The Cleanser

Chapter Two

Anna woke early Saturday morning; she knew alcohol was a depressant but still she had drunk what would be considered too much by most people, her gift however made it possible to never get a hangover; much to the disgust of the friends who did suffer them.

Wiskie purred as Anna scratched him behind his ears; she still had work to do today but she made a point of never booking anything for a Saturday morning, preferring to have at least one leisurely morning each week and so far she had only missed it a few times.

Breakfast consisted of coffee and warm croissants and was followed by mad dancing around the kitchen to whatever came on the radio; she loved this part of her week, she could just be silly and revert back to her teenage years, singing along, hairbrush in hand as if it were a mic; Wiskie always sat and watched, a look of disdain on his face.

All too soon it was time to be an adult again and Anna headed back to her bedroom to get ready for her afternoon appointments; a harassed mum of three who couldn’t meet Anna in the week as she couldn’t afford a childminder, they had agreed Saturday so the husband could take the kids out and she could get all the stresses cleansed so that she felt able to cope again. After the mum, Anna had to visit an old man in a hospice; his carers had called her in, he was dying and they wanted her to remove the emotional pain and anxiety for him. Anna could never decide if she liked that side of her work or not, working with people close to death always made her feel uncomfortable but she also got so much satisfaction from knowing she had made their passing that much easier.

Anna picked up her phone and her keys, there was no need to take the jar with her for just two jobs but she emptied it onto the side table ready for later. Once outside, she hurried across town to the first appointment; the mum’s aura was dull but silvery grey in colour, nothing really bad, just a build up of stresses that had not been cleansed out for some time. Anna absorbed them and then gave the woman some tips for keeping the stresses down and for releasing the negativity before if affected her aura in future.

The old man was a more difficult job; she often used hope as something to cling to when helping people but what hope could she give a man who knew he was dying, peace was the only thing she could offer him; luckily he took the idea and the cleansing began, his aura had been lacklustre with the darkness of his anxiety permeating throughout it and it took a long time to lighten and brighten. Anna’s back was beginning to ache when the old man smiled; his aura was suddenly larger and Anna became aware of the spirit in the room with them; she turned to the carer then “He’s going now.” She said, “His wife has come for him.”

His aura glowed brighter still and Anna felt him pass, she couldn’t see the spirits but she could sense them and right then she sensed that they had held hands but then they were gone.

She was shattered when she got home again, her back was still aching almost as though the old man’s physical pain had crossed over to her with the negativity; she wasted no time getting the Angel jar and once again sat on the floor in her living room. The backache eased as Anna rocked gently and the light returned to her own aura; she replaced the lid on the jar, put it back in the alcove and went into the kitchen to get something to eat. There was no way she could socialise again tonight so once her dinner was eaten she chose a book from the shelf and settled down on the sofa to read; a large glass of wine on the coffee table.