A LIFE SO CHANGED
Chapter Fourteen

Sarah lay the Ouija board out on the coffee table in the parlor and set the planchette on the board. Joey had sent Rose upstairs so he could help Sarah get ready for the surprise.

"Are you sure she’ll like it?" she asked nervously.

"Of course I’m sure, Sarah!" Joey said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "She is going to love it. Trust me." He smiled reassuringly at her.

She smiled back. "Thank you."

Joey lit a candle for effect and placed it close to the board.

"What exactly goes on during a séance?" he asked.

"I’m not sure. You and I will both find that out tonight."

He cast a confused glance at her. "You haven’t tried this? What if it doesn’t work?"

"It’s going to work," she said certainly.

He grinned. "You seem confident about going into the unknown. What exactly makes you so sure about this?"

"Isn’t that what life is about, though? You’re going into the unknown all the time, yet you don’t even second guess it every day you wake up. So, Joey, do me a favor." She locked his eyes with hers. "Don’t second guess me."

Yes, Sarah knew she sounded philosophical and serious, but she just wanted Joey to believe in her. He always did, but she didn’t need this now. She was nervous and felt a lot of pressure for this to work, and Joey wasn’t exactly lightening her load by having her think twice about doing this.

"I’m not, Sarah." He gently kissed her forehead. "I believe in you. I always have and I always will."

As much as she wanted to ditch Rose’s birthday party now and go spend the rest of the night with Joey, she was obligated to make sure tonight went according to plan. But those blue eyes of his were showing so much love...

"I’ll go get Rose," Sarah said, pulling away from Joey.

Sarah got Rose from her bedroom and brought her downstairs. At first, she looked confused, exchanging glances between the two of them. "What is this?" Rose asked softly.

"It’s a séance," Sarah said. "We’re going to try to contact Jack again. Do you want to try?"

Rose put a hand to her mouth. Her eyes got slightly watery. "Yes," she whispered. "I’d love to."

The mere fact that Rose had expressed interest in the séance reassured Sarah that she was doing the right thing. She knew that Rose would love it, but still…it was almost like a sign that things were going to go well.

Sarah smiled. "Great! The three of us are supposed to place our hands on that." She pointed to something that looked like spade. "The planchette."

All kneeled around the round coffee table. They placed their hands on the planchette. Sarah felt calm as soon as her fingers touched it. Maybe Jack was with them already. She quickly looked behind her and found no sign of him yet.

"What do we do now?" Rose asked.

Don’t ruin it, Sarah thought. Act like you know exactly what you’re doing.

"Um..." Sarah racked her mind for a way to make it seem like she had done this before. "We ask if he’s there." She paused. "Can we speak with Jack Dawson, please?"

The planchette was still. Sarah looked at Rose, who had a blank expression on her face, staring at the planchette, while Joey was looking at Sarah encouragingly.

"May we please speak with the spirit of Jack Dawson?" Sarah asked again. Just in case they--whoever they were. She wasn’t sure--needed more information, she said, "He left earth on the morning of April 15, 1912. He was crossed over fifteen years later. If there’s anyone out there who this pertains to, please come here."

There was silence again. Sarah hated the silence. To her, it always meant that something bad was going to happen. And now, with no spirit activity, that definitely meant something bad.

"What--" Rose began, but she was torn off by the moving of the planchette. Her nervous blue eyes looked at Sarah. "Are you doing this?" she whispered.

Sarah shook her head. Her heart was beating faster. The room seemed to get colder. Goosebumps started rising on her arms.

The planchette moved to Yes.

Sarah looked around the room. No one yet. "Who are we speaking to right now?"

The planchette started moving faster. J-A-C-K-D-A-W-S-O-N.

Sarah felt a chill go through her. "Hi, Jack."

Without warning, the planchette moved to R-O-S-E.

Sarah frowned. "Yes, Rose is right here, Jack."

It moved to No.

Sarah looked at Rose, who now looked frightened.

S-A-R-A-H-A-N-D-J-O-E-Y-L-E-A-V-E.

Joey cast Sarah a look that said, I thought you knew how to do this.

She focused her attention on the board. "You want me and Joey to leave, Jack?"

The planchette went to Yes.

"But it won’t work," she defended. "We need to stay here. And how do we know that this isn’t someone else?"

A figure appeared by the chair, at first transparent, then slowly, he began to look like a man. It was Jack Dawson, looking exactly the same as the last time they had seen each other, which was nearly half a year ago. Was it even possible that the last six months of her life had gone by that fast? And that everything she used to know had changed that much?

"Any doubt now?" He chuckled.

"No, but you can’t talk to her," Sarah said, breaking a room filled with silence.

Both Joey and Rose looked at her. "Are you al--" Joey began.

"Yes," she interrupted. "Jack, you’re not going to be able to talk to Rose, though. I’m the only one who can make contact with you. It’ll fall on deaf ears if it’s just you, too."

"Do you trust me?" Jack asked, his light blue eyes connecting with her brown ones.

"Yes," she said quietly.

"Then take yourself and Joey upstairs for a few minutes. I need to talk to Rose. I’ll talk to you two in a little bit. I promise."

"What’s he saying?" Joey and Rose asked together.

"Rose, you stay here. Me and Joey are supposed to go upstairs."

Rose frowned. "For what? You need to stay here and talk to him for me."

"I know. That’s what I just said to him, too. Apparently, he has something up his sleeve..." She stood up. "Come on, Joey."

Joey frowned. "Sarah, what are we doing?"

"We’re going to let Jack do…um...I’m not sure. It’ll be quick, though. he said." She led him upstairs, while Rose sat in silence, her hands still on the planchette.

"Rose," she heard him say.

It was him! But, no, that was impossible. He had died fifteen years ago. And Sarah had crossed him over. But then, why could she hear his voice, and now...see him?

He was now sitting on the couch just a few feet away from her. Tears clouded her eyes. "Jack?"

He nodded. "Yeah, Rose. It’s me."

She felt a lump in her throat start to form. She reached out to touch him. Her fingers didn’t go through his skin like she thought they would, but instead, they touched human skin. Jack’s skin. How she had wanted to do that even for a second all these years...and now she finally could!

"Are you alive?" she whispered.

He shook his head. "No, I’m still dead. I’ll always be dead." He chuckled. "It’s not as bad as you think, Rose. I’m with my parents now. It’s great. You don’t ever have to worry about anything. It’s…well...it’s heaven."

She slowly sat on the couch next to him. She couldn’t stop staring at him. Now she could finally see him. "How long can you be here?"

"Not long at all. About...ten minutes, I think. But let’s not talk about time."

He placed his lips on hers. It was like they had never been separated. Rose remembered exactly how to kiss him...all those memories came back, how they had kissed on the bow of the Titanic, how they had been chased through the ship, how she had decided to get lost in the backseat of a car with him. It was all so familiar.

"I love you, Jack," she whispered, a tear trailing down her cheek. "I guess I didn’t love you enough to stay on that lifeboat like you and Cal told me to. If I did, you would have had that door to yourself. You would have lived...we could have had a life together..."

She remembered saying this to him last April, but she had never gotten to hear his exact response. She remembered what it was, but to hear him say it...

"Rose, don’t you dare blame yourself for this," Jack said firmly. "I wouldn’t have survived. Someone else would have found that door before I did, someone who had a wife and kids. Me, I was just a third class guy who did nothing but draw people for ten cents."

"You had so much to live for, though," she said. "That could have been us. You could have been a father and a husband and maybe something more than an artist. It just kills me to know that you were stupid enough to not get on that door."

He took one of her hands. His hands...she remembered those...he was so gentle with her with them. He drew her with those hands...

"You would have died with me, though," he defended. "Then what would have happened between us? What would have happened to Sarah? You lived for a reason, Rose. You’re going to meet a great guy and have kids with him, and you’re going to watch Sarah grow up and do the same thing." He gently rested his spare hand on her cheek. "You were put on earth for a reason. And you have to keep that promise that you said you would keep."

Her mind flashed back to that night when Jack was in his last moments. How cold and scared she was, how unsure of her future she was...

"I’m keeping that promise," she said, more tears welling in her eyes. "Sarah is my child now. And I’ll meet someone when I’m ready. When the time is right, I know I have your blessing."

Jack smiled and wiped away a tear streaking down her cheek.

"Sarah did this as a birthday gift for me," she said.

"It’s your birthday?" he asked.

She nodded. "You’ve been gone six months."

"Wow...it doesn’t seem that long that I’ve gone from you. It seems like six seconds."

Rose nodded. She could feel herself getting more tired. She wondered if this was how Sarah felt when she was communicating with a spirit. She wanted to know how she put up with this feeling.

"I don’t have much time left. If you could, I’d like to speak to Sarah and Joey for a minute," Jack requested.

"I want to talk to you more, though," she said softly.

"Someday, we’ll have all the time in the world to talk. Just not right now. And don’t make it too short, either. Live a good life, Rose. Die an old lady, warm in your bed."

She nodded again. "I promise."

Rose got up slowly. It still seemed surreal that she was actually talking to Jack, something she thought would never happen to her. She knew she couldn’t ever make it up to Sarah.

"I love you, Jack," she said, her voice cracking.

He smiled. "I love you, too, Rose. Remember...make it count."

Chapter Fifteen
Stories