-Gammy

[Words to Image. Taking a random picture and running with whatever story it prompts you to write]]

Twenty-two-year-old Lauren had been battling depressing for quite a number of years. She found herself isolated from not only her peers but family and school council, as well. On the recommendation of her guidance counselor, Lauren's mother sought professional therapy for her with hopes to pull her daughter from this debilitating fog she was in.

At first, the counselor only partially succeeded in building a bridge between Lauren's trauma and her understanding of it. Eight sessions deep and Lauren finally opened up about the root cause of her darkness.

"You're gonna think me crazy," she kept insisting.

But her counselor managed to gain her trust which resulted in complete vulnerability.

She explained that she had been 'seeing things' for the past seven years. After a bit of prodding, Lauren identified it as her deceased grandmother.

"And where do you see her," she was asked.

"In the mirror. Always in the mirror. Only in the mirror."

"Any mirror or a specific one?" was the follow-up question.

"Only in the old antique one she left behind when she died. Well, when she went missing. We don't actually know that she died because no one ever found her body. She just ... vanished."

"Seven years ago?"

"Yes."

"And how old was your grandmother then?" the councilor inquired.

"Fifty-seven."

The councilor did quick math and realized that her grandmother was still young enough to add the possibility of still being alive.

"And what does your grandmother, Bonnie Vie, right?"

Lauren nodded.

"What does she do or say when you see her?"

Lauren hesitated and then stated that "she calls me a loser."

"Do you hear her say that?"

"No. Never any sound. She just positions her fingers in the shape of a 'L' and holds it there with a disappointed look on her face. We were even close before this," she said, giving in to tears.

"And all of these years you have taken this to heart, correct?"

"How can I not? I thought we were close. That's just mean. I knew you would think me crazy."

The councilor asked Lauren's mom to sit in on the next session. They opened and recapped their prior visit so her mother could get up to speed.

"I don't understand why Gammy would haunt me like this. And call me a loser. Did she see me as some big failure all of these years?"

Lauren's words caught her mom's attention.

"What did you say?" she asked her.

Lauren repeated her words before mom informed them both that Gammy was born in a small town near Failure Canyon Utah.

"That's where the old farmhouse was. You know, when the police began their search for her, I gave them all sorts of information, but I never mentioned the old farmhouse."

A silent moment of hope touched each of the three's faces. Local authorities were notified and then Lauren and mom waited for any news. And then it came.

"We found Miss Bonnie Vie behind the old falling down house. Yeah. Dental records and a purse verified this. It appears she suffered a stroke, forensics' official report. If it's any consolation to you, they concluded it was strong enough that she probably never even knew it hit her. We'll be transporting her to you by the end of the day, after the local coroner releases her. Maybe, three days, tops. And then you can finally have the chance to say your goodbyes and lay her to rest. But I've gotta ask, what made you think about this place after all of these years?"

Both Lauren and mom were in shock. Neither spoke. They had accepted her death, without truly knowing, but this was actual confirmation.

Bonnie Vie was released, transported, and a funeral was planned and satisfied. Hours after returning home, Lauren reluctantly ventured towards her old antique mirror. She gasped upon seeing her grandmother's image, still there, but was met with a smile and both hands connected, forming a heart. She faded with her smile intact. Bonnie Vie had reached out from beyond death, the only way she knew how, to give her granddaughter the closure she needed.

"Now you can rest in peace, Gammy," Lauren said.

Her depression has since subsided. And now, her every smile is the very image of her grandmother's last one to her.