Miscellaneous Writings

Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board

Michelle invited three of us to her house for a sleepover. I was the last one to arrive and pizza had just been delivered when I got there. After her parents set everything out we dove into the pepperoni pizza and soda.

When we finished eating and threw away our trash Michelle's brother left to go to his friend's house. Her parents also left for an evening with their friends bowling. Anyway, that left the house to just us girls for a while.

Michelle set up the game in her brother's room. The event included a strobe light and a radio. We turned on the radio and strobe light and turned off the overhead light. The game went like this: One person laid down on the floor, one of us on either side of that person with two fingers placed underneath them and the last person at their feet with just two fingers placed under each foot.

Then Michelle, who was on the right side of "the body" began to speak as if she were conducting a funeral and very quietly. At one point she began to chant, "light as a feather, stiff as a board". She said the chant, then I said the chant, then the foot person said it. Then we all began chanting it together, "light as a feather, stiff as a board."

It wasn't long before "the body" began to rise into the air. The strobe light flashed slowly at first then fast, faster then slow again, then fast but it wasn't following any kind of pattern like it should have. The radio kept getting louder and louder. "The body" was almost as high as our shoulders. I couldn't take any more and started screaming. I grabbed a hold of my friend and she wound up dragging me to the door to turn on the light because she couldn't move my fingers let alone my hands. I was holding on for dear life! Then it all ended. Literally.

The strobe light and the radio both went off just when the light came on. We were all breathing as if we'd just come back from running around the block, and I was crying. I couldn't believe what just happened. How in the world did we lift up our friend up in the air with just twelve fingers?

We got out of that room and closed the door, not bothering to bring the strobe light or radio with us. They just stayed in there. My friend said that they stayed in her brother's room for a week before she attempted to go back into the room and get them.

That was the second to last time I ever played the game. You'd think I would have learned the first time not to mess with spirits, right? Obviously I didn't. Not until after the next time!