There were five people sat around the table. The paraphernalia of dinner had been cleared away, and the dishes and cutlery had been put into the sink to soak. Now was the time for coffee, liqueurs and entertainment.
"I thought we could try this," Missy announced. Having been praised for her cooking, but criticised for her choice of wines. she felt that she needed some memorable finale to her dinner. She placed an old ouija board on the table.
"Aren't those meant to be, you know, evil?" George asked. "Don't people, you know, get possessed?"
"Nonsense!" David blurted out. "It's just a Victorian parlour game. It was only when the spiritualists got hold of it after the Great War that it became ... ." He stopped. Missy was giving him a filthy look. "But it should be fun," he continued in an embarrassed tone.
"Come on then," Pat said. "What do we do?"
Missy unfolded the board; its cellophane coating gave a loud crack. "Well, we've got to get the right atmosphere. Murray - would you do the honours?" She pointed at an old, brass candlestick in the middle of the table.
"Of course." Murray fumbled with his cigarette lighter, taking a couple of attempts to get a flame going, which he then applied to the candle's wick. Missy went to the windows and drew the curtains, then turned out the lights in the room before returning to her seat. She picked up a wine glass and placed it upside-down on the ouija board.
"Alright. I want everybody to put a finger on the glass."
There was a chorus of giggles as her guests did as they were told. Missy allowed herself a smile, happy that they were relaxing and entering into the spirit of things.
"Now, we start moving the glass around the board. If we feel drawn to any of the letters on the board, then we move the glass there."
"What if one of us tries to influence it?" Pat asked. "Won't that spoil the fun?"
"Not if we all have a finger on the glass," George replied. "That way, it has to be the spirits doing it."
"Speaking of spirits," David began, but Missy shushed him.
"Come on! Don't be a wet blanket. Now, let's start."
The five of them started to move the glass across the board. Missy looked up to the ceiling and called out, "Is there anybody there?"
There was a sudden rush as the glass moved to the word 'YES' on the board.
"Do you have a message for anyone here?"
Again, the glass was pushed to word 'YES'. The guests looked at each other and murmured.
"What's the message?" Pat asked, a slight tremor in her voice.
The glass moved across the board - 'B', 'O', 'O' - then stopped.
"Boo?" David said. "Somebody must be playing a joke."
This time the glass seemed to move of its own accord, across the board to the word 'NO'.
And then the candle went out.
