30 Days of Freedom

chapter 1.

Lani stared at her friend with a scowl stretched across her face. Abilene couldn't help but smile smugly as she teetered on the shelf, the whole thing trembling with her weight and her sudden movements. She swung up a leg, placing it on the row, and as soon as she had a solid foothold the other quickly followed. She scrambled to keep her balance as she strained out her arm, only a few feet away from the box which sat teasingly two rows above her.

Abilene impulsively reached another leg out, but as it neared the shelf it was met by an object sticking halfway out. She frantically tried to find another foothold as her stance became unsteady, and one arm fell loose.
She struck her leg out, knocking the object to the floor, and immediately stuck her foot in its place.

As the sound of shattering rose up to her ears, Abilene sucked in a breath, and Lani gave a surprised shriek.

"That was glass," she remarked, and Abilene snuck a slightly irritated glance her way.

"Nooo," she drawled, upset at her own idiocracy. She had stared at these shelves everyday, and in her haste had stupidly forgotten about the several glass figurines that littered the rows.

As the drawer gave another shake, Abilene was tempted to climb down. But with the game so close, she didn't want to have to re-climb this all over again. She had made herself promise that she would get it, or she would fall.

Whether it was stubbornness or stupidity- Lani considered it the latter- that pushed her on, she continued, until the tips of Abilene's fingers managed to, almost impossibly, snag the edge of the dusty Ouija board that had been lying above her for almost a half hour.

Abilene tugged, almost losing her grip in the one hand that was desperately clinging to the wooden drawer. The box slowly tipped, and the whole thing fell down before she had a chance to clutch it better. It landed on the ground with a smack!, rattling the shelves and persuading Abilene to finally begin her descent. She neared the bottom shelves and jumped down, landing with a thud on the hard floor.

Abilene winced as she landed painfully, and rubbed her now-sore leg. She picked up the Ouija board carefully, hoping it hadn't cracked on its tumble down. She limped over to Lani, who quickly drew back at the sight of the board.

Abilene snickered as she lay it on the table, wiping enough dust off to actually be able to see the cover.

She expected some snarky remark from Lani, something resembling a comment like 'clearly that was worth it' or 'I can see why you're spending so much time with this. It's really the ideal thing to waste your weekend on'. Instead, her friend cautiously crept over, inspecting the box with only her eyes, as if afraid if she held out a hand it would bite.

Abilene looked over the game curiously, but with less reserve than Lani. She wasn't afraid, at least not after giving the box a quick once-over. That was all it needed, really. In truth, it was simple, non threatening... boring.

Abilene wasn't impressed. It had seemed much more mystic when it had sat on the high shelf, being caked in a layer of dirt and dust. Or maybe it was just the title. The words 'Ouija board' always seemed to carry a sense of foreboding. But up close, it did look pretty stupid, just as Lani had muttered upon arrival at Abilene's house.

Refusing to give her the satisfaction of being right, Abilene studied the case harder, hoping something would pop out and scream "deadly" just like she had thought it would. It had been Lani's idea originally- despite that it had been intended as a joke- to mess with the ouija board that had been ignored for so many years. Abilene could remember getting it as a kid, but somehow it had never been used. It had been sitting on the shelf, neglected and gathering dust for years.