Beyond Cuckoo

Part 2 Crystal Clarity

“Psychic power is a bunch of hooey” Claudia said nonchalantly as she took another bite of her pastrami on rye.

I pushed back from the pink Formica kitchen table and set my empty plate in the sink. “I’m sure I feel something when I tune in, especially if my crystal ball is near,” I responded.

I love Claudia more than anyone else. She is smart and pretty. Her feet are tiny as if they had been wrapped from birth—like they used to do in China. Her toes curl up and her strides are short. No matter what she wears she looks perfect—at least to me. I hang on her every word, completely ignoring her cruelty. I blame myself for not measuring up. I’m lucky to be her friend. I’m considered somebody because she lets me hang out—popularity by association. I know if I put up with the digs that somehow I’ll become like her—self-assured.

“Okay, so let’s go get it and you show me what you see,” she said handing me her now empty plate. “Clear off the table and bring in that Ouija board we played around with last year. You said that would work too and the thing didn’t budge. Seriously, Elaine, you are so full of shit.”

I pretended I didn’t hear the last remark and dutifully retrieved both my ball and the Hasbro game from my bedroom. As I carried it back, I thought about how much I wanted Claudia’s mother, Carolyn, to be my mother. She wasn’t pretty in a physical sense, but she carried herself with dignity and style. She had taste and was so kind to me when I waited forever on weekday mornings for Claudia to get ready for school. She talked to me as if I knew something, that I was smart and what I thought mattered.

“Okay set it here, “Claudia commanded. “Where’s the ball?”

Once again I pretended not to hear the impatience and carefully unpacked the board and flat plastic pointer— its triangular shape designed for three sets of fingers—we’d have to make two work. I set my crystal ball nearby.

“You sit there,” I said pointing to a side chair as I took the opposite position. “I’ll start it going.”

“What do you mean, going?” Claudia laughed.

“Watch. I’ve been practicing,” I whispered as I placed my fingertips on one side of the planchette. “And you’ve got to believe or it won’t work.”

After a few moments, I could feel slight burning in my hands and feet. I glanced at my ball and it was cloudy with a milky haze. The triangle began to move. It spelled out Doss.

“What the hell is Doss?” Claudia mumbled and glanced around the room. “What’s happening? I don’t like this—there’s something here.”

I looked towards my tiny crystal globe and saw a boy’s face with long straight hair. Claudia grabbed for her jacket that had fallen on the floor and headed towards the door.

“I’m going home,” was all she said as she left. Neither of us knew that within two years’ time, my name would be Elaine Doss.