the Board and the Boy

Jason plopped down on the couch. He grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. He flicked through the channels and found Thursday night football. He grabbed his bowl of freshly-popped buttery popcorn, set down the remote and began tossing some popcorn into his mouth. "Jason!" His mom called. "Yeah?" Jason called back with a mouth full of popcorn. His mom walked into the room and looked at the TV, then at Jason. "Have you studied for the test tomorrow?" She said. "You mean on Friday?" Jason said back. "Yeah. That's tomorrow." Jason sat up. His mom wouldn't let him go to summer camp if he didn't get an A on the test, because of his recent grades. Jason choked on his popcorn for a moment, then turned off the TV, set down the bowl and dashed upstairs. His mom sighed and shook her head. "Oh, that boy."

Jason ran into his room, slammed the door and ran for his rolling chair, practically jumping in it, and rolling a few inches. He grabbed his desk and pulled himself back in front of his books. He intently looked at them for a few seconds, then sighed and lowered his eyelids. He turned the first page of his History book. He let out a loud moan and leaned back in his chair. Even trying to study nearly drained all his energy. He saw his phone laying on his desk. He contemplated checking to see if any of his friends had texted him. Eventually, he picked up his phone and looked at the screen. Looks like one of his friends had texted him. He unlocked his phone to see what Tod wanted to say. "Come 2 my place. Look what I got." There was a picture of a Ouija board. Jason's youth pastor had once told his youth group about how dangerous those things could be. But it's not like Jason had plans to study...

Jason threw on a faded gray hoodie and put his phone in his jeans pocket. He also grabbed his backpack and shoved his books in it, so he had an excuse to leave the house. Jason ran downstairs and quickly put on his sneakers and opened the front door. "Where are you going?" Jason's mother called. "Tod's place... to study. Bye!" Jason shut the door. His mother sighed. Where was Tony now when she needed him most? Jason put on his helmet and got on his bike. He rode down the empty, cold, freshly rained-on street. Luckily, Tod's was only a block or so away, so Jason wouldn't have to stay in the cold weather for too long. When Jason arrived, he got off his bike and parked it on the edge of the driveway. He knocked at the door. Tod greeted him with a smile. "Hey dude! Come inside!" Tod stepped back so Jason could enter. When Jason stepped in, he unbuckled his helmet and set it on the coat-rack by the door, set down his backpack and took off his shoes. At least his socks hadn't gotten wet during the ride like his muddy shoes. Tod led him over to the carpeted area, where a Ouija board sat on the ground. Jason suddenly had an uneasy feeling when he looked at the board, like there was some mysterious presence around it. He reluctantly walked towards the board, and sat down with Tod. Jason looked at the thing. He couldn't take his eyes off it. It was out of place, like it was calling to him... "Hey, you in there? You get possessed?" Tom slugged Jason. "Huh?" Jason said. "Well? You wanna try it or not?"

"U-um, sure." Jason said. He actually felt uncomfortable with it, but he wasn't gonna go back and study. Tod and Jason put their fingers on the Planchette. "Let's ask them what THEY want." Tod said. "Ever wonder what happens THEN?"

"I don't think it's such a good idea..." Jason said.

"C'mon, it's a board game! What's the worst that could happen?!" Jason reluctantly shook his head. Then Tod asked, "Spirits, What do you want?" Then the Planchette started to move It moved across the board. The letters whooshed so fast it was hard to keep track of. B-O-D-Y. "Huh?" Tod said. "Body? I think they're bored of being dead or something" Jason suddenly felt cold. Really cold. slammed the board shut and shoved it back in the box, and got up. "Hey! Where you going?" Tod asked Jason gathered his belongings and headed out the door. "I don't feel good. Bye."

Jason biked home quickly in a nervous fit. He felt a buzz in his pocket. Then another. Then another. Then another. When he finally arrived home, he pulled out his phone. As he suspected, the four texts were from Tod.

"What just happened?"

"U good?"

"Do we need to call an Exorcist? lol"

"Dude. R E S P O N D!"

Jason didn't like how Tod spelled "Respond." It reminded him of how the Ouija board spelled out the word Body. one letter at a time. Jason came inside and set down his belongings. He took off his hoodie and threw it on the couch. Then he ran upstairs, into the bathroom and locked the door. He washed his face quickly, dried it, leaned on the sink and looked in the mirror. There was a grown, homeless-looking disheveled man. The man said, "BODY. Give me a BODY!" Jason ran towards the bathroom door and jiggled the handle. Right. He unlocked the door and ran into his room, turning off the light. It was only 8:30, but Jason figured he just needed some sleep. He tossed and turned, and when he finally went to sleep, it wasn't pleasant. The night was filled with nightmares of mirrors, ghosts, voices in his head telling him to do bad things, and worst of all; Regret. Jason woke up to his blaring alarm. He reached for the snooze button, but when he couldn't find it, he just unplugged it and threw it across the room.

"Ugh." Jason sighed. He had gotten plenty of extra sleep, but he felt like he stayed up all night running a marathon. Jason got out of bed. He felt lightheaded and sluggish. He grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, and headed to the bathroom. He looked down at his feet as he passed the mirror, in order not to look at his reflection. When he got to the shower door, he undressed and got in and turned on the refreshing hot water. it felt nice, especially after the previous night. Right as he was finishing up his business, he noticed what looked like a tall, slender figure near the mirror in the steam. Jason, with his eyes fixed on the figure, began to reach towards the shower handle, fumbling to turn it off. When his hand finally grasped the handle, the figure began to walk forward. Jason quickly turned it off, but the figure was still there. Desperate, Jason leaped out of the shower and pushed the button on the wall for the vents. The vent above started humming and absorbing the steam. The figure stopped moving for Jason. Once the steam was clear, Jason got dressed. Then it hit him. He'd somehow been sleeping in JEANS the previous night. "Why would I do that?" Jason thought. No wonder he had trouble falling asleep. Then he thought back to Tod's texts. "Do we need to call an Exorcist? lol" Maybe he did. Then Jason quickly left the bathroom before the mirror could un-fog.

Jason pedaled hard on his bike towards the church in the pounding rain. What was he thinking? he knew he shouldn't have played with that STUPID Ouija board. Now he was... cursed? Possessed? The spirit said it wanted a body. But didn't TOD ask the question? Why was the spirit coming after HIM? Just as Jason figured out the answer, he was pulled out of his thoughts by a blaring car horn. Jason blinked and realized he'd drifted off the bike lane and into the left car lane somehow. Jason quickly turned right back across the right car lane and then into the bike lane. He let out a sigh of relief. Now the ghost was trying to kill him! When Jason disrespected the ghost by not properly saying goodbye to the Ouija board, the Poltergeist switched targets. and when Jason had just called the board, "Stupid," the ghost got even MORE mad and made Jason go into the left lane without realizing it. Now Jason arrived at the church. He didn't care about the test anymore, he didn't care about summer camp anymore, he just wanted an Exorcist. When Jason walked up to the doors and jiggled the handles. The door was locked. Right. This church only operated on Sundays. As Jason stepped back from the door, he lost all hope and fell to his knees. Just then he heard a sinister voice say; "SLEEP." The voice echoed deep in Jason's mind, as everything began to fade away.

"Jason. Hey. Jason. Wake up!" Jason woke up. Tod was shaking his shoulder. "What are you doing here? Me, Jess and Tony have been searching everywhere for you! So? What happened?" Jason tried to speak. He wanted to say, "I came here because of what happened with the Ouija board. I need an Exorcist! Where's the priest?" But instead, Jason heard his own voice say, "I dunno. All I remember is slipping here and hitting my head." Then Jason started going down. He looked up. He saw Tod helping his body up. "No." Jason said. "NO!" But no one could hear him. Not now. His body looked down at him. "Bye." Jason heard a mix of his own voice and the stranger in the mirror's say. Then his body and Tod walked away. "Everyone will be so relieved, man!" Jason heard his best friend say.

So the next time YOU want to play with a Ouija board, remember this; Jason wants a body too.