Call me crazy, but I kept the job at the kiosk.

It was fun, I was performing a service… and I just love people. What can I say?

On a rather slow afternoon, two men around nineteen or twenty years old, approached the kiosk.

“So how does this work?” asked the younger of the two, who was wearing a kick ass pair of cowboy boots.

“Well, you have to take off your boots and your belt.” I replied, “Then you lay on your stomach as I close the top, but your head is outside of the water massage machine. I give you a headset and you listen to music. The water massages you from your neck to your toes while the machine’s lining keeps you from getting wet.”

“Okay, I want to do it!” He said, “Give me forty minutes.”

He paid and began taking off his boots and belt. After he climbed in, I handed him the headset and set the water massage for forty minutes.

I turned to his friend.
“What’s your name?” I asked.

“Dave.” He replied.

“I’m Erin, Dave. Do you want a massage too? You can get in the other machine. Forty minutes is a long time to wait.”

“No, I’ll wait.” He replied, “I’m very claustrophobic.”

“We actually have a lot of people who are claustrophobic try it. It’s really not as scary as it looks.” I said.

“Ma’am, you don’t understand. I removed all the doors in my apartment and I had to lower the shower curtain rod in my bathroom a quarter of the way down.” Dave confessed.

“Wow, that’s really claustrophobic!” I agreed.

“I never talk about it.” Dave said, “My best friend Ben, here (Pointing to his friend in the massage machine) is the only one that knows.”

“Who knows what?” I asked.

Dave paused, “I feel that I can tell you. You have a light.”

“A light?” I repeated.

“I see dead people.” He continued, “My friend Ben is the only one that I told. Well, besides you, now.”

“One night, Ben and I were driving on a road that had fields on both sides… we were on our way to Taco Bell… anyway, I knew that someone was there.”

“Where?” I asked.

“In the car with us.” Dave said, “I looked in the rear view mirror and I saw the spirit of a girl in the back seat. That’s when I told Ben. I had to, he was with me but he couldn’t see her.”

“You have a gift.” I said, “But I bet it also seems like a curse.”

“You have no idea.” Dave replied. “I felt that the spirit of the girl that I had seen, died in a car accident. Ben and I looked it up and sure enough, she died on that road.”

“That’s quite a story.” I said, “I believe you. You shouldn’t be afraid to talk about it.”

“Ma’am, you have a strong light. That’s why I knew that I could tell you, but I never tell anyone. I tried to tell my father when I was little and he ended up putting me in a mental hospital.”

“Why did your father put you in a mental hospital?” I asked.

“Well, my family bought a new house. I was only seven at the time. When my father took us to see it, I tried to tell him that there were spirits there…  that someone had died in the house. He called me crazy and we moved in any way.”

“So, what happened?” I asked.

“It got worse from there. I heard noises, slamming doors, I saw spirits, I couldn’t sleep and I was afraid to go into the kitchen.” Dave said.

“That must have been so frightening for a small boy.” I stated.

“It was.

It was also the reason that my father put me in a mental hospital. They told me that I was crazy.”

“Then one day, my father hired some contractors to put in a new kitchen floor. They showed up early in the morning and started pulling up the old tiles. My mother and father left to go to the grocery store. When they returned the contractors weren’t there but they left their tools all over the backyard.”

“What happened?” I asked.

“My father called the floor guy up and asked him the same question.” Dave said.

“What did he say?” I asked, feeling like I already knew the answer.

“He told my father that he wasn’t going to do the job… to get someone else… that they heard screaming coming from the house when they started pulling up the tiles in the kitchen… he told him that his house was haunted… he’d send someone to get the tools and he hung up.”

“After that my mother and father got me out of the mental hospital. We eventually sold that house and my father apologized to me. He also told me never to speak of any of it again. So I don’t, but I see spirits and now sometimes I hear them. I removed all my doors so none of the doors would open or close for no reason. I lowered the shower curtain because I’m never alone and I like to see who else is in the room. I don’t know what else to do.”

“Dave, you have a gift, you need to connect with other people who share your gift so you can learn how to manage it and use it for good in this world. It’s possible. There are plenty of Mediums who can connect with spirit and use it to bring their loved ones closure or to help the police solve crimes.” I said.

“Thank you, Erin.” Dave said, “I’m glad that I met you today.”

“Maybe, it was just meant to be Dave.” I replied.

Forty minutes had passed and the water massage machine ended its cycle.

Dave and I sat in silence as Ben put his boots and belt back on.

“That was freakin AMAZING! I feel GREAT!” Ben exclaimed.

Before we parted ways, Dave gave me a big hug and thanked me again.

I felt great too.

Coming up,

Part 3: Tales From The Mall Kiosk, Are There Angels Among Us?