“Frankie?
Oh Frankie it’s so good to see you! I was watching poor Niall
cry and was hoping you’d come through,” she said.
“You know I can do this?” I asked.
“Of course I do!” she said. “Once you pass you
get a list of all the people you know who can communicate this
way.”
“Oh,” I said and I nodded my head a bit.
“Niall’s really upset isn’t he?” she asked
me.
“See for yourself,” I said and I moved away some of the
Mind-Fog that surrounded us.
Mind-Fog, by the way, is all the other thoughts and images a
“Communicator” is thinking of, or has ever thought.
There are a lot of different things I’ve learned about
“Communicating” as the dead call it.
After I moved away the fog, Mrs. Horan could see a very clear image
of her son. His head rested on my shoulder and tears streaming down
his face.
“Poor boy,” she said, “I wish I could just kiss
him on the forehead one more time.”
“You know,” I started, “I could always teach him
how to do this.”
“You can teach a person to Communicate?” she asked.
“Yeah, it takes a lot of time and effort and can permanently
damage the mind and scar one forever but, I can do it. I may have
to pay a few consequences along the line but-“ she cut me
off.
“No,” she said, “it’ll cause too much
stress and trouble for the both of you. You’ve never taught
anyone how to Communicate before and I don’t want either of
you to go through the trouble. It doesn’t always work you
know.”
“How do you know all this stuff about Communicating?” I
asked out of mere curiosity.
“Well I could Communicate back on Earth,” she said.
“Watched my grandmother die right before my own eyes and ever
since I’ve been able too. Got serious panic attacks because
of it and I’m sure you have too. Watching your family die
like that. You were just seven weren’t ya?”
I nodded, “seven yes, I can remember the night
clearly.”
“I can see that,” she said, “your Mind-Fog
isn’t like others. It’s green. You’ve witnessed a
lot of death haven’t you?”
I nodded again. I really needed to visit Niall’s mom more
often.
“You’ve got to go,” she said, “my boys
shaken you. Trying to wake you up I believe. You’ve fallen
asleep on his lap, just like that. Sorry, it’s probably my
fault; you’re not necessarily supposed to learn too much
about the other side. Oh well, come back again soon. I can teach ya
some more.”
“Niall says he loves you,” I said before returning to
Earth.
“I know he does,” she said nodding and suddenly I felt
my body being shaken with great force.
“Niall,” I said opening my eyes. “You idiot
I’m not dead.”
“I know you’re not dead,” he said. “You
were gone for a long time.”
“It was 15 minutes,” I said.
“No,” Niall started, “times are different there
remember? It’s been two hours.”
“Dude, how often to you listen to me in my sleep?” I
asked.
“As often as you fall asleep on my lap,” he said.
“So almost every night…”
I rolled my eyes and then remembered what his mom had said. I
kissed him on the forehead.
“That one’s from your mom,” I said and he
smiled.