Little Red Gem by D L Richardson

and we watched in
muted fascination as he placed a white-painted cross enveloped with
yellow roses on top of my coffin.
    The mourners didn’t
understand the significance of the cross and the roses. I did. And
it zapped the lifeless breath out of me. It affected Leo, too. He
staggered back to the pew, tears freely flowing down his
face.
    “ Enough,” I said, turning
to William. “Please take me home.”
    “ As you wish.”
    Immediately we were in the
woods at the foot of the path leading to the cabin. He put his arm
around me protectively and said, “I’m sorry you had to witness
that.”
    I leaned into his embrace,
thankful for the support. “I’m not. It just makes me more
determined to find a way to be with him. He needs me, now more than
ever.”
    “ The dead don’t belong
with the living.”
    I pulled away and gazed
into his eyes. “I don’t believe that. I don’t think you do either.
I mean, look at you and Anne…every weekend this cabin is filled
with people who are alive and you hang out with them when you could
lock yourselves away. Audrey walks the astral plane and hangs out
with spirits. It must be perfectly fine for two forces to exist on
the same plane.”
    “ Why do you want so badly
to be with him?”
    Genuine concern filled
William’s face and I wanted to tell him the truth. Instead, I said,
“Because I love him.”
    Not a lie, but not the
truth he was digging for.
    “ But why do you want so
badly to defy the laws of nature and return from the
grave?”
    I walked up the steps to
the cabin and sat down on the patio swing. William followed. What
could he do with my secret if I told him? He had nobody he could
tell it too, except Anne and who could she gossip with? But they
could judge Leo poorly, and for that reason alone, I would never
betray Leo. His secret was safe with me.
    “ I need to know that Leo
loves me,” I told William. “The night I died we had a huge fight. I
can’t find peace until I know for sure that he would have loved me
with all his heart, that he loved me no matter what.”
    William sat beside me on
the swing. “The boy is clearly devastated over your death. I would
say that is a clear sign he loved you no matter what.”
    “ It’s complicated. There
was an unresolved issue.”
    “ There usually is.” His
eyes narrowed. “You really believe returning from the dead will
resolve this issue?”
    “ It’s all I can think
about. Will you help me?”
    William looked deep into
my eyes, probing me. At last he looked away. “I cannot.”
    I didn’t believe him.
Suddenly angry, I closed my eyes and willed myself inside the
cabin. William might not want to help me, but I suspected Anne
would.
    The moment I materialized,
Anne rushed to greet me. She wore a huge smile; I knew I’d made the
right choice by seeking her help, even if I wasn’t exactly sure
how. Yet I knew one place to start.
    “ Anne, can you teach me
how to touch objects?”
    She stared at me with her
brow furrowed. “I can try. I merely visualize the action and it is
done. I am not sure I can teach you how.”
    “ I’ll bet you can. This is
important to me, Anne.”
    We moved over to the
window. I gazed through the open curtains; a path led to the hiking
trails, a dirt road led to the main highway, sunbeams sliced
through the trees, birds hopped from tree to tree. A stunning place
to call home, but I would not accept that my destiny lay in being
trapped in limbo.
    I closed my eyes to the
world I wished to have no claim over and tried to sweep aside the
curtains, but my hand swept through the air.
    “ Please teach me to close
the curtains.”
    Anne’s delicately gloved
hand grabbed a handful of the fabric, and effortlessly the curtains
moved along the rail to first close, then open. She wore a look of
concentration. “You’ll need to focus on connecting with the fabric.
Allow the energy from within to flow into your hand and out. The
electric pulse you experience when your hand nears an object