She isn’t sure where to start, but knows they both like astrology. Maureen wants to write a poem with Nicole, who also gets out the Ouija Board once in a while, especially when she wants to channel her mother or Sylvia Plath. Nicole tells Maureen this collaborative poem could become a Ouija Board since you only need two willing people to move the proverbial planchette. Maureen says, You’re brilliant, Nicole, and off they go, Maureen by the mountains, Nicole by the sea, meeting somewhere in the spirit realm, fearless and ready to speak to the dead. Nicole and Maureen connect to a spirit and ask their name. The spirit identifies as female and calls herself The Light. Pretty name, says Nicole. Are you here to illuminate something for us? The Light says nothing and simply shines bright. Maureen says she has a few questions she would like to ask The Light, starting with what exactly happens when we die. The Light says she can only speak about the light. Nicole laughs and says to Maureen: Must be an Aries — takes herself very seriously. Or maybe a Sagittarius — takes her orders from no one. Maureen agrees that The Light must be a fire sign. She is the light, after all. Nicole (water) and Maureen (air) lift their hands from the Ouija Board, ready to ponder the ineffable dark in their next poem.
Nicole knows a spirit who knows the dark. He identifies as male and his name is Too Dark. Nicole asks Maureen if she would like to meet him. Maureen thinks Too Dark might be fun, like a New Moon or a cellar full of wine. Sure, she says, and the poem continues darkly. Nicole and Maureen turn their hands back to the proverbial planchette and ask Too Dark to join them. Too Dark tells Nicole that he is a bad spirit. Nicole says she knows. Maureen says she loves the dark. What's bad, anyway? (She was kind of hoping Too Dark would have something good to say about the Afterlife, maybe even something comforting.) Nicole, on the other hand, is skeptical (typical Virgo moon), and asks Too Dark: Is there even an Afterlife, or are we all just clinging to illusion? Too Dark says: That's up to you, and Maureen jumps in her car and drives out to Miami to see Nicole, who has jumped in her car and driven out to Colorado to see Maureen. Maureen will make it to Miami and Nicole will make it to Colorado before they learn of each other’s surprise road trips. Maureen will be dancing at Mango’s and Nicole skiing in Loveland when the prophetic words of Too Dark knock them off their feet: There is no end and no beginning. Only now. Enjoy the moment. And they do. Libra on the cusp of sea and Cancer on the cusp of mountain. Loving the dark and the light between them.
