The Candle

Jill sensed a presence. It chilled her to the bone. She had felt it before but that was many years ago. “Why now?”, she said aloud to herself and to the presence she felt.

“Annie, is that you?”

The chill warmed as if the presence answered the question. As quickly as the warmth passed through her, it turned back to ice.

Jill sensed it was time for the next question, as if the chill told her.

“Annie?” Another wave of warmth. Jill closed her eyes and thought to herself, can this be? A warmer wave.

She recalled Annie’s image from memory; that of a smiling 17 year old. She pictured the dirty blonde hair tied in a ponytail. She was fit, a crooked smile, chipped tooth and a four inch scar on her forehead. The results of a tomboy childhood.

Annie was daring and Jill smiled at the memory. The presence warmed.

Annie is gone ten years now. The picture faded and the presence chilled her to a shiver. She reconjured her image and the warmth returned. She pondered whether the presence was in her mind or truly Annie?

Suddenly Jill realized she hadn’t taken a step since the presence enveloped her. Reality set in and she was late.

Memories

She took a step and thought of the people waiting on her. She was the chair of the local chapter of M.A.D.D. (Mothers Against Drunk Driving). The chill returned this time causing a physical shiver. It was Annie’s death that got her involved. She thought of THAT DAY.

They sisters spent the day at the family’s cabin in the woods. They lit a candle since there was no electricity.

Shivers bordering on frost bite.

Annie had gotten her driver’s license the week before.

Bone chilling cold.

She was driving home. It was 8:15 because it was a school night.

Her teeth chattered.

The drunk in the Chevy swerved across into her lane. In an instant she was gone.

Jill was numb and paralyzed from the severity of the cold.

Annie was so proud of passing her test and getting her license.

Thaw.

She was coming home from helping a sophomore with her math.

A warming cloak enveloped her.

Jill thought that Annie would have forgiven the drunk. That was the essence of Annie.

The warm presence confirmed that she had forgiven him.

“Annie is that you?” She didn’t wait for a sign. The presence of her sister was all around her. She was here! The scent of her shampoo. The shared secrets that only sisters know.

The memory of watching scary movies under the covers of her bed flooded her mind. She had always pushed those memories from her mind. They were too hard to remember.

She knew Annie had planted them in her mind and heart.

The presence told her it was okay to remember and she smiled.

Jill awoke from a ten year grief coma. Annie would have none of it. She wanted Jill to live and not just exist.

Jill understood. Annie had been trying to let her know for years. Jill knew that now and she laughed. Annie always said she was stubborn and even slow.

The family abandoned the cabin. After the M.A.D.D meeting Jill had a hunch. She walked through the woods guided by the light from her I-Phone.

The path was barely discernible from years of not being trod upon. She turned the light off.

The cabin was aglow.

Annie was there!

The cabin in the woods was abandoned for years and on this night there was a candle in the window.