The Book of Spirits

Viola Davis had died. That was sure and certain.

Then why had she suddenly woken up in a den with two other sunset-coloured furballs?

Her question was soon answered when she looked down at herself. She looked like the sunset furballs, with a long chestnut tail tipped with white.

From Viola's studies, she knew that there were foxes around her. Which meant that she was now also a fox.

She screamed, but only a squeak came out. The other foxes in the den looked her way.

My brothers and sisters, she thought.

The foxes turned her way, blinking their large brown eyes.

Are you okay? they seemed to ask.

Viola nodded. Yes.

Content, the foxes cosied back into each other and went back to sleep. That was perfect, because then she could think more on her predicament.

Viola was definitely a fox now. So now the question was, why was she a fox?

She decided to find out, as soon as possible. So she retraced her steps and followed her nose to the flowery perfume of her sister, Brianna Davis.

Viola found the Davis house, and she looked at it, relieved at the sight.

It wasn't a particularly beautiful house, but it was home.

Viola and Brianna had lived there for twenty years, and Viola hoped that Brianna was still living there. If she wasn't, Viola wouldn't know what to do.

The house itself was an older house, built by the Davis' father, Vincent Davis when he and his wife had just married.

He had wanted his young bride to be happy and feel at home, so he made the plot as appealing as he could, putting in a large garden and a library.

The Davis place was small and tidy, just the way Vincent's family liked it. His wife, Beatrice, took great pride in her pastries, and the Davis house always had something in the oven, whether it were pies or cookies. Beatrice baked them all.

Beatrice had loved gardening and reading, so Vincent put those things into one place.

He had also built a beautiful garden bench for Beatrice to sit and read on, surrounded by her roses and peonies.

Viola's bedroom was adjoining Brianna's, as Vincent had planned in the interior building stages of the house.

Viola loved it that way, and would never change an inch of her bedroom.

Now, though, she didn't know what Brianna would do to the bedroom now that Viola wasn't there.

The Davis family had lived in their house happily for a long time. That is, until illness struck the parents.

Beatrice was the first. She had contracted a deadly pneumonia, but held on for five months before passing away.

Her daughters loved her dearly, and still honoured her memory. Many of Beatrice's things were still in the house, the things that Brianna hadn't sold to support her and Viola. The house still had an air of Beatrice's presence, and her perfume still lingered in her bedroom.

Viola loped towards the house hesitatingly, watching her step. Even though she was silent, she didn't want to attract any unwanted attention. She only wanted to see Brianna and hopefully ask her a few questions.

It was then that it hit her. Brianna wouldn't be able to understand her fox squeals and squeaks!

That would definitely be a problem.

Viola shook her head. She had to find Brianna first, take it one step at a time. She'd cross the language barrier later.

As Viola trotted up the stone pathway to Brianna's house, she stopped suddenly. What if Brianna shot her? Her father's musket was in the shed, and foxes were known to be a menace to their town.

That would also be a problem.

Viola's mental list of difficult issues was getting longer and longer. And she still hadn't come up with solutions for any of them.

She shook her foxy ears. Stop worrying, she scolded herself sternly. You'll figure it out. You always do.

It was so quiet, she could almost hear her paws padding across Brianna's wooden porch boards.

As Viola passed the sitting room window, she saw her reflection.

It surprised her, even though she knew what she was.

She saw an orange-red fox with a sleek coat, chocolate irises, and white-tipped pointy ears and tail. Her tail was long and fluffy, but flat at the same time.

Viola, surprisingly, loved it.

Viola had always loved foxes as a small girl, and her love for them continued to her young, unfortunate death.

So was it fate that she be turned into a fox?

She didn't know, but she hoped that was the case.

As she stood in front of the door, Viola sprang up on her hind legs, straining for the doorbell, trying to hit it with her snout.

When she finally succeeded, she sat back, long tail curled around her front paws. She was waiting for her sister to answer the door.

Brianna did not disappoint, coming to open the door a few moments later.

"Hello?" She looked around, seeing no one. "Is anyone there?"

Viola barked.

"Oh!" Brianna looked down at her. "Hi, little foxy. How can I help you?"

"Brianna!" Viola exclaimed, much to her surprise. "It's me, Viola!"

Brianna gasped. "Vi?"

Viola nodded.

"How did that happen?" Brianna gestured to Viola's fox body.

"Long story. But I need to ask you something. Why am I like this?"

Brianna tapped a finger on her chin. "Hmm."

She brightened up. "Actually, I might be able to help you."

"Really? Alright!" Viola followed her into the house, racing at her heels.

Brianna took a book off a shelf in Beatrice's library, and spread it on the table in front of her.

Viola jumped up onto the table to peer at the book.

Even as a fox, Viola could still read the English text.

"It says I was 'reborn'?" she said confusedly. "What does that mean?"

"When you died, your spirit was placed into a new body," Brianna explained. "A dead spirit must be placed into a body about to be born, and you were placed into a fox's body."

"Does the book say why the fox was chosen for me?" Viola asked.

"Let me see." Brianna flipped through the pages for a while, then stopped. "Ah, here it is."

"What?" Viola looked at the book in front of her.

The fox is the Davis's spirit animal, which is therefore the creature they share a special bond with. The fox is clever, as well as a symbol of creation and the afterlife. Many of the Davis's have been reincarnated as foxes, their spirits embedded in a fox for their second lifetime.

"So I'm going to live my second life as a fox?" Viola asked. "How many lifetimes do I have?"

"Three," Brianna replied.

"Am I going to be a fox for the next one as well?"

Brianna looked at the book. "It says here that your reincarnation will be something completely different each time."

Viola breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. I don't necessarily want to be a fox forever."

"Well, you're going to be one for a while."