The Doorknob

The Ghost

My eyes shoot open to an incessant buzzing. Oh, the Chinese food! I notice the growl in my stomach at the thought, and leap up from the bed to get the door. I hadn't really slept; in fact, my brain was on overdrive trying to come up with logical explanations for this whole situation, so I'm now fighting a bit of a headache. My limbs, however, are rather groggy, and I struggle with getting my wallet from my pocket while unlocking the door with the opposite hand. The kid standing at the threshold extends a hand with a plastic bag, the sweet aroma wafting toward me - I'm far hungrier than I expected. I grab a few bills - I'm running quite low on those - and trade him for the bag. He nods and turns away, so I close the door and click the lock into place.

With the delicious stir-fry calling my name, I head toward the kitchen. Shit - I should've double-checked for cutlery before the delivery boy left; I don't have any, and I really do not feel like making a trip out to get some. I sigh, pulling the box from the bag. I'm pleased to see a plastic pack of silverware at the bottom, and it joins my stir-fry on the counter.

As I unbox the stir-fry, I notice the lack of light shining through the window - the sun's already set, so I wolf the food down, ready to get the haunting nonsense over with. I figure if I can...ugh..."prove" that there aren't any spirits by using the Ouija board, I'll be over this supernatural thing by the time I get my stuff tomorrow.

I toss the empty box and used silverware back into the bag, deciding it'll be my temporary trash can, and grab the Ouija board and planchette.

The lounge seems as good a place as any, since it's completely empty, so I set the board in the middle and drop the planchette onto it. Returning to the counter, I grab the candles and matches, then spin back to the lounge. Balancing the candles on one arm, matches in the opposite hand, I lower myself to sit cross-legged on the squeaking floorboards.

I make a triangle around the board, figuring that's spiritual and whatnot, then place a candle each above the top right and left corners of the board and set the final candle directly in front of me. I notice, now, that the lights in my apartment are still on. I stand with a groan and walk across the lounge to turn them off.

Resuming my position by the middle candle, I strike up a match. I watch it burn for a second before holding it to the first candle, and the wick catches barely a moment before the flame reaches my fingers. "Shitshitshitshit," I cuss under my breath, waving my hand wildly to try to cool off my burning fingers. "This whole fucking thing, it's a nightmare," I mumble when the pain has dulled to a slight throb.

I strike the next one right by the wick of the second candle and put the match out before it can burn my hand. I try the same method with the third, and am pleasantly surprised by my success. At least I managed to spare my poor fingers.

I take a moment to look around the room, in case some kind of entity has formed during the lighting of the candles, but I only find shadows flickering across the walls. Nothing solid, or even translucent. Breathe in, breathe out, in, out, and move on, I tell myself as the eerie lighting and even eerier silence descend upon me in full force.

Pushing past the hesitation, I place my fingers lightly on the planchette and move it to the G on the board. I suppose this is it, then - "If, uh...if there are any ghosts, er, sorry, spirits, please make your presence known?" I finish with an attempted exclamation, but it ends up coming out more as a question.

I look around, disappointed when nothing shows, then down at the board. Under my fingers, the planchette hasn't moved. I lift the pressure slightly, fingertips barely resting on the edges of the object, but still no movement. I almost trash the whole thing right then, feeling like a right idiot for believing all this supernatural bullshit, but swallow my logic for one more minute and give it one more try. I shut my eyes this time, hoping that'll help.