The realtor didn't even want to give us a guided tour because he was so afraid of the ghost rumors. Turns out, the house was beautiful. Very victorian, and had tons of storage space and interesting furniture. (Rare to find a house pre-furnished? Last residents didn't want any of their old stuff because they moved out overnight).
My daughter was too young to know what ghosts meant, so she wasn't in the least bit scared. My husband's best friend was a little on edge about it, but didn't make enough money to live in a house on his own, and was sick of living with random roomates.
Upon moving in, my daughter picked a room that was close to the kitchen. (When you first walked into the house, you were in the foyer, and to your left was the kitchen. There was a hallway that went behind the foyer off the kitchen that the first door on the right was a bedroom. Other rooms were scattered about off the hallway, but my daughter wanted the first one. It let in a lot of sunlight, but was a small room.) My husband and I were going to be down the hall a ways, on the left. That's where the master bedroom was. The best friend picked a room that was larger than the living room, perhaps the second largest bedroom, upstairs. (This house had so many bedrooms that it could have been a hotel if converted properly).
As we still were settling in, getting the garden in back started up again, and buying groceries, finding new areas of the house to explore, etc, we would hear an faint voice from one of the first floor bedrooms, on the left of the hallway. I passed it off as my daughter playing with her newly opened boxes of toys.
I didn't think much of it, until one time the voice sounded like a man. I walked closer to the room to ask what the best friend needed, thinking it was him, asking for some help.
No response.
"Do you need some help?"
Silence for another moment, so I just think he figured it out. I don't even look inside the room until the voice answers me, in a near whisper, "...yes..."
I am holding a hand towel, so I wrap it over my arm, and walk into the room. I look around. It's rather shadowy, so I let my eyes adjust. Nothing there. "Where are you?"
The voice is a louder whisper now, "about five feet in front of you". There is a couch sitting in this room, so I think he's laying down on it, fatigued or something. I still can't see him. The front of the couch is completely in shadow. (We don't have electricity yet in the house, due to setting up the power earlier in the day... even the electricians are scared about the rumors).
I squint, hoping to adjust my eyes faster. The voice says, "you should watch out for the bad ones."
"What? What are you talking about?" I have no clue what he's trying to say, and I STILL can't see him.
Finally, the voice is visible, only because he 'stands' up. He's... transparent, yet he casts a shadow himself. I ask him who he is, but get the same statement from before, "you should watch out for the bad ones." A long pause. And then, "I can show you a list..."
And then, he was gone. I wanted to know his name, to get to learn who I was living with. To know the house better. Anything more would have been great, but it was so cryptic.
I stand there, towel hanging from my arm, dumbfounded. I wish I could have talked longer.
A few days later, my wish is granted. I'm talking to the same ghost, same room, but now we have electricity and I can see him in the light of the room. He tells me to pick up something because he's already drained his energy today. I hold up what is a black light. He tells me to point it at one of the walls in the room. I turn off the main light and see there is tons of words scratched on the wall in laundry-soap. He tells me not to utter any of those words written.
I stare at the list. This is the list he was talking about a few days ago. Turns out, if these ghosts are talked about, they will show up and terrorize the living. The house has been uninhabited for several years, so the bad ones have left, but could come back if "summoned".
I tell my husband and best friend that there is a list that must never be read aloud. They both take me very seriously, because they too, have each had a ghost encounter already. I find out that the best friend was encountered by the same ghost I was, but when he saw the ghost, the ghost looked like a pasty human. Standing in flesh. The best friend was scared of him, because the ghost could touch!
Later, I've found that the ghosts must reserve energy each day if they want to be able to touch "living things", meaning anything in the living world. They can pick up objects, and interact with people.
My daughter has befriended a boy that is about 7. They do puzzles together, by the boy telling the girl what to move and they play hide and seek. She doesn't know that he's a ghost, she just thinks she has another imaginary friend. I just feel bad for the boy, because my daughter will keep aging, and he will never mature.
My husband isn't too keen on the ghosts moving his stuff, so they take turns saving up energy and moving his stuff, because it makes for funny times for them. They can remain invisible in a room to see his reaction, so they love it.
The best friend has found that his room is one of the only rooms that is completely ghost free. He likes having his privacy, yet wishes he could have a friend. (Other than us, of course).
Myself? I've found that the first ghost I ever met was the nicest of all. He has become my new best friend. We walk around together, and even though he can't leave the house, he still seems to be with me. I am glad that the ghosts are so friendly, and have taken the extra effort to welcome us into our new house.
The townspeople, on the other hand, are scared of us. Think we are some sorta freaks for staying in the house for as long as we have. At last count, there are over ten ghosts in our house. I'm still open to having more friends :)
Carisa
Happy idea for today:
wacky, crazy dreams
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