OBSESSION

For the sake of the story, I will call him William B. I have told this story to many students over the years because it illustrates one of the problems one might encounter when using the board. Granted, not everyone is as easily susceptible to obsession as William was but it can happen. William had been using a Ouija board for many years. As a child, his parents used it often. They saw nothing wrong with it and other than an occasional scare, such as the lights suddenly going out, thy had no real problems. William used the board every so often while in college. He would invite friends over for a "Ouija Night" as he called them. They were usually uneventful nights although sometimes William would get insights from his sessions. Often on a night before a big exam, William would consult the board about whatever area of the test he felt he needed help with. In most cases, he would do this by himself. After college, William got himself a pretty good job.

He enjoyed his job and did not mind the long hours he was required to put in. Of course, this meant he rarely took out his Ouija board. One time he did take it out was to consult his sources on the other side about a woman he was quite interested in. William felt sure this woman liked him but being on the shy side, he wasn't sure whether he should ask her out or not. The board told him to ask her if he could take her to a specific restaurant and it also told him the night to ask her. It even went so far as to suggest what he should order. He had never been to this restaurant but he long ago stopped questioning the board. It always steered him right. Consequently, he was not surprised when Gail accepted his invitation to dinner. His only problem was his boss had him working on a project and he really should have stayed late to work on it. However, William was relieved when the board told him not to worry. As it turned out, the board was right again. he date was a success and he finished the project on time, although he just made it and he missed a few minor mistakes.

Things went well for William and Gail. Less than a year later, William decided to ask Gail to marry him. Needless to say, he checked with the board first. In fact, William was using the board quite a bit. His projects at work were becoming more challenging so whenever he felt he needed advice, out came the board. William was a little dismayed because he was finding the board was not always right. Still, 90% was pretty good he thought. There was one small problem. Gail did not share his enthusiasm with the Ouija board. In fact, they had several arguments over the subject. To keep the peace, William chose to use the board only when he was alone.

A few months before their wedding, William and Gail went house hunting. They saw several nice houses but one in particular caught Williams fancy. The only problem was it was a bit out of their price range. William knew this in his heart but he really wanted the house. William felt there was only one thing to do- check with the board. Two nights later, William invited Gail over for dinner. After they had eaten, William pulled out the board. Gail was livid. She made it clear to William that a stupid piece of cardboard was not going to make such an important decision. William did his best to calm Gail down and finally got her to the point where she agreed to try it. Why did Gail give in? Gail gave in because she had a plan. When William asked the board whether he should buy the house, she would subtly push the planchette to NO. After the table was cleared, they set up the board. When the question was asked, Gail tried pushing the planchette but found considerable resistance. She chided William for trying to manipulate the board. He swore up and down that he wasn't pushing it. He even suggested Gail try it by herself. When she did, despite her best efforts, the planchette went to YES. That was all William needed to see. Despite an argument, William was convinced they should buy the house. The following day, he put all of his savings on the house.

William and Gail married and moved into their new house. However, nothing went as planned. For one thing, something always needed to be repaired in the house. It got to the point where Gail considered it a money pit. Even William began to feel betrayed by his Ouija board. He consulted it one night and was surprised when the board seemed to understand his frustration. However, the board had an answer. It told William he should go into work the next day and ask for a raise. He mentioned this to Gail at breakfast the next morning. She saw no problem with him asking for a raise. What concerned her was the fact that the suggestion had come from the board. William was tentative when he approached his boss. He explained to his boss the problems he was having with the house, hoping that would help his cause. However, he was surprised when his boss criticized him for some sloppy work. William was stunned as he heard his boss explain that 10% of his projects contained major errors and had cost the firm some money. William did not know what to say. He went home that night feeling extremely dejected. He told Gail about the conversation and she pointedly asked him whether he used the board to help make work decisions. She was shocked when William admitted to doing so. She insisted he throw out the board immediately. However, William could not bring himself to do it. In fact, after Gail had fallen asleep, he took out the board and told it how it had really hurt him.

Gail woke up and realized William was not in bed. She got up and headed for the stairs. Meanwhile, the board was telling William how to solve his problem. The board told him to write a letter of resignation and to bring it to his boss and tell him that if he did not get a raise, he would resign. The board convinced William he was to valuable to the company and his boss would have to give in. When Gail saw what he was doing, she went berserk. "You are going to let a piece of cardboard determine our future!" she screamed at him. They would argue for the next hour. William did not know what to do. He held off making a decision for a week. Finally, after consulting the board on the sly, he made his decision. The next day, he walked into the office and presented his demands to his boss. He held out the letter of resignation, confident his boss would back down. He was shocked when his boss took it, read it and announced that he would accept his resignation. William was told to clean out his office that very day.

Needless to say, William lost everything. He lost his job, he lost his house and soon after, Gail left him. All William had left was his board. He found it when he was unpacking his things in his new apartment. Part of him wanted to destroy the board but he could not resist using it once again. He set it on a table, dusted it off and put the planchette in the middle. William asked it for advice. The planchette moved immediately and spelled out the word SUCKER and then moved to GOODBYE. The planchette never moved again.

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