As the cold wind whipped around the side of the old homestead, Maggie Burnsford felt at peace for the first time since she had buried her husband months earlier.\u00a0 That very afternoon, she had had her Tarot cards read by a woman in town.\u00a0 Even though when she walked into the darkened room, she was skeptical, when she walked out, she was a true believer in the afterlife.\u00a0 Maggie had tagged along with a couple of friends to get the reading done just for a giggle but what that lady had to say, about things totally unknown to her, somewhat spooked Maggie into believing that there must be something to this afterlife thing after all.\u00a0 What other explanation could there be for her knowing the things she knew.<\/p>\n
When Barry had a heart attack and went toes up on her, the only thing he had left Maggie was a shit load of bills and a lot of heartache.\u00a0 She had agonized over how to pay off the bills for weeks before coming to the upsetting conclusion that she was going to lose the car, the house, everything.\u00a0 The house was now on the market and unless she could come up with $16,000 before it was sold, she would lose it forever.<\/p>\n
The trip to the card reader had been her friend\u2019s way of trying to take her mind off the problems at hand since none of them where able to help in any other way.\u00a0 But when Maggie stepped out of the back room in which the readings were done and back into the store, her friends began to think that it was not such a good idea after all, she looked so\u2026 spooked.\u00a0 Hands shaking, hair standing on end and quiet as a church mouse all showing that something was amiss.\u00a0 On top of that, Maggie was puffing away on cigarettes all the way home and they all knew that Maggie only ever smoked when something was eating at her mind.\u00a0 And this was something big, they just wouldn\u2019t know how big until a few weeks later.<\/p>\n
Flicking her long black hair out of her eyes Maggie had walked into the room to get her reading done and paused a moment to let her eyes adjust to the lighting.\u00a0 The woman who was to do the reading became very uneasy, fidgeting and jumping at the smallest sounds, like the chair legs scraping the wooden floor as Maggie pulled it out to sit down, making her bracelets jingle like a musical instrument.\u00a0 The room was dimly lit and smelt faintly of sandalwood that gave it a pleasant and relaxing feel.\u00a0 The reader introduced herself as Ruby and told Maggie that even though she was there for a card reading; somebody was coming through from the other side that badly needed to speak with her.\u00a0 Ruby had began to mumble under her breath and Maggie could just make out the words, \u201cCalm down, she is here with me\u201d.\u00a0 Explaining that the spirit had entered the room so quickly and in such a rash manner, Ruby began to settle herself again, rearranging her flaming red hair.\u00a0 Maggie knew beyond a doubt that there was no way possible for Ruby to know anything about her or her life, so when she announced that a man named Barry was there with them in spirit, it threw Maggie for a six.<\/p>\n
Speaking for Barry, Ruby told Maggie that he had had a life insurance policy, which she would need to find and claim before the sale of the house.\u00a0 And just like Barry when he was alive, he could not remember where he had put the paper work or whom the company was that he held the policy with, she would just have to hunt for it.\u00a0 But the thing that really got Maggie believing was when she spoke of their trip away some four years earlier.\u00a0 Ruby told of how Barry had given Maggie some money to go shopping and told her that he had a headache and needed a lie down, then when she had gone, he went and took out the insurance policy not wanting her to know about it because she would say that it was a waste of money and that nothing was ever going to happen to him.<\/p>\n
So now as Maggie stood under a hot shower with the wind whipping around the house she loved, she tried to think of every possible place Barry could have hidden the papers.\u00a0 He did not have a safety deposit box that she knew of, but then again she didn\u2019t know about the insurance policy either!\u00a0 Over and over in her mind she tried to work it out but couldn\u2019t come up with any place that she wouldn\u2019t have discovered at some point over the last four years since he had taken the policy out.<\/p>\n
While walking in town three days later, Maggie noticed something out of the corner of her eye but when she turned back to see what it was, there was nothing there to be seen.\u00a0 It had looked like a white light coming from the restaurant that her and Barry used to eat at every week.\u00a0 Feeling as though something was pulling at her, she decided to stop in there for lunch.\u00a0 Ordering her usual Maggie felt as if there where eyes watching her but instead of giving her a creepy feeling it made her feel safe and protected, like she used to when Barry was with her.<\/p>\n
That night everything inside and outside the house was so very still and quiet that when the bathroom door slammed shut Maggie just about jumped out of her skin.\u00a0 Going upstairs to see what had happened she had to pass the kitchen.\u00a0 As she went past the kitchen doorway she noticed at first that the drawing pins in the corkboard had been rearranged.\u00a0 Going in for a closer look she found that they had been put into some sort of pattern but it didn\u2019t look familiar to her.\u00a0 Leaving the drawing pins in place Maggie made her way upstairs on shaking legs only to get to the bathroom, open the door and found the room steamed up as if someone had just got out of the bath or shower.\u00a0 Directly opposite the bathroom door was the cabinet and mirror and what she saw in that mirror would remain in her mind for the rest of her life.<\/p>\n
Maggie did not see words in the steam on the mirror but instead she saw a drawing, and such a life like drawing at that.\u00a0 The building she saw drawn there did not look like any building that she knew of but it still gave her the feeling that she had been there at some time or another, maybe even in another life.\u00a0 Running to the bedroom on legs that felt like rubber to grab a piece of paper and a pencil she thought that maybe if she drew the picture and looked at it long enough then it would click into place.<\/p>\n
After drawing the building she then returned back downstairs and underneath it she drew the pattern that was on the corkboard.\u00a0 Knowing these two things were somehow connected she wondered if they were a message from Barry.\u00a0 They had to be, why else would this sort of thing start happening to her now?\u00a0 Feeling confident that these were messages from the other side, the next morning Maggie headed for the town library to take out a book on spirit communications to see if she could find any way of sending a return message or a way to interpret the messages she had received.<\/p>\n
Sitting up in bed later that night reading her book, she found that these were normal ways to receive messages from the other side and that all she had to do in return was to voice her questions out load and the spirit who is trying to communicate would hear her.\u00a0 In a shaking voice Maggie spoke to the walls of the bedroom she and Barry had shared, \u201cBarry? Is that you sending me messages?\u201d\u00a0 Flopping back on the pillows and feeling like the biggest kind of fool, Maggie wondered if she was having a mental breakdown to think that this could be really happening.\u00a0 She lay her book on her night table, turned off her bedside lamp and laid back to go to sleep.<\/p>\n
Startled awake by a noise, Maggie rolled onto her side to have a look at the time on the clock beside the bed. 12.23am, \u201cGreat, the Witching hour!\u201d she said aloud into the dark room.\u00a0 That was when she noticed the tapping noise coming from inside the wall, which must have been what had woken her to start with.\u00a0 \u201cIs that you Barry?\u201d she asked in a frightened voice.\u00a0 Not expecting a reply, her heart leapt into her mouth when there was an answering tap.\u00a0 \u201cWhoever you are, tap once for yes and twice for no, do you understand?\u201d\u00a0 Again came the single tap as before.\u00a0 \u201cI ask again, is that you Barry?\u201d\u00a0 One tap.\u00a0 \u201cWas it you that left the pattern on the corkboard today?\u201d\u00a0 One tap.\u00a0 \u201cWas it you that drew the picture on the mirror?\u201d\u00a0 One tap.\u00a0 \u201cDoes this have to do with the insurance policy?\u201d\u00a0 One tap.\u00a0 \u201cDo you remember where it is Barry?\u201d\u00a0 No answer.\u00a0 Maggie repeated this last question and got no sign that he was still there.<\/p>\n
Waking late the following morning Maggie felt the urge to return to the library to see what else she could find.\u00a0 Because the information in one book could be so accurate, imagine what she could find in the others that were there.\u00a0 Walking in to the darkened interior of the building, she looked up behind the desk and noticed an old photograph only to find that it was a photo of the very same building that had been on her mirror.\u00a0 Asking the Liberian about it, she discovered that it was in fact the very building that she was standing in, only 60 years earlier.<\/p>\n
In 1941, an earthquake that had all but demolished the town library had hit the area in which Maggie now lived.\u00a0 The new library had been built on the same site 3 years later. \u00a0But what this had to do with her and Barry she didn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
After telling all this to Maggie, the woman behind the desk mentioned Barry\u2019s death and the strange week before it.\u00a0 Not having any idea what she was talking about, Maggie prodded her for information on what she meant.\u00a0 According to the woman, Barry had been coming into the library and staying all day, every day, for the week leading up to his death.\u00a0 When she inquired why he wasn\u2019t at work he simply said that he had given it up for better things.\u00a0 Unlike his usual readings of Westerns, he had spent this week not just reading, but studying the paranormal arts, life after death, spirit guides and the likes.\u00a0 Obtaining a list of the books in which he had been studying, which were numerous, Maggie went to gather what should could find of them.<\/p>\n
Sitting at a desk an hour later with a mountain of books in front of her, she wondered yet again if she was losing her mind.\u00a0 Well, she had nothing better to do, she may as well just get started to see if she could discover what it was that had Barry so interested in the subject, and who knows maybe she might ever find an answer to her present problem.\u00a0 By the time the library was ready to close for the day at 5.00 o\u2019clock, Maggie had been through about 6 of the 19 that were on the list.\u00a0 She marked those off the list and keeping aside two of the books, she put the rest back in their right places on the shelves then checked out the two she kept and headed home for dinner.<\/p>\n
Folding her legs underneath her and making herself comfortable on the floor with a pizza Maggie continued her work.\u00a0 About an hour later as she turned a page she noticed a slip of paper fall out from between the pages.\u00a0 With her fingers feeling like ice and her heart drumming an unsteady rhythm in her ears, she turned to the page that had been marked with the paper, to find it headed \u201cWays to Communicate from Beyond the Grave.\u201d\u00a0 Underneath the heading was a list of ways to send messages from the other side, including the trick with the pins on the corkboard, the bathroom mirror and tapping on walls among others.\u00a0 Maggie felt her body turn cold from head to toe and could feel her hands shaking as she turned the page.\u00a0 She flicked back to the front cover to see what the title of the book was but instead found the very same pattern on the front as she had found one the corkboard.\u00a0 How she had not noticed this earlier, she didn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
Lying in her warm bed that night, after many hours of considering the idea Maggie finally decided to take a trip back to the place where they had holidayed to make a search of the area for Insurance Companies.\u00a0 With having made the decision, she drifted off into an uneasy sleep.<\/p>\n
Being back in the town that they had enjoyed together had a unsettling effect upon Maggie and she found that she could not sit still for any longer than about 10 minutes at a time unless she was sleeping, which she did very little of.\u00a0 She just wanted to get the task at hand done and get home again.\u00a0 The day she arrived was a sweltering hot day and with the sweat dripping from her body Maggie made the rounds of the Insurance Companies within the town limits.\u00a0 Sitting on the steps of the second to last place she had to visit Maggie felt exhaustion like she never had before.\u00a0 Finding a hidden resource of strength, she pulled herself to her feet and made her way inside the building to see what she could discover.<\/p>\n
Explaining the situation for what felt like the 50th<\/sup> time that day, she wondered if she was ever going to find anything to help her or if it was all just a waste of time and effort.\u00a0 She was running out of time to find the money for the house and if she didn\u2019t find something soon she would lose it.\u00a0 Maggie went on to try and convince the Manager to have a look through their records to see if anybody by Barry\u2019s name held a policy with them.\u00a0 Being a kind hearted man and sympathizing with her situation, he told her that he would do what he could and for her to return the next day to hear the results, if there were indeed any at all.<\/p>\n The following day Maggie found what she had been searching for, evidence of the policy.\u00a0 The manager of the Combined Insurance Company had found in his search that they did indeed have a policy for Barry Burnsfield.\u00a0 The total amount came to just over $1 million but the catch was that Maggie still had to find the paper work to produce before they could act on the policy.\u00a0 There was no getting around this so she proceeded to return home to have another through search of the house.<\/p>\n Still turning up nothing after the second search she plonked down in a chair tired and discouraged but not giving up.\u00a0 She would save her home; she just had to work out how!\u00a0 Glancing down at the coffee table on which the drawing of the building and the design were sitting, she began to study the design again.\u00a0 She now knew what the building was but what about the pattern?<\/p>\n Without a moment\u2019s notice, everything clicked into place.\u00a0 The building was the library where she would, and had, found the way Barry would communicate.\u00a0 The design on the corkboard, she knew now must have something to do with where the papers were hidden.\u00a0 She had worked out for herself where the insurance policy was held so now she had two out of three problems solved.\u00a0 The idea of a safety deposit box would not leave Maggie so she felt that she should go with her feelings.<\/p>\n With an idea slowly forming in her mind, Maggie stood up and went to the computer.\u00a0\u00a0 She scanned the corkboard design then entered it in a search engine.\u00a0 This way, if there was anything on the Internet about it, she would find it.\u00a0 The computer finished the search and it had found a match.<\/p>\n The design was the logo for a safety deposit box company, which was in the next town over.<\/p>\n Making the short trip the next day Maggie had no problem finding the place.\u00a0 Being concerned about how she would get on, she stepped up to the main desk and explained the situation.\u00a0 She was told that it would not be a problem as long as she had I.D. and a copy of Barry\u2019s death certificate, both of which she had in her purse.\u00a0 After producing both pieces of paperwork, she was given a key, told the number of the box and shown to a room to go through the contents.\u00a0 Bingo!!\u00a0 There laying inside the box was the paperwork to the insurance policy Barry had taken out.<\/p>\n Returning to the car with all the paper work, Maggie thought that she might as well go straight to C.I.C. to present them with the papers so things could get under way.<\/p>\n Encountering no more problems, she was assured that $1.3 million would be in her bank account within two weeks.<\/p>\n Feeling calmer and more relaxed then she had in months Maggie sat at home and wondered if she would ever have contact with Barry again when there was a knock at the front door.\u00a0 Glancing through the small window beside the door, she saw Ruby standing on the porch looking nervous.\u00a0 Wondering what she was doing there Maggie opened the door and asked her inside.<\/p>\n \u201cI was just curious to see how you got on\u201d\u2019 explained Ruby once she was seated at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee.<\/p>\n \u201cYea, good!\u00a0 I found the policy after a lot of searching and things are in motion.\u00a0 I should have the money soon.\u00a0 I feel as though I owe you something for everything you did for me so\u2026\u201d Maggie let the sentence drift off unfinished.<\/p>\n \u201cI just want to know one thing,\u201d Ruby told her.\u00a0 \u201cHow did you end up finding it?\u201d<\/p>\n Maggie explained about the different things that had happened and how they had led her to find the policy.<\/p>\n \u201cSo do you believe that Barry contacted you?\u201d Ruby asked.<\/p>\n After a moment or two of thought Maggie replied that she didn\u2019t see any other explanation.\u00a0 \u201cDo you?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n The one word said a lot to Maggie.\u00a0 Sitting in a companionable silence for the next five minutes, they both contemplated this new development.\u00a0 Surprising Maggie, Ruby asked,<\/p>\n \u201cDo you think you could contact others?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u00a0 Others that have passed on?\u00a0 Other than Barry?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes,\u201d answered Ruby, surprised that Maggie would think the idea so far-fetched.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u00a0 I never really thought about it.\u201d\u00a0 Maggie\u2019s mind was spinning with the possibility.<\/p>\n \u201cWould you be willing to give it a go?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t see why not but I would have no idea how to go about it\u201d.\u00a0 Maggie wondered silently what she was standing in the doorway of.<\/p>\n \u201cWe could work on it together,\u201d Ruby suggested with a plan forming in her mind.<\/p>\n Strongly believing that there was a reason behind everything that happened, Ruby wondered why Maggie had been sent to her.<\/p>\n Over the next couple of months Maggie and Ruby became close friends, spending evenings together contacting the dead, and many days together at Ruby\u2019s shop where Maggie was helping out.<\/p>\n Sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee, Ruby finally approached Maggie with a proposition that she had been thinking about for months.<\/p>\n \u201cHow would you like to become a partner in the business?\u201d\u00a0 Then after a pause of thought, she added, \u201cDon\u2019t get me wrong, the business is not in trouble or anything like that.\u00a0 It\u2019s just that I think you are talented, I trust you and I like you and you seem to enjoy the work.\u00a0 It makes perfect sense to me, that is, as long as you are keen of course.\u201d<\/p>\n Without having to consider this new development Maggie responded with a quick<\/p>\n \u201cI would love to!\u201d\u00a0 She had been hoping for the last few weeks that Ruby would come up with the idea and she was just getting to the point where she was going to bring the subject up herself.<\/p>\n Maggie was comfortable financially, she was starting out in a new business venture where she was helping people, both living and un-living, and she had developed a great new friendship with someone she had a great deal of respect for.\u00a0 Still having contact with Barry filled the final hole in her heart.\u00a0 Life was good!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As the cold wind whipped around the side of the old homestead, Maggie Burnsford felt at peace for the first time since she had buried her husband months earlier.\u00a0 That very afternoon, she had had her Tarot cards read by a woman in town.\u00a0 Even though when she walked into the darkened room, she was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4814,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":{"title":"Eve of Enlightment - Mel's Writing Blog","description":"As the cold wind whipped around the side of the old homestead, Maggie Burnsford felt at peace for the first time since she had buried her husband months 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