“Didn’t you bring a blanket or a mat?”
“No.”
“I can’t believe you came highly recommended," I grumbled as I wrapped my scarf around my head and lied down. “You’re lucky I urgently need to talk to my mother, or I’d ask for a refund.”
He held out his hand. “The temblocks.”
I reached in my pocket and gave him six weathered dice. “Now what?”
He inspected them. “Who gave you these?”
“My mother. She told me to use them if I ever needed to talk to her.”
He smelled them and nodded. “They’re an old style, but the right wood.” He placed them on the ground. “What pattern do you want?”
“What?”
Has anyone told you how this works?”
“No, that’s why I hired you, moron.”
He took a weary breath and pointed to the blocks. "These are made from an extinct species of tree. Only living souls can move them."
"Living souls?"
"Yes, you and the others here for the ritual. The dead souls can't move these blocks."
"Why does that matter?"
He shrugged. "It's a tradition. I'll chant to allow your soul to pass the veil, and to return, you must arrange these blocks in a pattern we agreed on so I know you're back and I'll chant to reconnect your soul to your body. Does this make sense?”
“Yes, I’m not an idiot.”
I studied a block. Each side had a different rudimentary design carved into it: a square, a circle, a triangle, a dot, a cross, and a spiral. I wasn’t in the mood to memorize a complex pattern, so I adjusted all six to show a spiral.
“There. Now chant.”
He scrambled the blocks. “Do you know what to do once you cross the veil?”
“I meet my mother.”
“It depends. You will enter a forum. If your mother crosses the veil on her side as well, then you will meet in the forum.”
“Of course she will. She said she’ll always be there for me. I bet she’s been crossing every year, waiting for me in this forum just in case I show up.”
“Of course.” He checked his watch. “You have two hours before the veil seals. If you don’t return to your body, your soul will be stuck in the forum. If you—”
“I don’t need that long. Now chant.”
“Close your eyes.”
I did, my tense fingers linked over my stomach. Florin’s voice remained monotonous as he chanted, and he even yawned halfway through. Asshole. I was about to give him a piece of my mind before a strange feeling took over.
First, it felt as though I was inhaling forever, a biting force racing currents through my body. Then, it was as if a rubber band had snapped, all my worldly weight vanishing as I floated straight up.
I panicked for a few seconds before I got my bearings, and I looked down in awe at my limp body. Florin sat back with a sigh and gave a thumbs up. I assumed it was for me. I wanted to flip him the bird, but I realized I didn’t have hands. Or a form. I couldn’t quite tell what I was.
I turned around, and I stared in wonder at the ethereal auras of color floating around. The ones that looked like me had a certain warmth about them, almost like an unextinguished flicker, whereas others were a stale grey.
YOU ARE READING
Revealing Glances: Unsettling Short Stories & Their Making
Horror[Ongoing] A collection of unsettling or unusual short stories. Some have monsters, some have humor, some draw tears, some make you think, and some have artwork. Each is a revealing glance of someone's life. Every writer has their own methods of comi...
Body, Abducted
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