rattle rattle rattle
we waited for a dark and stormy night to trespass
a little shed behind overgrown brush
passed every day on the way to work
turned out to be a tiny house
lightning served as our flashlight
kudzu blocked every window and door
we leaned onto the vines and broke through
inside the air was still
belying the wind whistling past
rattle rattle rattle
hush i whisper-screamed
it wasn’t me
rattle rattle rattle
i swear to zeus it wasn’t me
it had to be
frantic voice his
frantic voice mine
rattle rattle rattle
footsteps his
footsteps mine
centered in the room
waiting for lightning
listening
rattle rattle rattle
directly under us
curiosity stronger than fear
lightning startled
tension ignited
jumping back
a board flipped up
he’d found a hiding place
throwing the board aside
peering through the dark
lightning showed us bones
we gasped
we hopped up
bones
whose bones
why bones
why bones here
we have to tell the police
he snatched me back
we’ll have to confess to trespassing
yes we will
let’s go
wait
is there another way
rattle rattle rattle
no
i dragged him to the police station
we confessed
we professed
statements were made
suspicions aroused
dawn
weary of inquisition
rattle rattle rattle
you hear that sarge
i’m going to say no
come on did you hear that
i’m not going to say no
im not going to say yes
they took us in separate cars
to the tiny house reclaimed by nature
broken kudzu corroborated our story
the opening in the center of the room
looking down at the bones
we see now that they are child size
we are hustled out and returned to the station
where we await news and consequences
together in a small interrogation room
hours pass
lunch is brought
more hours pass
sarge returns
you guys can go
we go
unfulfilled
such a mystery
will they tell us
two days pass
sarge calls us
please come to the station
we come
sit in sarge’s dark crowded office
he shows us a photo of a blonde girl maybe 5
you found her bones
missing 5 years
a year missing for each one alive
rattle rattle rattle
i didn’t hear that
sarge says
we did
on the way home we talk to her
rattle rattle rattle
you’re welcome
Aubrey Ellis grew up learning to control the physically ravaging and emotionally draining interactions with ghosts who insist upon her assistance, ghosts who always leave tangible evidence of the encounter. As an adult, she’s settled into a position as a real estate columnist that gives her the opportunity to connect with and aid those who have passed on to continue their journey without too much damage to herself. Then she’s sucked into a decades old unsolved murder after new evidence emerges. Her reluctant partnership with fellow journalist Levi St. John takes her in new and unexpected directions, personally and professionally, and she comes fully into herself.