I woke in the middle of the night. It wasn’t that I had been particularly startled awake, or jostled awake. There was really no reason for me to wake, but I woke on my own accord and knew that I was about to receive vital information. When you lived in a house with a mother who was a self-proclaimed psychic/fortune teller/all seeing eye and surrounded by family with various uncanny abilities, when you wake in the middle of the night, sometimes you just know things. And sometimes you just can’t explain it.
I pushed back the blankets on my bed and lowered my bare feet to the floor. The wood floors of my room were ice cold, but so was the rest of the house. I pushed myself into a standing position and wrapped my arms around myself to conserve body heat.
I padded down the hall in the darkness, past my mothers room which was down the hall from my room. Her room was dark, and the sound of her soft snores emanated from within. She was asleep, which meant that whatever I was going to see, or be told, I would have to go through this alone.
I let my senses guide me down the narrow hall to the top of the stairs. When I reached the top step, I noticed the light coming from downstairs. It wasn’t an artificial light; like a lamp or an overhead light. The light flickered, which meant the light was a flame from a candle or something else. I wondered for a brief second if the house was on fire, but there was a distinct lack of smoke. And I wasn’t afraid. Whatever was happening, I knew I was going to be safe.
I descended the stairs and when I reached the bottom, I realized that the light wasn’t actually a light at all. The house was still in pitch darkness, but a fire had been lit in the fire place in the living room. The glow of the fire lit up the living room as well as most of the hall. In the dim light, I saw her.
Sitting in an old wing-backed arm chair was an elderly woman, with long flowing gray and white streaked hair. Her hair hung loose around her shoulders, flowing in soft, waving curls around her nightgown clad shoulders.
A smile crossed my face immediately as the familiar scent of lavender and vanilla wafted through the house to reach my senses. I shut my eyes and savored the memories the smell triggered.
“Grandma!” I said cheerily, quickly moving around the sofa. I dropped to my knees in front of her on the carpet. The room was still cold around me, despite the heat from the fire.
Grandma Arden smiled warmly at me, looking radiant and peaceful as she did when she was alive. Grandma had passed away before I was in high school, but with my gifts of premonitions and the ability to see the occasional ghost, it truly felt like my grandmother was always there. My mother would often see her. Grandma tended to make an appearance in our lives when she needed to tell us something, or wanted to make her presence known.
Grandma Arden peered down at me with beautiful blue eyes. “Hello, my sweet child.”
“Grandma, it’s so good to see you.” I smiled. “I’ve missed you.”
It had been nearly a year since I had seen her. The last time she came to visit, she sat on my bed long enough to tell me that my college acceptance had been delayed, but I would be getting into all of the colleges I’d applied to. She wanted me not to worry, and she wanted to tell me that she knew I would do well.
“I’ve missed you too, my sweet, sweet Harper.” She beamed down at me. “You’re more beautiful every time I see you.” She reached out and laid a soft, wrinkled hand against my hair. I felt her touch, but I wasn’t sure if the feeling was real or if it was just a memory.
Had my grandmother still been alive, she would have been nearly a hundred and ten years old. She had been a tough and stubborn woman when she was alive, living to a hundred years of age before she passed away peacefully. But not before promising she would visit.
I felt myself blush.
“Harper…” She said, suddenly her voice was grave and even with purpose. “I cannot stay long. I have something to tell you.”
I nodded slowly. “Tell me, Grandma Arden. What do I need to know?”
She held out her hands and pushed them toward me. I noticed at last that her faded deck of tarot cards were stacked in her hands. I could have recognized them anywhere. They had been left to me, but they stayed in my mother’s office for safe-keeping. They meant everything to me, and when I held them in my hands I felt the immense amount of power the cards held. I was often afraid to use them for fear of being unable to harness that great amount of power.
“Draw a card, my Harper.” She urged.
I reached out with a sure hand and turned over the top card, laying the card on top of the deck. I knew the card immediately. It was the two of cups, and the card was upright.
I pursed my lips tightly.
My mother had taught me to read tarot cards when I was a child, among other parlor tricks that went along with my gifts. I rarely used these tricks, but my mother used them to make a living at her psychic studio in the front of our house.
“The two of cups. You know what that means.” Grandma said.
I nodded slowly.
“You’re going to meet someone. You’re going to fall in love, Harper.” Grandma said softly, her voice portraying the wisdom and sureness of her years.
“He will be opposite to you in many ways, Harper. But you both will mutually fall in love. He will not be so open to your gifts in the start, but he will learn to love and respect what you can do. You need to open up and let him in, Harper. He will teach you a lot of things. Things you didn’t know you were missing until he brings them into your life. But above all, he will make you happy. But you need to let him make you happy.” Grandma concluded with a smile.
I drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
Grandma seemed to know exactly what I was about to say, and smiled. “Don’t make excuses, Harper. You know I’m right. You have shut out people for far too long. You need to let someone in. You have to let people love you, and cherish you for the beautiful and wise person that you are.”
I smiled. “Thank you, Grandma Arden. I am so glad you have come to see me. And warn me.” I added with a smile.
Grandma Arden laughed softly. “It’s not a warning, sweet child. It’s a wake up call. It’s a call for you to smarten up and start dating boys your own age.” Grandma winked at me. “At your age I was engaged to your grandfather.”
I smiled. “Thank you, Grandma.”
I could sense that Grandma Arden’s time was limited. Her aura and presence were fading, which meant it was time for her to go.
“Grandma, I love you. Please visit again soon.” I said gently.
Grandma smiled, her form starting to fade more noticeably. “I love you too, my sweet Harper. Heed my advice, you know I’m right.”
I blinked my eyes and within seconds, Grandma Arden was gone. The chair she had occupied was now empty.
I sighed to myself and pushed myself to my feet. The energy in the house had subsided, and I was now alone. I could hear my mother still softly snoring upstairs. I turned off the electric fire place and walked through the dark house to my still warm bed.
As I crawled beneath the covers, I noticed a card on my nightstand that hadn’t been there before. Grandma Arden’s tarot deck was still in my mother’s office. But the two of cups was sitting upright on my nightstand. A gentle reminder from my grandmother.