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The spirit pointed to “No”.

Josie tried another tactic. “Well, you’re in the body of a man who’s mean, vindictive, bitter, and cruel. Won’t taking over his soul be bad karma? Won’t you have to pay for his sins too, at some point? And let me tell you, he’s full of them. You’ll end up in hell twice as long as you would have.”

Steve grabbed his head and shook it, and then he wiped his eyes. When he opened them again, they were no longer red.

“Well, that’s a relief,” Dhanesh said, looking over at Josie. Only it wasn’t Josie he was staring at. Now it was her eyes that were a startling, glowing red. So Dhanesh tried the same tactic. “Out of the frying pan and into the fire, spirit. Josie’s just as messed up as Steve. She’s dissatisfied with her life, has never lived up to her potential, and has missed out on one opportunity after another. Taking over her soul will be like jumping two giant steps back on the incarnation trail.”

The smile left Josie’s face and, as Steve had done, she shook her head and wiped her eyes.

“Nice job, Dhanesh,” Steve said. “I think he’s gone.”

Dhanesh, his eyes afire, pointed to the Ouija – “No”.

But in a heartbeat, he flung his hands in the air and his whole body shook and trembled; and then, so did the building itself, sending the three toppling over into the pile of debris. When the tremors subsided, the coworkers looked at each other in startled bewilderment.

“He’s gone,” Dhanesh finally said. “Into the light.”

“Gone?” Josie asked. “But how? Why?”

Dhanesh hung his head down to his chest. “My soul was even more troubled than the two of yours. I’m a Hindu that has forsaken his religion. The spirit might have eaten beef, but I serve it to countless thousands. So the spirit had a new idea.”

“Atone,” Steve interrupted.

“Yes, atone,” Dhanesh replied.

Josie understood. “I need to go to college and get on with my life,” she said. “And Steve needs to stop treating people like shit, not to mention himself that way. And Dhanesh needs to continue on the path his soul was meant to take.”

“Yes,” Dhanesh said, pointing to a Ouija board with a wry smile.

“Hey,” Steve said. “I wasn’t that big a prick, was I?” To which Dhanesh and Josie both responded to by pointing to a “Yes”. “Okay, okay. I get the message,” Steve amended. “We atone, get our lives in order, and, in turn, the spirit did his karmic duty and moves on to a better life and a less harsh hell, right?”

Again the two pointed to a “Yes”.

“Quit it, please. No more Ouija boards.” He groaned and looked at the store around them. “Now, who’s gonna help me clean this mess up?”

“I don’t work here anymore, Steve,” Josie said, the smile returning to her face. “I won’t have time, what with my studies and all.”

 “Don’t look at me,” Dhanesh said. “I’m out of here, too. Vegetarians don’t eat meat, and they certainly don’t serve it.”

“Fine. Me neither then. It doesn’t seem like working for McDonald’s is too good for the soul.”

The three stood up, brushed themselves off, and walked into the sunrise together. They never looked back.

And as for the movie “Ouija”, it didn’t even crack thirty million in domestic sales. The universe got a big karmic laugh out of that one.