Our Ghost

I finally met our ghost. I’ve been spending a lot of time around the house lately, convalescing after hip replacement surgery. Could the Vicodin I’m taking every four to six hours have something to do with my ghost encounter? Maybe, maybe not…

This is a ghost that, so far, only the kids had been able to see. As babies, both Augie and Lulu would often stare into a corner above or near our bedroom door. They were definitely watching and interacting with something or someone that we couldn’t see. When Lulu was younger, we asked her if she was seeing a person, and she said yes. We asked if it was a little girl or a little boy, and she said it was a boy.

At four years old, Augie doesn’t see the ghost anymore. Lulu is two-and-a-half and has begun to react negatively to the ghost. Until recently, she was still sleeping in our room and would wake up frightened and in need a reassurance several times during the night. One evening not long ago, we were playing in the living room before bedtime when she froze, staring at something down the hall. She suddenly jumped up from the floor and into my lap where she hid her face while surreptitiously checking down the hall every couple of minutes. I asked her what was wrong but she just pointed down the hallway. I asked her if she was seeing the little boy, and she shook her head no. I asked her what she was seeing, and she finally whispered, “Ghost.”

She’d never used that word before regarding our ghost so I asked her if that’s what she’d said. She said, “Yeah Mommy, ghost.” After about ten minutes, she peeked again down the hall and then sat up straighter in my lap for a better look. Seemingly satisfied, she got up from my lap and returned to playing with Augie as if nothing had happened.

A couple of weeks ago, the day before my surgery, the kids and I were playing on the bed in our room when Lulu abruptly latched onto me in a tight hug, hiding her face in the curve of my neck. She wouldn’t even let me sit up. I kept asking her what was wrong but she wouldn’t speak. Every once in awhile she would peek at the space above the armoire, near the heating vent and then tuck her face again to hide. It became clear that she wasn’t joking and that she was very scared. I asked her if she was seeing the ghost but she still wouldn’t answer. Sometimes, she would look into the space above the armoire for five to ten seconds before hiding her eyes again.

I asked Augie if he saw anything but he didn’t and thought it was a joke. After about fifteen minutes, I was still unable to get Lulu to move or to even let me up so we could move to a different room. I decided to try a new tactic. More for Lulu’s benefit than anything else, I began talking to the ghost and telling it to go away because it was scaring Lulu. I had to scold it for quite awhile. I said that we didn’t mind it being here with us but that it wasn’t okay to scare people. I told it to go away, right now, because it was scaring Lulu.

After another minute or so, Lulu cautiously raised her head and looked around the ceiling and then the rest of the room. She finally sat up. I suggested we go and play in Augie’s room, and we all left.

Several nights ago, I was having a dream that I don’t even remember now except for the strange noise that began penetrating the dream. It became louder and louder until it was deafening and woke me. I lay in my bed still hearing the sound fade away as my heartbeat slowed to a normal rate. I realized that it had been the sound of heavy, strident footsteps coming down the hall and into our bedroom. I looked around the room to reassure myself that it was only a dream, and that we didn’t have an intruder in the house. A movement caught my eye however, and I looked up above the armoire where there seemed to be an apparition of sorts moving in an agitated manner. It was a pearlescent sort of vapory light hovering and vibrating with jerky movements.

I watched, waiting for it – a trick of the eye, a remnant of my dream – to fade as I came more fully awake. It didn’t fade but it did become more placid. It was still a shifting, gossamer mass but it was not going anywhere. I stayed in bed just watching and trying to figure out how this might be explained. Was it a reflection of the small amount of light filtering in from the hallway?

I finally got up to go to the bathroom. When I returned, I looked again at the space above the armoire. The shape was still there but it wasn’t as vibrant or as well formed. As I watched, it lost its mass completely and all that was left was the slight reflection of light from the hallway.

I realized later that I had, at least once before, been awoken by these same pounding footsteps. At the time, I assumed they were part of a dream and went back to sleep, without even bothering to look around the room. I wonder now how many times before our ghost has tried to get my attention.