Footsies With Tootsie
Part I
Laura DeHart Young
The room was dark except for the candle. On her right, she held the sweaty hand of Cheryl who was also playing footsies underneath the table. On her left, there was Tina who was squeezing her hand like a tourniquet. She hoped that amputation wouldn’t be necessary by the end of the séance.
“Jeanne, darling,” Cheryl whispered in her ear. “Whose aunt are we calling back from the dead?”
“Susan’s. Her aunt was a paranormal and taught her all this stuff.”
“We are gathered here tonight,” Susan began solemnly, “to call back the spirit of my dear Aunt Tootsie who recently departed this world. Aunt Tootsie was also a lesbian and promised me that if I contacted her spirit, she would tell me what lesbian heaven was like. Let us have silence, please.”
“Lesbian heaven,” Cheryl whispered so closely that her lips grazed Jeanne’s ear. “Why that’s sitting next to you, darling.”
Part II
Peggy J. Herring
Jeanne rolled her eyes and tried to concentrate on what was happening. She gave Tina’s hand a reassuring squeeze and focused on Susan’s voice.
“Aunt Tootsie? Are you here with us?”
There was complete silence, but the candle in the center of the table began to flicker as if a gentle breeze were nudging it. Jeanne looked across the table at Susan who had her eyes closed. Tina, on the other hand, was wide-eyed and looked as though she might bolt at any second. Cheryl’s eyes were open and the smirk on her face told Jeanne that she wasn’t the least bit interested in Aunt Tootsie. Cheryl had taken off her shoe and now had her cool, bare foot running up and down Jeanne’s shin.
“Aunt Tootsie,” Susan said quietly. “Is there a lesbian heaven? Give us a sign if there is.”
Jeanne watched as the flame from the candle began to slowly lean away from her as if someone behind her were blowing on it. Jeanne, however, didn’t feel any air moving around her. The flame suddenly went out, filling the room with darkness. Then almost as quickly, it was back and lit the immediate area as though it had never gone out at all.
There was a gasp from everyone at the table. Cheryl was no longer smirking.
Part III
Therese Szymanski
“Oh, Aunt Tootsie,” Susan barely whispered, her eyes wide, “please let us less enlightened beings know what it is like there.”
The candle again flickered, and then the room seemed to grow warmer. The women all looked around at each other, even as perspiration began to break out on their foreheads.
“I beckon you dear Aunt, tell us.”
Jeanne became aware of Cheryl’s gaze on her, and she turned to find the other woman looking at her hungrily, and suddenly, it was as if the flame on the table ignited itself within Jeanne. Slowly, she dropped Tina’s hand, even as Cheryl’s naked foot further caressed her leg.
“Don’t lose the circle!” Susan warned, as everyone dropped hands, all but lunging for whomever sat next to them, but she soon silenced under the strength of Tina’s lips on hers.
As Jeanne reached for Cheryl, pulling the woman’s hands onto her, another coupling couple tumbled to the floor, taking the tablecloth with them.
“Oh no!” Susan cried, “now we’ll never know!”
But the candle landed on its base, and the flame grew, and Jeanne was on her back with Cheryl on top of her…
…and then the candle went out.