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I reached into the nearest open bin and pulled out a little<br />
stuffed dog, a Barbie, and a truck. Carefully I lined them up in front<br />
of me in a row. I figured that since the last talking session upstairs<br />
had been uneventful — or at least we had to assume so for <strong>no</strong>w — I<br />
would try to give the spirits something else to work with. If they<br />
didn’t feel like using all their energy to shout at us loud e<strong>no</strong>ugh for<br />
us to hear from their ethereal plane, then maybe they could<br />
communicate a<strong>no</strong>ther way.<br />
“I put out some toys here,” I an<strong>no</strong>unced, as if the ghost had<br />
never seen a toy before. Maybe they were dead long before Barbie<br />
was invented! If that was the case, they were probably wondering<br />
why a blonde, big-boobed woman was dressed as a doctor.<br />
Focus! “If there’s anyone here for us, you can let us k<strong>no</strong>w<br />
by moving one of them. You can roll the truck or push over the doll.<br />
Whatever you want to do. But if you can move one, we’ll k<strong>no</strong>w that<br />
we’re <strong>no</strong>t alone.” Goosebumps spread up my arms like I had dunked<br />
them in ice. Good word choice, genius.<br />
Tucker pulled his digital camera out and I saw the red light<br />
blink on that meant he was recording. He held it down below his<br />
face so I could try to meet his eyes, but he was watching the screen<br />
instead of me. He hadn’t been breathing down my neck staring at<br />
me the whole time, making sure I didn’t have a heart attack or break<br />
the equipment. He might have been watching out for me, but he<br />
really believed that I could do this myself.<br />
My own confidence boosted by his, I let my feet slide away<br />
from my butt so my legs were straight out in front of me, resting<br />
beside the toys. “You can touch them any time you want. If you still<br />
want to talk to us, feel free. Can you tell me your name?”<br />
Silence descended upon us again as my partner sat still as a<br />
gargoyle across from me and we waited for some kind of response.<br />
Somehow, it wasn’t as frightening as it had been initially. It was<br />
definitely intimidating, but it wasn’t overwhelming. I didn’t want to<br />
run away.<br />
I glanced up from the toys and caught Tucker looking at me<br />
again. <strong>The</strong> faint light from outside illuminated half his face, but it<br />
was easy to see the little smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.<br />
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