Auracle by Gina Rosati

weren’t here because you were dreaming, were you?”
    I shake my head.
    “And by that time, Taylor was already dead, wasn’t she?”
    I nod.
    “So, why didn’t you tell me?”
    I didn’t tell him because I wanted to get my body back first, because I didn’t want him to worry, because I am so profoundly embarrassed that I am locked out of my body, of all things. And the number one reason I didn’t tell him? Because while I’m stuck in this dimension, I have no voice, no words, no way to tell him all the complicated details of this debacle.
    I must look very contrite because Rei’s voice softens. “I’m sorry,” he says as he sits on his bed, “you must have been pretty shocked to come home and find someone else in your body.”
    I open my eyes wide to show him “shocked” doesn’t even begin to cover it.
    “So have you tried to get her out?”
    Big emphatic nod.
    “So … what’s the problem? It’s your body. Can’t you just pull her out?”
    I shake my head. This lack of a voice is starting to drive me nuts. I look around for something I can use to communicate with him besides head shakes and nods. Rei’s room is always immaculate, which sucks because a little dust would be handy to write in. There’s a pencil on the desk, but even though I can pick it up, it flops around when I try to write, producing nothing more than a few illegible squiggles. I let it fall back onto the desk and look around in desperation.
    “It’s okay, Anna,” he consoles me, “we’ll figure this out. So you can lift the pencil, but you can’t control it.…”
    Rei turns the power strip on with his foot, and while he waits for the computer to power up, he gives me menial tasks to perform. Can I move that book? No, I can’t. Can I move this piece of paper? Yes, I can. He seems to be looking for a magical weight limit I can lift metaphysically, and I hate to burst his bubble, but I don’t think it’s consistent. I can manipulate these objects around him just because I’m fueling off his energy. Rei seems to vibrate at a much higher frequency than most people I know, probably because of all the meditation he does in his secret lair. At my house, my parents and Taylor have such a negative effect on me, it’s like draining juice through a straw. I don’t think I could lift that pen at my house.
    The computer is up, and Rei selects the word processing icon. The screen comes up as a blank document. “Can you type?”
    He starts wheeling his chair back to give me access to the keyboard, but then he stops and looks at me curiously. “Can you just move right through me?”
    Who knows? I reach my hand toward his to see if he feels solid like Taylor, or if he’s like an inanimate object I can slide right through if I choose to. He reaches out to meet me halfway, and when our hands touch, he feels solid and secure, like an anchor to keep me from drifting away.
    “That is so cool! It’s like you’re vibrating.” I watch him stare in childlike fascination at my hand resting in his. As his fingers curl naturally around mine, they sink right through my hand into a loose fist. “That’s weird.” He sounds disappointed. “But you can’t put your hand through mine.”
    I shake my head.
    “Weird. So,” Rei leans back in his chair, “back to the big question. Can you type?”
    I stoke myself up on Rei’s energy before I move my fingers helter-skelter on the keyboard … lkdjg oerufj
    Yes, I can type.
    “Good! That’ll make things easier. Now start at the beginning and tell me everything that happened from the time I dropped you off yesterday afternoon.”
    I tap into quite a bit of Rei’s energy in order to type the entire story, but he doesn’t seem to miss it. He leans forward, reading as I type, interrupting me with questions. When I’m done, he sits back with that worried look on his face.
    “I should have been there with him. At least I could vouch he’s innocent.”
    If I can just get back into my body, I