Family Tree

Kayleigh Torres almost drowned when she was five. She’d just begun learning how to swim. Some kid thoughtlessly pushed her into the deep end of the pool. To be fair, there were a lot of people around the Acacia Heights Aquatics Centre. So, it may have been pure luck, that one of the lifeguards spotted the little girl in trouble and dived in. Austin Perry’s CPR training saved her. Kayleigh would never forget that. Or him. He always sent her a birthday card.

The frightening experience also gave to Kayleigh an unexpected gift. Or curse, however you want to look at it. She saw ghosts; humans who had died and couldn’t or refused to move on. Her parents assumed that she had some imaginary friends, being an only child. She got along with other children, both in school and at the park playgrounds they often went to.

However, as she moved through her teenage to her adult years, they became rather alarmed. Visits to various doctors gave them conflicting reports. She was prescribed pills, but they were ineffective. She underwent all kinds of tests.

The results were sketchy at best and still didn’t explain their daughter’s condition. They turned down the suggestion of sending her away to a clinic. Nobody even considered the slightest possibility, that perhaps Kayleigh really could talk to the spirits of the dead. That was just not logical.

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Dora Hathaway was a retired vet nurse. She still took in injured or sick animals every now and then, both domesticated and wild. Her constant companion for the past few years, was a gift from her son Gideon. A bearded dragon. She called him Frankie, after her late husband.

He often crawled up Dora’s arm and perched on her shoulder. Unlike her mother who had a phobia, Kayleigh didn’t mind reptiles. She fed Frankie crickets, which were some of his favorite things to eat. Alive or dead, it hardly mattered.

When Dora came to visit the following summer, she was more sympathetic than her sister Mary. In fact, Kayleigh’s aunt had her own confession to make. “I am a natural medium. I’ve dealt with ghosts for quite some time now since I was about fifteen. As you are aware, I recently turned thirty-seven. The ability tends to flare up if one day, you happen to skate close enough to the edge of death.

I almost died myself when I was young. I’d found the courage to stand up to my abusive stepfather and paid the price for it. Thank goodness Mum came to her senses and got away from him. She accepted me. Told us that our family had passed this unusual trait down through several generations. Mary never believed it was real. Which is probably why she is in denial about you.

Looks to me as if you’ve unlocked your power, but don’t know how you can focus it properly. Which makes sense, I mean at the age of five, how were you supposed to realize what to do? Then of course as you grew older, no-one would take you seriously.

So, you kept silent and my guess is, tried to ignore it. I often wondered if like me, you could see what other people weren’t able to. It didn’t appear to stop you from living your life. Your parents still love you and worry about your safety.

I was surer of the truth as time passed. You’ve just confirmed it for me, by acknowledging that older lady in the blue shawl. She has hung around this house for years and she wants help. Your help specifically. Don’t ever deny anything the gift shows you.”

Kayleigh played with a strand of dark brown hair, looking kind of nervous. She rarely got the chance to talk about this. “The messages I receive, don’t offer much to go on. Their voices aren’t always coming in too clearly. I am not sure what do to with whatever information I am given, or even if I can assist any spirits.”

“Relax kid. With modern technology being so advanced these days, nothing will stay hidden anymore. Ghosts sometimes recall more than they think. Secrets and revelations are a common thing in this line of work. I can teach you how to control your ability the same way I did. If you continue to use it, the power will grow, and you should have a much better idea of what a spirit wants.”

Isaac and Mary would probably object. They’d never bought into the medium thing at all. But Kayleigh was twenty, old enough to make her own choices and live with the consequences. She had always known that the things she saw were not delusions.

It was reassuring that at last, here was someone who not only believed her, but also shared the same power. So, why should she pass up the opportunity to find out what she was capable of, just because her parents didn’t get it?

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When Kayleigh first moved in, the Hathaway home had three dogs, a cat, a crow and two snakes. She eagerly jumped in to help her aunt look after their temporary residents. Almost all of them found their way to new homes or were set free out into the wilderness.

Kayleigh had formed a close bond with the smoky grey cat named Luna. So, Dora kept her. Felines have a natural sixth sense too. Most of them would probably freak out whenever ghostly presences made themselves known. But Luna truly didn’t seem to care.

Within a few months of Kayleigh spending more time with her aunt, the meditation training began to take hold. Her senses had become in tune with her surroundings. She could now hear the voices properly. Kayleigh loved listening to Dora tell stories about the many spirits she had helped over the years.

“A few times, I have actually caught a glimpse of a shining white light coming down to envelop them.” Her aunt’s faith had never been in question. Dora spoke with less enthusiasm about troublemakers in the spirit world. She’d certainly had her fair share. Those were the ones who knew very well they were not supposed to still be here.

They enjoyed messing around with the living and were often difficult to manage. “Possessions occur because these ghosts in particular, don’t think they should give up this earthly realm. It takes a lot of convincing, for them to agree that moving on was the best option.”

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Kayleigh eventually made the decision to try and talk to the lady in the blue shawl. She had quite a story to tell. “My name is Anastasia. I once lived in your home, about thirty years ago. My family moved away after I died. Natural causes was the verdict, but I know better.

My second husband Evan Harrington, poisoned me to get his hands on my money. He succeeded too. People owed him favors and covered it all up. Nobody had a single clue of what really happened to me. His eventual financial ruin, was poetic justice. He drank himself to death.

His spirit may wander around like mine, but I haven’t really been looking and I don’t much care. The main reason I won’t leave yet, is because there is a wooden chest buried in the back garden, underneath that huge oak tree my great grandfather planted. It holds precious and priceless family heirlooms and a stack of bonds that Evan never knew about. My children should have them.”

Grabbing a shovel, Kayleigh started digging. Luna was of course close by, just watching. She followed her owner everywhere without hesitation. Mary came out to ask her what she was doing. “Something important for a friend.” It took almost two hours, but finally she hit a solid mass.

Her mother was shocked but said nothing else as she helped her daughter bring up the chest out of the dark hole in the ground. “This belonged to a woman named Anastasia Harrington.” “My grandmother knew someone by that name, I’m sure of it.”

Anastasia told Kayleigh the address for where her eldest son currently resided. She wrote it down on a scrap of paper. “Thank you for this.” “You’re welcome.” The lady’s image faded slowly until she was no longer there. “She’s gone. Her soul can be at rest.”

Watching as Kayleigh cleaned up the mess she made, Mary noticed a change in her daughter. She was now confident in speaking her mind and seemed to be genuinely happy. Dora’s influence was obviously good for her.

Mary knew that she and Isaac should have been more supportive. Their views on ghosts in general, were actually kind of narrowminded. She felt ashamed that she had once thought her own sister was out of her mind, therefore Kayleigh must be too.

For the first time in her life, she was curious about the supernatural. Maybe there was a place your spirit went to when you died. Then, if you needed to take care of things so you could cross over, who better than a medium to lend a hand?

THE END