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The house had been empty for as long as she could remember. One day there was a family there , the next day no one, and there was a chain across the driveway. The last few nights she had noticed lights in the windows, more like a flashlight or candle than electric lights, but she hadn't seen any footprints in the snow, or people on the property.

Her mom insisted it was simply her imagination; no one else had seen the flickering lights move past the second floor windows. Once again, it was just Jenny... and she knew that no one would listen to an eight year old girl. No sense telling her mom about last night, how she woke with a feeling of someone (or was it some thing?) urging her to look out her bedroom window. When she pulled back the curtain, she wasn't really that surprised to see a young girl looking back at her from the window across the street. She's even pinched herself to make sure it wasn't a dream; the bruise on her arm was evident in the soft morning light. Today, she knew she had to talk with her grandmother; she was the only one who could help her now.

Jenny ate her breakfast in a hurry and stood at the kitchen window looking at the house across street.
“Mom, why did the people across the street move out?”
“I don’t really know Jenny, I never met them”.
“Did they have any children?” asked Jenny.
“Yes, I believe they had a daughter.”
Jenny spun around to face her mother, “What did she look like?”
Her mom finished loading the dishwasher and handed the dish cloth to Jenny.
“Jenny I told you I never met them, now stop all these questions and wipe off the table.”
Rubbing the small bruise on her arm Jenny knew that she definitely needed to talk to Grandma Sylvie.
Grandma Sylvie knew all about things that no one else sees.
“Mom, can I walk over to Grandma’s?”

Half an hour later, her chores finished, Jenny slipped her backpack over her shoulders as she walked down the stairs from her bedroom. Saying goodbye to her mother, she stepped out on the porch to begin the short three block walk to Grandma Sylvie's house. On an impluse, Jenny crossed the street, taking a path that would lead her directly in front of the empty house. She walked slowly, peering closely at the windows that faced the street. As she reached the far side of the building, a scratching noise caught her attention; it seemed to be coming from the basement window on the side of the abandoned home. Jenny stopped, listening intently... There it was again! She saw the casement window begin to lift and her heart thudded in her chest. A small black nose appeared, followed in seconds by a fluffy, squirming ball of black fur. As the puppy tumbled out of the opening and onto the snow, it gave one small whimper, then lay panting and shivering on the ground.

Jenny slowly approached the puppy and when she bent down to look closer, the puppy looked up and licked the end of her nose. She fell backwards in the snow and the puppy continued to like her face. Jenny giggled and the puppy barked.

“Where did you come from?”

Jenny stood up and went closer to the window. The window was still open a crack, but Jenny couldn’t see anything in the basement. She called out, “Is anyone there?”

No one answered. So how did the puppy get out the window? Where did he come from? Maybe new people were moving into the house.

She needed to get to Grandma Sylvie’s house before she started to worry.

“I can’t leave you here all alone”, she said to the black ball of fur that was now running circles around her.

“You can come to my grandma’s house with me. She will know what to do, Grandmas Sylvie knows everything”.

Jenny started walking toward her grandmother’s house, the puppy running along behind her. But the puppy stopped and looked back at the house. When Jenny turned to call the puppy she saw a shadow move across the upstairs window. A shiver went through Jenny and it wasn’t from the snow. She turned and started running.

“I need to talk to Grandma Sylvie!”

"I know something is wrong, Grandma, but mom just doesn't believe me." Jenny and her grandmother sat at the kitchen table, sipping hot chocolate and watching the puppy happily pushing his nose into the bowl of kibbles.

"Jenny, your mom does believe you; she just doesn't want to believe the ability has been passed on to you. It scares her to think about it. She called me last night; if you hadn't asked to come visit me, she was going to send you over. She may not be happy about it, child, but she loves you and knows deep in her heart, that you need guidance with this."

"You see, your mom grew up knowing of my ability to see those who had passed beyond; at one time, it didn't seem so frightening to her. But that all changed..." Grandma Sylvie's voice faltered a bit.

Clearing her throat, Grandma Sylvie paused for a moment, looking off into space as though collecting her thoughts. "She and I had both hoped it would pass you by, as it did your mom. But we knew that wouldn't be the case when you were just a little over two years old. That's when you told us about seeing Twig... "

"Twig?" Jenny said. "You mean my kitten that ran away?"

"Jenny", Grandma Sylvie said gently. "Twig didn't run away, she was hit by a car and died. We had a funeral for her ... even made a small marker for her grave. But the next morning, your mom went in your room to find you crooning and stroking the air. You insisted that Twig was back. Your mom freaked out; we packed up that same day and moved here. The story about Twig running away was her way of trying to avoid the truth about your ability. You were young and easily distracted with the adventure of the move. A new state, a new city... your mom thought it was best. Over the years, she's convinced herself that it was just a childhood episode, like an imaginary friend. Until now, it seemed she'd been right, but now..." Grandma Sylvie's voice trailed off again.

"But why is Mom so afraid, Grandma? I know she doesn't talk much about what you can see, but she's never tried to hide it from me. She's only told me not to talk about it to others, so no one will think you're..." Jenny stopped, blushing.

"A crackpot, Jenny?" Grandma Sylvie finished with a hint of amusement in her eyes. "No, that's okay" she said when Jenny opened her mouth to protest. "You see, I understand; your mom didn't want you to see it as a normal thing but she has always known that it can't be hidden, at least not within a family. But she didn't want you to innocently slip and say something that other kids might taunt you with. And experience has taught her that with any ability, guidance will be needed at some point in time."

"As for why she's so afraid, I think it's time for the three of us to sit down and talk. Your mom has been preparing herself for this for a few days now. She'll be here soon and she wants to tell you about her sister -- your Aunt Olivia."

"Aunt Olivia? I know about Aunt Olivia, mom talks about her all the time. She was mom's younger sister; she was killed in a robbery attempt right before I was born." Jenny said.

"Yes, but what I never told you, Jenny, was that Olivia was psychic and she died trying to save us." said her mom from the doorway. Then she broke into tears.