Time & Space (Short Fiction Collection Vol. 2) by Gord Rollo, Gene O'Neill, Everette Bell Read Free Book Online Page A

across her chest, and the sheets had become a simple altar, covered in flowers, a few small pictures, and some of the necklaces she’d made. She looked happy, content.
    “I’ll try and come back to check on you in the morning,” Miguel said, bowing slightly, starting to back out of the room.
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” Marcela briefly panicked, but her inner voice spoke up again and she was sure she knew the answer before the young man replied.
    “Lay down. Rest. My mother wishes to speak to you.”
    With that, Miguel left the room, leaving Marcela with a dead woman she barely knew. Lay down? Rest? Surely he was kidding. There was no way–
    But before Marcela could object, she yawned, suddenly fighting to keep her eyes open. She didn’t panic. In fact, an overwhelming feeling of calmness washed over her, soothing her doubting mind and letting her see she had nothing to fear in this place of death. The voice within her told her to trust her instincts. She lay down beside the voodoo priestess, and within seconds, was fast asleep.
     
    ***
     
    Running…running…
    Searching in the dark, sniffing the air, knowing she is getting close.
    Her nostrils flare, a new smell replacing, overpowering the old scent. She bursts through the tree line, comes upon a small house, recognizing the temple, recognizing the burning incense, recognizing the lizard…and recognizing the large black woman standing on the front porch. These sights trigger an avalanche of memories and she momentarily forgets about the hunt. Memories breed awareness, and she remembers not only where she is and who stands before her, but also who she is and why she’s here.
    Mambo Ranice looks exactly as Marcela remembers her: wrapped in layers of bright colorful sheets, her hair braided with small beads. She is smiling and holding her arms out in greeting.
    “Be at peace, child. Stay with me awhile.”
    “But you’re dead, aren’t you?”
    “Maybe, maybe not. On sacred ground, it really doesn’t matter. That’s why I needed you to come here. I couldn’t stay long enough, me coming to you.”
    “What do you want from me?”
    “Nothing, child. Just to talk, to explain what’s happening to you. I know you feel the coming change, but you don’t need to fear it. Your protector comes.”
    “I, I don’t understand?”
    “You don’t need to. You just need to believe. There’s a power within you, child. I don’t know what it is, but I felt it the moment I met you last summer. Your Anifantia spoke to my soul that day, asked me–“
    “My what?”
    “Your Anifantia. It’s your animal within, your spirit guide and protector. It lies dormant within most humans, but yours wants to be set free. That’s why I sold you that necklace.”
    Marcela reaches up and strokes the silver pendant. The bumps and dents have returned. Instead of a perfectly round ball, it has flattened out, sprouting several short appendages.
    “What’s happening to it?”
    “It’s becoming, child. Just like you…Just like you…like you…"
    Mambo Ranice is starting to fade away, the smoke from the incense starting to seep through her insubstantial form.
    “Wait!” Marcela shouts. “Don’t leave yet, I still don’t understand. This is all crazy talk, isn’t it? I mean, really, it’s just a dream!”
    Mambo Ranice smiles.
    “Is it, child? Are you sure?”
     
    ***
     
    After returning from Costa Rica, Marcela spent days trying to get her head around everything she’d seen and heard. She still wasn’t sure what exactly had happened at Semma, the voodoo temple. When she’d woken up the next morning, she’d found herself all alone in bed. Mambo Ranice’s body was gone. Either Miguel had returned in the middle of the night to carry her away, or she had never been there in the first place. Perhaps the heavy incense in the air had been a drug of some sort and she’d inhaled enough of it to cause her to hallucinate. Or maybe she was just going crazy. There was