slew of words

Let’s paint the picture- it was a cold, rainy Vermont day in November when Maddie invited me and our friend over to her childhood home. Given that we had spent the entire Saturday cooped up in our rooms procrastinating, a change of scenery sounded refreshing. We picked up Al’s French Fries on the way to South Burlington and ate them while sitting at her kitchen counter fighting off her dog from snagging a bite.

While girl talk with her mom was always fun and could last for hours, it quickly reverted into well what do you guys want to do?

Her father, looking to stir up some entertainment for the night, suggested we play with their Ouija board. Maddie quickly agreed, taking a moment to convince our friend who seemed a bit hesitant, as I just casually went with it, knowing nothing about the “game.”

Next thing I knew, all the lights were turned off in their upstairs loft and her father had set up battery-operated candles all around the room. The scenery would probably be a little off-putting to someone who knew what they were getting themselves into… and that wasn’t me.

To set the mood, we all exchanged stories of unexplained, paranormal forces before placing our fingers on the planchette and opening our first communication. Our sessions went slowly at first as we got the hang of what to say and what types of questions to ask. None of us were convinced anything serious was happening (perhaps just our subconscious providing responses to yes or no questions), so we took a break to choose a stronger approach.

Our friend began telling us of her father’s best friend who had passed away in the last year and that she knew enough information about to ask more detailed questions. This was enough to convince us- we got ready for our next attempt and she began speaking.

We did our due diligence, introducing ourselves as harmless but curious and asking if we would be able to speak to her father’s friend directly. When the planchette moved to yes, our friend took over the conversation as Maddie and I drove the board.

“What was your favorite baseball team?”

Y – A – N – K – E – E – S

“Where did you spend your summers?”

F – L – O – R – I – D – A

“What was your religious affiliation?”

J-E-W-I-S-H

“Do you know how much my father misses you?”

YES

Our friend began to tear up and we knew we needed to close the session. Maddie thanked the spirit for speaking with us as our friend began to shake. It had worked- there was no possible way Maddie and I had known the answers to those questions beforehand. The only other explanation could have been something equally as unlikely, telepathy, so we were all convinced this was the real deal.

Now we knew the characteristics of a successful communication, so Maddie suggested we try to replicate the effects by just going in and asking to speak with someone- a spirit stranger.

We all took a few deep breaths and placed our fingers back on the planchette. Maddie took over again and recited the same speech she had before.

“Are we speaking to someone?”

YES

“Can we ask you some questions?”

YES

“What is your name?”

*The planchette began moving what seemed like aimlessly for a few seconds*

Z-O-Z-O-Z-O-Z-O

“Is your name Zo?”

YES

Without us asking another question, the planchette began to move randomly again, across the board and back. It would go to the corners of the alphabet, then across, then back, but would not spell out any coherent words. Maddie looked at us and we made a motion to close the session as it seemed our approach would not work after all. She thanked “Zo” for speaking with us and moved to GOODBYE.

At this point, it seemed like the most successful attempt we had was with someone we had known personally and we had run out of options. We began to put away the board and turn on the actual lights when Maddie’s boyfriend arrived.

He had just gotten off his shift at work and wanted to hang out with us, so we filled him in on our night of using the Ouija board- including the final try that seemed to result in gibberish.

Us girls began talking about perhaps watching a movie, or having a sleepover, while her boyfriend sat in an armchair looking at his phone.

All of a sudden, he made an audible gasping noise.

“What?” Maddie asked.

“You don’t want to know…” he responded.

But of course, no one can say that without the entire room becoming extremely curious. Maddie leaned over his shoulder to read his screen and her face went white.

“Guys…” she whispered.

Our other friend and I made eye contact as we wracked our brains for what they could possibly be reading.

“Look…” Maddie said as she passed the cell phone in our direction.

The article was about the Ouija board, proper uses, and how to communicate efficiently. But in a bright, bold subheading were the words, “Zozo: the Ouija Board Demon.”

Our friend began freaking out and refusing to read the article as I skimmed through the paragraph. This was apparently the most common and most evil spirit that can be encountered when using the board- and we had just met it. Multiple stories were listed about possessions taking place or unexplained phenomena occurring when communicating with Zozo.

It also said the sign that the session with Zozo was about to take a turn for the worst was when it began moving in an infinity symbol… This was when we realized, the planchette had not been moving aimlessly, it was moving in a figure eight…

We all made eye contact as we came to the scariest realization of all. None of us had ever heard of Zozo- so the theory that all players subconsciously move the planchette to what they are thinking of had been thrown out the window. This had been an actual paranormal encounter.

“We can’t stay here tonight,” our friend exclaimed. And for once, we were all in agreement. The four of us were shaken up- did we get off easy? Or was the worst yet to come?

Maddie jumped in her boyfriend’s car as I hopped in our friend’s car with her. We agreed to meet back at our sorority house, where the three of us lived at the time and Maddie’s boyfriend was an honorary resident. Our friend had recently injured her foot, and since Maddie had driven the car on the way over, that meant I had to be the driver of a car I was not accustomed to.

We tried turning on the radio to distract our minds from terrifying thoughts, but my nails were digging into my palm around the steering wheel. The rain had picked up and I was trying my best to navigate as I could only see a few yards in front of the vehicle.

Finally Main Street was in sight and we could be home free. The only thing on my mind was getting back to “safety” when I saw flashing blue lights following the car. My heart began to pound out of my chest as I pulled over.

An officer walked beside the window as I rolled it down a crack.

“Do you know you were speeding back there?” he asked, seemingly irritated.

“Sir, I know this is going to sound crazy… but we just got done playing with a Ouija board and I was just so scared I wanted to be home… I’m sorry,” I blurted out.

Rightfully so, the officer was thrown off.

“Uh… okay… well… can I get your license and registration?” he responded.

The two of us fumbled around in the car to give the man what he needed. It seemed like hours passed as he ran the information and I knew I was on the brink of tears.

“Here you go, ladies. I’m going to let you off with a warning this time… but watch your speed, Ouija boards are no excuse to drive unsafely,” he warned us.

I apologized and agreed and drove off.

Our bad luck with Zozo is happening… I thought.

That night, I kept the lights on in my room and did not sleep a wink. I waited until Maddie’s work alarm went off and the sun came up before I finally dozed off. For some reason, Zozo had let us get through the night terror free.

And actually, Zozo lets us get through life terror free. There were no flickering lights, no out-of-body experiences, no takeovers.

Instead, ever since that very night, the door to our room (which was so old, that every time it shut you would have to ram your hip into the side of it to get it to unstick from the frame) would casually open up on its own.

I liked to think it was Zozo, our new friend, letting itself in.