Juki lived alone in a big city. Her husband died a year ago and her only son had disappeared twenty years ago. Her son was twelve at that time. The police searched everywhere but they couldn’t find her son. Some said that her son had ran away from their home. Juki did not believe this. She and her son had a special bond. He did not have any reason to do that. Others said he must have been kidnapped. Juki couldn’t believe this either. Her family lived a simple life and nobody had any incentive to kidnap her son. A part of her believed that her son was still alive and he would come back to her.
One day when she was walking in the park, a stranger approached her.

“Are you Juki?” the stranger asked. Juki nodded.

“I know what happened to your son.” the woman said.

Juki was shocked to hear this. She struggled for words.

“What happened to him? Where is he? Is he alright?” Juki asked.

“Your son asked me to contact you. I cannot say anything more here. Can I talk to you in private? At your home perhaps?” asked the woman.

Juki agreed. They decided to meet the following evening. Juki couldn’t sleep well that night. She kept thinking about her son and the woman that approached her. The following morning the stranger from the park came to Juki’s house at the appointed time.

“Thank you for having me. I am a psychic. Your son contacted me from the spirit world.” said the psychic.

Juki looked confused. The psychic told her that she had mystical powers and she can speak of ghosts of dead people. A part of Juki always felt that her son might be dead. Hearing that from a stranger brought tears to her eyes.

“Juki please don’t cry. Your son doesn’t want you to mourn anymore for his demise. He knows that you have lived in pain for the last ten years. He wants to give you closure.” said the psychic.

“Can you tell me what happened to him?”asked Juki

“I cannot ask questions to spirits. They tell me what they want to tell me. I repeat that to whoever they want to.” replied the psychic.

“What else did he say?” asked Juki.

“Your son says that he loves you. He misses you.” replied the psychic.

“Can you tell him that I love him too and I miss him too.” asked Juki.

“I don’t need to do that. He knows what is in your heart. He knows you love him and miss him.” said the psychic.

Juki fell silent. The psychic examined the house and her eyes rested on a picture. She turned to Juki.

“He also misses his dog.” said the psychic.

Juki looked at the pictures on the shelves. She pointed to one with her son, herself and a dog.

“We had that dog when he was young. It unfortunately died a few years before Cido went missing.” said Juki.

Juki remembered that her son was not affectionate with the dog. She couldn’t understand why her son would miss a dog that died before him. She began to recollect that it was she who looked after the dog and played with it most of the time. She laid her thoughts to rest and began to focus on the visitor. She decided to lay down all the questions that were troubling her.

“What happened to my son? How did he die? Where did he die?” asked Juki.

“Unfortunately, I have to leave now. My powers have drained after talking to your son’s spirit. They are much more powerful on new moon days. I will come back again.” said the psychic.

Juki welcomed that idea. Before leaving the psychic asked Juki to give her some money. She explained that spirit rituals required a long list of items and she would get them. Juki gave her enough money to buy items for ten rituals. The psychic left with a big smile on her face.

The following new moon day the psychic visited Juki. They lit several candles, lamps and incense around the room.

“We need to bring your son’s spirit. We need to talk a lot about him. Tell me about the best time you both had.”

Juki told her about the time they went on vacation to the beach. After that her son pestered her to take him to the beach several times. Unfortunately he went missing before they could go to the beach again. Juki lost track of time talking about those happy moments.

“Your son’s spirit is here. He says he remembers the trip to the beach like it was yesterday.” said the psychic. “He wants to hear you talk about other good times you both had together.”

Juki told her about the birthdays, the sports and games, the school plays and the girl her son liked the most. When Juki was done they realized that it was too late into the night.

“We should end this session. Your son’s spirit is leaving. It has stayed too long with us. We will continue again another day.” said the psychic.

Juki was also tired and felt a little better talking about her son with his spirit and the psychic. She slept well after a long time.
In the days that followed, the psychic visited Juki a number of times. Juki told the psychic everything she remembered about her son. Juki gave the psychic large sums of money for arranging various spirit rituals. She cooked sumptuous dinners for her son’s spirit and fed them to the psychic. Juki bought expensive clothes and accessories for her son’s spirit and the psychic took them with her. Every visit from the psychic cost Juki more than the last one.

Juki did all that the psychic asked with joy. She was finally happy that she was able to communicate to her son (or his spirit) after all these years. Juki told a friend of hers about the meetings with the psychic. The friend was initially relieved to see that Juki was happy after all these days. Then, Juki asked the friend for some money. The friend was aware of Juki's financial situation and was surprised to hear that request. Juki told him about how the spirit rituals with the psychic are costing her a lot of money. The friend loaned Juki the money on the condition that he would accompany her on one of the spirit rituals with the psychic.

Juki’s friend attended a spirit ritual with Juki. It did not take him long to realize that the psychic did not know anything about Juki’s son. He concluded the psychic’s claims of talking with ghosts must all be a lie. He told Juki about his suspicions and promised her that he will prove the truth to her soon. He thought of a plan and shared it with Juki.
A few days later, the psychic came to Juki’s house for a spirit ritual. When they were half way into it, they heard a knock on the door. Juki opened the door. Her friend was at the door along with a young man. They both entered the house. The young man looked at Juki with tears in his eyes.

“Mother, I am Cido. I am your son.” said the young man.

Juki and the psychic were stunned to hear this. The young man did not wait for any questions.

“That day I went missing, I fell into the river one day. The current took me to a faraway village. I was hurt badly. I couldn’t remember anything. I stayed in the village. I was taken care of by a good couple. I grew up there and became a police officer. One day a friend showed me a picture of a lost person and told me it looked a lot like me. After reading the case I began to recollect all that happened to me. I have been searching for you since that time. This man here helped me find you.” finished Cido.

The psychic was looking confused after hearing this. Cido noticed her for the first time.

“Mother, who is your friend here?” he asked.

“She...She is a psychic. She told me my son is dead. She told me you are dead. She said your spirit was talking to her. I don’t understand anything.” replied Juki.

Cido burst in anger.

“Who are you? Why did you tell my mother that I am dead? Are you after her money?” Cido asked.

All these accusations made the psychic uncomfortable.

“He is the liar. Listen to me Juki. Your son’s spirit is telling me that this man is an imposter. Do not believe him.” pleaded the psychic.

“The spirit hasn’t told me anything about what happened to my son. It hasn’t told me anything that I don’t know already. I am starting to have doubts.” said Juki.

The psychic was scared. Juki’s friend whispered something in Juki’s ear.

“I will do it.” murmured Juki.

She went into another room and brought a couple of books in her hand. She laid them on the table. One of them said “Philosopher’s stone” and the other said “Chamber of secrets”. The books looked very old.

“One of these was Cido’s favorite book when he was young. Whoever identifies that is speaking the truth” said Juki.

Cido smirked when he looked at the books. The psychic began to sweat. Juki and others can see that the psychic was not comfortable with the interrogation. Yet she boldly came forward and blindly lifted one of the books.
“This.” she said “’Chamber of secrets’ is your son’s favorite book. His spirit lifted it through my hands.”

Juki looked at Cido and asked, “Do you recollect which is your favorite book?”
“Actually, I had not read either of these books. So neither of them are my favorite.” he concluded.

Juki nodded. “Cido is right. He has not read either of these books. Who are you? Why are you lying to me?” she asked the psychic.

“Mother don’t waste your time and energy on her. She is a crook. I know these kinds of people. I will have her arrested and locked up in prison forever.” said Cido.

“I must have made a mistake. The spirit might not have said his mother’s name correctly. You see there are a lot of complications when talking with the spirit world. I must have misinterpreted something. I will leave.” said the psychic.

Juki’s friend interrupted. “I think if the spirit was not Cido’s he wouldn’t want to keep the money and gifts you took from Juki. Cido and I will come with you to your home. You must return everything you took from Juki.” he said.

“I cannot do that. I don’t have all the money and gifts with me.” said the psychic.

Cido threatened her again with an arrest warrant. The psychic agreed to compensate them with whatever she had. Cido collected the money and gifts that the psychic took from Juki and returned to her. Juki thanked her friend for all the help.

Juki was a bit sad that she still did not know what happened to her son. But she was grateful to her friend and the young police officer who saved her from losing everything she had.

© spacebar