Last Tango With the Dark Side...

Later for 'Last Tango with the Dark Side or - 'End of Seances' by Brandy Larson October, 2012 It was a quiet Sunday morning. I'd just finished writing my 600 wordy Halloween story for Wisconsin Public Radio, a topical flash fiction event. Amir had just woken up and trudged up our stairs and into the dining room. Barely awake, he said - Is someone here? No - I replied. He said - I heard some heavy footsteps just now on the stairs. This was exactly what was in the true story I had just completed. He said he also heard some kind of moaning. This was not part of the story. At this moment I was considering whether to submit my story. It was a true encounter with the dark side - witnessed by 3 people who together all had the same exact experience. And it scared the hell out of us. Topical - sure, but why turn this loose on the airwaves? Amir drank a quick coffee and took off for the library. I surrounded myself in white light, saying the Unity Prayer of Protection - "The light of God surrounds me, the love of God enfolds me, the presence of God watches over me, where ever I am God is." I lit a cedar smudge stick and smudged myself front and back, then smudged the whole house - basement, inside all cupboards and closets - with purifying smoke. The next day I picked up the Aug 15 & 22nd, 2011 editions of the New Yorker magazine at Willy St Coop, free book shelf. A story called fiction "Gilgul" by Yosef Hayim Yershlam was featured. It tells how he was introduced to a fortune teller somewhere in Israel who had his number, so to speak. At the time he didn't know what to make of the experience, but many years later her prediction came true. He quotes the Bible in the middle of his story "Turn ye not unto the ghosts, nor unto familiar spirits, seek them not out, to be defiled by them." I Googled this, since his story made no attribution as to chapter and verse. I came found Leviticus, also called the Third Book of Moses, chapter 19 verse 31. I checked my King James Version Reference Bible, School and Library Edition, 1960 John A Hertel Co. "Regard not them that have familiar spirits, nor seek after wizards, to be defiled by them." The Torah and the King James versions apparently differ, but the message is the same. I just shredded the first story I wrote for this competition, but am wondering - should burn it?