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Cautiously, I reached inside and fished out a couple of tin soldiers, a Steiff teddy bear and a pretty porcelain doll dressed in Victorian clothing. Clearly very old, they were covered in dust and I imagined they must have once belonged to another child who had slept in this bedroom many years ago. I found them fascinating.
I was just about to replace the floorboard when I realised there was something else there. Squinting in the darkness, I reached down again and pulled out a rectangular board covered with pictures of moons and suns. In the centre, running in a curve, were the letters of the alphabet, the numbers0-9 and the words “Yes” and “No.” Attached to it with a piece of string was a heart-shaped pointer made of wood with moveable wheels. I had no idea what it was. It sort of reminded me of my Fisher-Price magnetic numbers board, only much, much older.
Clutching my new toy in my arms, I raced downstairs in search of my mother to show her my exciting find. I found her in the lounge looking tired, sipping a gin and tonic.
“Mummy, you’ll never guess what I found under the floorboards in my bedroom. Do you know what this thing is?”
Frowning, Beatrix put down her glass, took my strange discovery and examined it closely. “It’s called a Ouija board,” she said. “And that wooden pointer thing is called a planchette.”
“What’s a Ouija board?”
“It’s an old parlour game from Victorian times. There used to be these people called mediums, who used Ouija boards to make contact with the spirit world.”
“Spirits? Do you mean like ghosts and stuff?”
“Yes. Ghosts. Dead people.” She shrugged. “It’s just a bit of fun not to be taken seriously.”
I was intrigued. “So, is it like a board game, you know, like Snakes and Ladders?”
“Not exactly, but it’s definitely a game of sorts. Look, let me show you how it works.”
Placing my treasured find on the table, my mother untied the planchette and demonstrated moving it around the letters of the alphabet. “This is how you play it. You ask a question, and then the planchette spells out the answer. See? Go on, ask a question.”
“Erm…How old am I?”
“All right, watch.” Gently, she moved the pointer from the number ‘one’ then slowly onto ‘zero.’
I clapped my hands together excitedly. “Ten years old! That’s right! Oh, this is so much fun!”
“Yes, it is.” Then, massaging her temples as if feeling a headache coming, she said, “Listen Alex, you run along and have fun playing your new game, okay? I’ve got a few things to finish up here before dinner. Oh, and remember to wash your hands. If you’ve been playing in the garden again, then they’re probably filthy.”
“But I alreadydidwash them.”
“Then do it again for me.”
“Okay.”
Eagerly, I took the Ouija board back upstairs and laying it on my bedroom floor, sat down to play with it. Placing my fingers on the planchette in the way Beatrix had shown me, I began asking questions out loud, hoping to make contact with the kid who had once owned the toys I found under the floorboards.
Initially, the things I asked were innocuous:Can you hear me? Do you want to play? How old are you?And to each enquiry, I took control of the planchette to answer my own question, which I found strangely gratifying. Even though I knew full well I was the one moving it around, I found it comforting to have an imaginary friend. In my naivety, I thought it was all just innocent fun.
Then suddenly, there was a weird electricity in the air. An invisible force seemed to take control of the Ouija board and I watched in shock as the planchette moved of its own accord to the word “Hello.”
With a cry of fright, I bolted downstairs in search of my mother again to tell her what had happened. I found her in the bedroom in the middle of taking a call. I knew she didn’t like to be disturbed, but this was an emergency.
“For goodness’ sake Alex, what is it now?” she groaned, stopping the phone against her chest. “Can’t I have a moment’s peace around here? I’m trying to speak to your aunt Priscilla. Right, you have five seconds. Whatisthe problem now?”
“Mummy, Mummy, the planchette just moved on its own! Someone said hello to me. Can you believe it?”
“That’s great. Good for you.”
“But what should I do about it?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Say hello back.”
“But I’m scared. What if it’s a ghost? Aren’t ghosts supposed to be scary?”
“If it is a ghost, then I’m sure the ghost is friendly. You know, like Casper the Friendly Ghost? Say hello back, start a conversation, have some fun with it. Now please, Alex, I really need to take this call. Go to your room and I’ll speak to you later. Go play with the ghost.”
