The Vision. Linda Blum
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She took advantage of their close proximity and planted her lips on his. Angrily Ren jerked her away.
Judy stood calmly throughout the whole ordeal and assessed the situation. As Sonja began accusing Ren of hitting on her, Judy noticed her lack of eye contact and her ringing hands. She knew by Sonja’s actions that she was lying. From that moment on, Judy didn’t believe Sonja and they stayed clear of her. Whenever they did meet up with her they were civil, yet cautious.
Sonya was soon forgotten when Hope began plying Judy with questions about her Aunt Sally’s visit. Judy didn’t want to discuss this at the restaurant, so she suggested they leave.
Along the drive, Judy explained what had happened. She expressed her frustration that Sally wouldn’t help her. A silent interlude formed between them and remained until they entered Hope’s apartment.
“Do you want something to drink?” she asked Judy while hanging up their coats.
“Yes please.”
Hope checked her answering machine in passing, noticed there were no messages and then continued on towards the kitchen, while Judy headed to the living room and slumped down on the sofa. Hope soon returned with a cup of steaming liquid.
“Here you go,” Hope said as she handed her the mug.
Judy wrinkled her nose at the awful smell. “What is this?”
“Valerian tea.”
“It smells like stinky feet,” she said holding the cup away from her.
“It’s supposed to help calm your nerves plus induce sleep,” Hope reassured. “I thought you could use that right now.”
“I think an alcoholic drink would work wonders compared to this tea,” Judy replied plugging her nose.
“Don’t be such a baby, just drink it,” Hope chided.
“How in heavens name am I supposed to drink something that smells so terrible?” she whined.
“Don’t breathe in when you take a sip,” she said.
Judy gave her a doubtful look as she brought the cup to her lips. She made a face expecting the tea to taste as bad as it smelt, but was pleasantly surprised to find the flavour wasn’t that unpleasant.
“See,” Hope remarked. “I told you it wasn’t that bad.”
Judy sipped her tea while Hope chatted.
“Are you going to go to the police?” she questioned.
Judy almost choked on her tea. “What pray tell am I supposed to say? My dead aunt told me my dreams are revealing my mother’s murderer, so I want the case reopened.”
“I see your problem.”
“I really don’t have much to go on right now, besides a woman with green eyes,” she sighed.
“We should make a list of all the people we know with green eyes,” Hope suggested.
“Let’s not,” Judy said.
Hope looked crushed. “I just want to help.”
Judy reached over and took Hope’s hand in hers. “I appreciate it, but do you know how many women have green eyes. This isn’t as easy as it sounds.”
“I know that,” she replied with renewed excitement. “But we could try.”
Hope grabbed a notepad. With a pen poised in her hand she stared blankly at the page.
“We should ask Ren and your uncle if they remember seeing any green-eyed women,” she said as she started to scribble some notes down. “When a list has been compiled, we can scan over it to see who may have had a motive for murder.”
They both racked their brains trying to remember people from fifteen years ago. This was a difficult task, especially for someone like Judy who didn’t pay attention at the best of times. Hope, on the other hand, was rapping off the names while frantically writing them down. After a while, Judy developed a headache and took that as her cue to leave.
She felt utterly exhausted and went straight to her bedroom when she got home. In the corner of the room was a makeshift tent with two pairs of feet, one little and one big sticking out of the entrance. Beside them was a black tail that was thump, thumping on the floor. She quietly walked past just as Sam emerged. Judy bent down to pet her and was stopped when a nose positioned itself between her legs. She shoved it out of her way to peek inside the tent. Her heart gave a tug when she saw Ren and Jay cuddled close together.
She closed the makeshift door and continued towards the bathroom. Her nose detected a strong scent of roses and her arms filled with goose bumps when she entered. The sensation told her that she had company and a voice in her head confirmed this.
“Hi, Judy.”
The sound of her mother’s voice startled her. In the mirror she noticed tiny white lights around her head as a shivery feeling came over her.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to alarm you,” her mother apologized.
“That’s all right,” Judy replied taking a deep breath to calm her nerves.
Last time her mother came to her was in the hospital just before her death. After that, Judy had called her spirit, but she never showed up. Her appearance after all these years surprised her. Then a thought crossed her mind that maybe it wasn’t her mother. Since she couldn’t see spirits, she never knew whom she was speaking with. Judy decided it might be best to give this one a little test.
“If you are my mother, than what is my favourite meal?”
“Spaghetti and meat balls,” she answered.
“What do I like to eat for dessert?”
“Chocolate cake,” she replied.
“What’s my favourite book?” Judy asked.
When her mother named it she knew it was her.
“Sorry. I had to make sure you were my mother.”
Her mother sighed. “Still as untrusting as ever, I see.”
“Easy for you to say,” Judy replied testily. “At least you can see me.”
Judy’s irritability was causing her mother’s spirit to fade. She tried to get a grip on her emotions, as she didn’t want to lose the connection with her. She was very anxious to speak to her in hopes that she could shed some light on the situation. Just when she was about to ask her some questions, the bathroom door opened and Jay walked in.
“Mommy!” he said sleepily as he hugged her.
Judy pulled him in his arms. “Sweetie it’s late, why don’t you go back to bed?”
“Can you come and cuddle,” he stopped mid sentence. A smile emerged from his lips as he looked past his mother. “Hi, Grandma.”
“Can you see her?” Judy asked astonished.
“Sure she’s right there,” he replied pointing behind her.
Judy’s gaze followed the direction of his finger, but saw nothing. It frustrated her that she could only talk to her mother, as she would love to see her again.
“I think it’s time to say goodnight to your grandmother and go back to bed,” she advised.
“Can you come with me?” Jay asked.
“I want to talk to your grandmother,” Judy replied.
“Why don’t you go with him, I’ll stay right here until you get back,” her mother advised.
Jay asked if she would cuddle with him. Judy was about to say no until he flashed those baby blues of his making her cave. The sounds of snoring could be heard from behind the walls of the tent. With that racket going on, he’d never get any sleep, so Judy steered him to