The art of aurascribing

The lost art of  aurascribing 

 11-year-old twins Lloyd and Jessica are perched above the elaborate, gothic church, snuggled into a crevice in the wall they had discovered by accident. From this vantage point they could clearly see the finely dressed wedding party below. It contained the usual display of penguin suits and white swishy dresses. 

“She looks a bit trashy, I think, we hit them with the Doom and Gloon dust”, 

Lloyd looked at his sister earnestly. (Lloyd does a lot of earnest-type looking) “No Jess, we have already used that one today. Remember we said that it would be a 50/50 split. One wedding would get sprinkled with “Doom and Gloom Dust” and the next one would get “Happy Ever After”. We must be fair.” 

“Oh Lloydie” She sighed “You know there is no “Happy Ever After”. 

Bitter words you may think from an eleven-year-old, but in this case, they are said with good reason. Lloyd and Jessica Hampton’s parents had died in a car accident two years prior, and they were both for want of a better word a little “Lost”. 

Lloyd reasoned “But Jess, this couple deserves a chance of happiness, let’s give it to them”. 

With that declaration, he slipped his hand into the small, pale pink satin bag he was holding and grabbed a handful of fine silver and gold dust and then dropped it on the beaming couple below. The fine granules glittered in the sunlight as they floated down but were nearly invisible to the well-wishers below. If you looked closely, you would be able to see some slight residue in the bride’s hair. 

The lucky couple had just been blessed with a concoction of memories collected from happily married couples over centuries. Upon passing from this world, these memories, or spirit echoes as they are known, are released as an aura that floats in the atmosphere. The capturing of the suspended aura is the ancient art of “Aurascribing”.  

“Oh Lloyd. You are such a stickler for the rules. Let’s have a little fun. What harm would have come from sprinkling them with Doom and Gloom dust”.  

“Because there are rules, Jess, and when you break the rules, bad things happen. Let’s get to the next church before the bridge and groom leave the vestibule, and we will use the Doom and Gloom dust on them. I think it is a Greek Orthodox service; they always have interesting guests.” 

The twins arrived at their next destination with plenty of time to spare and found a conveniently placed tree near the entrance of the blue and white church. They had become quite adept at climbing trees and had developed an extraordinary sense of balance. 

Jess grabbed the burgundy-coloured bag of Doom and Gloom dust from her brother. She particularly liked sprinkling the contents of this bag that would result in an unsuccessful marriage. Every time she did so, it uncoiled, ever so slightly, the knot that was in her stomach. It was as if, by causing a little bit of pain to others, it would diminish her own pain and longing for her parents. At eleven, she did not see the ramifications of her actions. Her parents were taken from her, why shouldn’t as yet unconceived children have divorced parents. At least they will be alive. 

As she was sizing up her quarry, she noticed a couple of wedding guests that looked familiar to her. 

“Lloyd, Lloyd, Look over there. That couple holding hands, they should not be together. I clearly recall throwing Doom and Gloom dust on them a couple of years ago, shortly after… shortly after…” She trailed off. 

Lloyd knew she was going to say, “Shortly after Mum and Dad died” and squeezed her hand reassuringly. 

“They were one of our first” She continued. “I recall his bald head and thought he was much too old for her. We decided she was after his money, laughing at his jokes and making gooey eyes at him. Why are they still so sickeningly so lovey dovey.” 

“Well sis, we do not know if it is 100% effective. We only know what was written on the side of the package when we found it. Maybe, they do love each other after all. Maybe love is stronger than the dust. They do have a good aura” 

Lloyd had started to think that interfering in peoples’ lives was not as funny as it once was. It was starting to lose it's appeal, and he would prefer to spend more time with his friends. He didn’t seem to do a lot of that anymore. 

Jess harumphed. “No one can beat the power of aurascribing. How can the bond of two people be stronger than the captured spirit echoes of previous marriages. This Doom and Gloom dust must be impure. It must have some Happy Ever After dust mixed in with it. Let’s go to the market and ask the Old Witch to replace it. I am not happy”. 

“Oh Jess, you are never happy”. Lloyd mumbled under his breath. He was secretly pleased the young couple standing underneath them would avoid a sprinkling of spirit echo. He wished them a long and happy union. 

Jess marched with determination along the dusty road to the marketplace. They approached a faded tent at the end of the row of faded tents. It was unremarkable looking from the outside, but inside it was full of glass jars containing herbs, spices, suspended dead animals and exotic teas. It smelt of rosemary, thyme and something sweet she could not put her finger on. Some sort of exotic flower. 

A young woman looked up as they entered the store. “Hello, how can I help you? I do not recall seeing you in this part of town before. Are you lost? You know that only people who have… 

“We wish to see the old lady” interrupted an agitated Jess “She ripped us off. This so-called spirit echo does not work. We sprinkled it on a totally unsuitable couple, and they're still married. We want a replacement.!”  

“Hold on Tiger” the young girl retorted “Do not come charging in here and accuse my grandmother of being dishonest. She is the most honest person I have ever met. If you have a product that is not working, you are not using it properly. You cannot be more than 10 years old where did you get spirit echo from? It is dangerous in the wrong hands and would not be sold to a couple of kids.” 

“We are eleven” said Jess with indignation. “We found it in our parents’ trunks with the name of your shop on the label. It is not dangerous, no one has died.” 

“What do you mean have you been using spirit echo? Do you not understand the consequences of changing fate? What right do you have to change people's futures? It should only be used in the rarest circumstances, when a life is in danger, or a marriage needs to stay together for reasons unknown to the couple at the time.”  

Llyod was starting to feel uncomfortable about this conversation and was shuffling from one foot to the other, whilst looking at the ground. 

Jessica, on the other hand did not like being judged by someone only a few years her senior. “What would you know, Jade?” She read her nametag as she retorted. “Does it really matter if people stay married or not? 

“What does it matter? It certainly matters. Edward Burton could no longer continue his missionary work after his marriage broke down. He was negotiating a peace deal between two warring tribes in Africa, which never eventuated. This resulted in the unnecessary deaths of dozens of villagers” 

Jessica finds it hard to look her in the eye. “That was in Africa, what does that have to do with a village in England? 

“Edward Burton was a local” she spat. 

Jade reached under the counter and pulled out an old-style Polaroid picture. “See the girl graduating in this photo, she is going to solve the riddle of a rare form of childhood cancer, she's going to be a heroine. Well, she would have been. Unfortunately, she was never conceived. Her parents broke up a few months after their marriage.”  

Jessica and Lloyd stared at her with their mouths open “How did you get a photo of someone who was never born?” Lloyd asked logically. 

“We sell dust that can make or break a marriage, how do you think I got it?” was the cryptic reply. 

Strangely, neither twin questioned her response. A few answers were starting to fall into place. 

“Now let us talk about Norm. Norm was not going to negotiate peace deals or cure cancer. He worked for the council repairing roads. One day about two years ago he was so upset about the state of his marriage he did not go to work. The roads were neglected that day, what did one day matter?” 

“Let me tell you, it did matter.” She continued. “A passing car on the school run, hit a pothole, and unfortunately the tyre blew, and the car rolled. The whole family died, including a pair of twins about your age.” 

Jessica started to tremble and looked at Lloyd. Her mind was working overtime, she started getting a memory of that dreadful day that was previously blacked out. Words started rolling around her head. “Late” “school bag” “I'll drop you off”. 

Jade was still talking. “You do not get a lot of red headed boy and girl twins, do you?” 

Lloyd's thoughts were in another direction, he had not been paying attention to the conversation the girls were having. “Jess, I knew we should not have interfered. Some people should not stay married, and some people deserve a shot at it.” He said with knowledge beyond beyond his years. 

“Lloyd” she whispered “We were in that car. We were on our way to school. We are the twins. We are dead.” 

Jade looked at the twins with compassion. She knew they had not passed over yet. That is what she was about to blurt out when they entered the shop. Was she going to witness her first crossing right here in Madge’s Herbs and Potions? Wouldn't that be something. 

Jess’s head was swimming with a million thoughts. As she grabbed Lloyd’s hand she mouthed “I love you”. She was slowly becoming transparent, she could not stop herself. This happened over a couple of minutes, paler and paler she became and then eventually disappeared. 

At first Lloyd was bewildered, and then understanding dawned on him.  The more he understood, the more transparent he became. “Mum, Dad, we will finally be together” and he too began to fade away. 

Jade looked at the vacant spot in amazement. Did that really happen? She had heard her grandmother talk about spirits that were caught between the worlds, and could only cross over when they realised that they were dead, but thought it was the ramblings of a rather ancient and slightly senile old lady. 

 For a moment or two she felt her nerve endings twitching and then managed to recover herself. The next moment she did what any normal teenager would do and started loading the downloaded CCTV footage to TikTok.