Crazy-ass family

You just can't make this stuff up

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Ghost Story Tuesday

Just after 3am on Saturday, Liam woke up and wanted to be fed. Like every other night, Jim changed him and brought him to me in bed, and I sat up to feed him. Jim settled himself into bed and Liam and I sat quietly together. Just like any other night.

There was a crackling sound on the monitor. It does do that sometimes. A gurgle now. A gasp.

In response, my heart tried to beat out of my chest.

“Did you hear that?” I whispered to Jim in the darkness.

“Hmmmm?”

I waited. Crackle, crackle. Then, from Caleb and Aidan’s room this time, a cry. More gurgling. Another gasp.

“Jim! Go check the boys!”

“Huh?” He rolled over and got out of bed. Even half asleep, he responded to the urgency in my voice.

“Didn’t you hear that?”

“Hear what?” He stumbled out of the room and into Caleb and Aidan’s room, then, after a few moments of quiet, back to our room.

“They’re ok?”

“Mmm hmmm.”

I had known they would be. I tried to relax. Leaning back against the headboard, I reasoned that sometimes the monitor picked up on other signals. And sometimes the boys dreamed and talked in their sleep. Ah, such a good medium, aren’t I? I’ve told you before about my whole “no ghosts in my house” policy. When they do come, I tend to live in denial for a little while.

In any case, by the time I carried the sleepy Liam back to his room, I had convinced myself that all was well. I was secure in my comfortable cocoon of denial. Sometimes, it’s a nice place to be.

It did not last long. Coming out of Liam’s room, I saw, out of the corner of my eye, someone standing in Caleb and Aidan’s room. For the second time that night, my heart fought to escape my chest. I turned to face the room, and about eight feet away stood a young boy. Caleb’s age, but not Caleb. He wore short pants…they stopped just past the knee, and his hair was long-ish. Straight. He wore a white shirt and a vest. He was clear…but somehow…not. He didn’t look me in the eye; just stared at a spot near my feet. I remembered thinking that I would have to research the clothing, to date him.

All of that happened in what felt like minutes, but I’m sure that in reality it was only seconds. I had barely stopped walking when I turned and continued on to my room. Getting into bed, I connected to that boy, asked him why he was there. He didn’t answer, but showed me that there was another…a girl, in Liam’s room. She was older, maybe thirteen or fourteen. I asked her why she was there. She said she was minding the baby.

Minding the baby.

My baby?

She felt confused.

I saw her leaning over a baby...in a different time. A long time ago. I noted her clothing. I felt heat. Heard crackling. It was hard to breathe.

Asphyxiation, I thought. And in that vision, the girl turned and looked at me. She was confused.

“We have ghosts” I said to Jim.

“Oh yeah? Who?”

“Two children. One in each of the kids’ rooms.”

The next morning, Jim assaulted me with questions. Who were they? What did they want? Were they still here? Then, he told me he’d been up for a long time after our chat. Oops.

He wanted to know why I hadn’t found out more. “I was scared,” I said. It’s true. They scared the crap out of me.

Jim sensed the girl in Liam’s room the next night, and I saw her standing at the foot of the bed, on Jim’s side. Nothing last night. A nice break, though Jim is demanding that I figure this out so they can move on. Funny, I deal with other people’s ghosts just fine. But when they’re my ghosts, I wish I could pick up the phone and get someone else to deal with them. Ah, but that’s the way of life, I guess. It’s much easier to help others than help yourself. To give advice than to take it. Nonetheless, I have a job to do, and I shall do it. Later.

I have excuses! Caleb has the chicken pox now, and I still feel…gross. So, later. For now, that cocoon of denial is looking rather nice…

11 Comments:

At 10:17 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yikes! I would have been quite scared, too. I can't wait to hear what you find out.

 
At 10:49 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm confused, Tree! I would be scared, but that's because of my ignorance. But why would you be scared?
Can they do anything?
I hope you figure this whole thing out soon so that you can go back to being peaceful in your own home!!

 
At 11:14 AM, Blogger MB said...

Wow. I can see why children are hard to deal with. I do understand that. I wish I could hepl YOU. You've helped me so much...

 
At 11:46 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

That was soooooooooo cool to read. SO COOL.

I got goosebumps like mad.

They are kinda freakie aren't they....not bad just insistant?

My house has been alive lately too...I have been working on not being scared of the ghosties...hard sometimes...but I am getting better at it.

Good luck babes and keep us updated. Kels

 
At 12:30 PM, Blogger Tree said...

Shevon, think of it this way: wouldn't it be scary to find someone you don't know in your kid's room in the middle of the night? No matter how used to seeing people you are, that would freak you out a little, right? Same here...except they happened to be dead, too. Not something you get used to, really!
:)

 
At 3:03 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I just feel sorry for them. Of course, they're not in *my* kids' rooms.

I'm used to dealing with biting dogs on a weekly basis, doesn't mean my pulse doesn't get to racing when one is successful or almost successful in putting a hole in me. So I understand.

I did want to tell you though, that after I read some of what happened at Jenn's house, especially the part where you set boundaries for ghosts, I'm a lot more at ease in my house.

Not that I've ever had any experience here that would make me think we have company, but I'm easily creeped out and had got to the point where I didn't like using the master bathroom, just because it's the most secluded room in the house.

So I just sort of made up my mind that regardless of whether or not we had visitors, it's my house and I refuse to go around in a perpetually skeeved out state. It's working so far.

So, thanks..and I hope you get the kids settled soon. Poor things.

 
At 3:46 PM, Blogger Diana said...

oh I hope you can help them! I would have been scared shitless too if they had been in my son's room...
Let us know how it turns out!

 
At 11:20 PM, Blogger Maggie said...

I think the "minding the baby" part bothered me the most. There's something very disturbing about child ghosts. It reminds me of something I saw as a child that has freaked me out ever since.

 
At 12:00 AM, Blogger Amber said...

Hi, I'm Amber. I think i found you through Mama T...

Anyway, this made me feel creepy. I think we have a child/children ghosts in our house. My son has told me ever sense we moved here that we did. And I wake up all the time to the sound of a child singing, and I will think it is my son and go to yell at him to go to sleep... and he is sound asleep. Or I see something out of the corner of my eye, about his height, and think it is him, but it's not. He told me the other day that every night a ghost walks down the hall, and into my baby girls room at night, and that it knows he sees it.
Creepy.

:)

 
At 10:14 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Tree, I swear, every time I read something you've written, the amount of questions I have increases exponentially.

If your home is not an old home, does that mean that, like the dripping sad lady ghost, that they came from somewhere else because they are drawn to your vibe?

Our lives are much more thrilling, knowing you. Although I too would have pooed myself to find a child ghost in either of the girls' rooms. Tell us more!

 
At 10:34 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Tree, LOL! Okay, that makes sense!!

 

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