Got a summer job working with children. I have stories for days.

We are all just playing chess. On a roller coaster. In a hurricane. I don’t know what your plan is, but I want to enjoy as much of the ride as possible. Even if I lose a few pieces off the chess board, I guess it doesn’t matter as long as I can use my brain.

It is one of the few places in the world that can be truly silent. There I have traveled in the middle of the night, eyes cast upward to the sky, heart empty and aching, and felt the embrace of the world.

For years after AMDA, I struggled to accept my decision. I had turned my back on a city that I loved, people that I had formed a beautiful bond with, and a dream I had nurtured throughout my childhood. Surrounded by the Midwest and all that entails, I saw beauty in nothing, and no matter what I took into my body I never felt fulfilled.

Abigale Walters had been found in the morning by her young nieces and nephews on the couch. They couldn’t wake her, so they called their mother who called 911. When responders arrived, they couldn’t find a pulse. CPR was performed for over two minutes before bringing her back. They did not know how long she had gone without breathing.

For weeks I had been riding a lifeboat in a raging sea of panic, joy, anticipation, and self-doubt as I prepared to attend a writers conference. To non-writers that may seem kind of weak. But the first conference is like stepping onto a stage for the very first time only instead of your looks and performance being judged, it’s your mind.

A few months ago, I drove by their old place and noticed with a pang of shock that their house had been torn down. It is now just an empty lot, full of space and memories.

When the movie Paranormal Activity came out, we named our ghost Toby. Naming it seemed to give it new energy. That’s what my husband said, anyway. The strange happenings became more frequent…

There is hardly a person who can’t claim to have experienced something that seemed supernatural. Even the hardest sceptic can have difficulty explaining away certain occurrences.

I breathed in the scent of her, the peace and vibrancy of her spirit. I had a powerful feeling then, so strong that it echoes in me still, and I know I’ll always come back to this one perfect day. I thought, “This is exactly what heaven is like.”