A Message Out of the Darkness

One night, I dreamed I was in a room or space that was in total darkness when suddenly something appeared to swing towards me and pop me in the middle of my forehead. It appeared to be one inch long, with nothing above it and nothing below it. I heard myself ask, “What was that?” Then then the phone rang and woke me.

My husband, who had been downstairs watching television, called to me upstairs and said that my dad was on the phone. I groggily answered the phone, and my dad told me that my young 18-year-old cousin had hung himself in my aunt’s basement.

About a month earlier, my dad and I had visited his sister and other family members, preparing for the funeral of my 10-year-old female cousin, who had been killed at home accidentally two doors down from my aunt, at her daughter’s house. It was at this family gathering that I saw my 18-year-old, red hair, freckle faced, handsome cousin.

He was just a baby the last time I had seen him, and he appeared to be depressed. He told me he had lost most of his friends to gang violence and didn’t know what he was going to do after he graduated from high school. We talked for a few more minutes before my father and I said our goodbyes and left. That was the last time I saw him.