Annie Lange’s heart beat like a bass on steroids. How does a person who’s been dead for thirteen years come back to life? That was the question on her seventeen-year-old mind as she watched a video of her mom on her laptop.
She’d found the jump drive containing the video inside an anonymous gift left on her front porch. A stuffed lion, identical to the one her mother had given her when Annie was a child. The animal was Annie’s most prized possession because it was the last present she had received from her mother before losing her in a fiery car crash.
At the time, Mary Beth had told Annie the lion would give her courage. All Annie had to do was squeeze its right front paw and say, “A posse ad esse.”
In time, Annie learned the phrase meant from possibility to reality. It didn’t make any sense to Annie, and it took years before she could actually say the words, but she never forgot what her mother had told her. Squeezing the lion’s paw was a habit that followed her into her teen years. And, as childish as it was, it still made Annie feel better.
So when Annie opened the gift and found the lion, she naturally squeezed its right paw. That’s when she discovered something hidden inside. A closer look revealed a row of stitches on its underside. Annie snipped the thread and opened the seam.
A silver ring tumbled to the floor as Annie pulled out the memory stick. She picked up the ring and noticed a Celtic lion’s head on its face and trinity knots on each side. Tiny Celtic circles surrounded the setting.
Annie turned the ring over. The band tapered and the back was smooth. She examined the inner rim and found printed in Celtic lettering were the words a posse ad esse.
Thoughts flooded Annie’s head. She went to her laptop and inserted the stick into a port. Seconds later, she clicked on the video named a posse ad esse.
