the three but while it was moving it felt like an eternity to Felix who was trying to piece together the question he asked because for some reason all the answers seemed to be very familiar to him.

“Okay I got two more questions to ask is that okay with you two? Felix asked Amy and tony.

“That’s fine by me Felix but what about you Tony?” Amy asked.

“It’s fine.” Tony answered quietly.

“Alrighty then the first one. Do you remember the names of your grandkid’s names if you don’t mind me asking? Felix asked in anticipation as the planchette slid over to YES on the board. “What where the names of your grandkids?” Felix asks. The planchette starts to slide. “F… E… L… I… X… T… O… N… Y… A… M… Y… Felix, Tony, and Amy. Guys, are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Felix asked in shock. Both Amy and Tony nod up and down. “Guys, I think this is our recently past grandma.”

As Felix said that the planchette slid over to YES. “L… O… V… E… A… N… D… M… I… S… S… Y… O… U… L… O… T… S. Love and miss you lots.”

As Felix finished saying that, Amy began to cry.

“Goodbye,” said Felix as the planchette slid over to GOODBYE.

Isaiah Jacob Carrasquillo: I am currently 24 years old and will turn 25 in 2025. I am an aspiring fantasy writer, with ambitions of having my work developed into a video game. I am enrolled at Full Sail University, where I am pursuing a degree in Creative Writing. In my leisure time, I engage in various artistic activities, including spray painting, sculpting, and bookbinding.