Anticipating Guests

She thought she was going crazy at first, so she kept it to herself. Best not to say anything and open oneself up to trouble, she thought, but it just kept happening, which led her to believe she really was going crazy, and maybe she should seek help. Unfortunately the professionals seemed to have no idea how to fix her, and after a year of wasted time, wasted money, and more medications then she could remember she gave up. She would have to learn to live with the voices.

Eventually, when she stopped trying to make them go away, she began to notice a pattern in their arrival. It usually happened just like any other normal day. She would just be going about her business, and then bam, they would be there. Well, there were a few signs, some dry mouth when she woke up accompanied by an extra hazy don’t want to get out of bed feeling. Maybe a slight headache which could easily be confused with a caffeine craving, only caffeine never seemed to calm her throbbing temples. Oh well, she would think, just part of being human in this human body doing its thing, every day can’t be perfect. But then, sometime in the early afternoon, that particular time of day where her defenses were at their lowest, they would arrive.

It was when she finally gave in that she figured out what they were, and more importantly what they wanted. What had sounded like a din, like an angry mob, or a frightened mass, screaming inside her skull, suddenly became clear. They were the voices of those who had passed into the beyond, looking for a path back to the world of the living, and finally she had learned how to communicate with them. From that point everything changed so quickly! Once the voices knew they had gotten through, they showed up almost daily. Thankfully they weren’t evil, it’s not like they wanted her to do their bidding, or kill kill kill, or anything like that. Mostly they just wanted one last good bye, one chance to end the final chapter of their lives on their own terms. She had no choice but to listen to them, to help them (though secretly she kind of liked it).

It was quite noble work, really, much better than the desk jockeying she used to do. So she figured out how to monetize it, because she really couldn’t do a real job anymore anyway, not when she was now anticipating her guests almost daily. It’s not like she was trying to take advantage of grieving families, she just needed to make a living. Unfortunately it seemed some didn’t see it that way; there were those that wanted to take advantage, who believed her gift should be shared for free for the good of all. It was self-defense, she didn’t mean to do it, but it didn’t take long before she was a medium to the first person she killed.