At 5:15 AM, I leave my apartment to start my trek to work. It's a long walk, and I give myself extra time because it's still quite dark out, and you never know what nocturnal animal might challenge your passage. An opossum, or a racoon, might turn or run, skunks on the other hand might begin and end by spraying. Now and then a stray cat or dog. Oh the wildlife of suburbia!
This morning a silver dollar moon was shining down, so not as dark as some other mornings as I make my way between circles of streetlights. I like the stillness, and despite the unusual heat (already 80f) a nice breeze is softly blowing. I'm close to the midway point, just past the bakery, when I see a small girl sitting on the low wall that runs past a mechanic's shop. She's just outside the reach of the bakery's lights. I slow a bit more wondering if she's actually there or some trick of the shadows.
I cross the street, she's maybe a yard away from me. Feet dangling, as she sits on the wall, head hung low. I notice she's wearing one of those light, sleeveless dresses that really has no shape, and is barefoot. I stop about a foot from her. I guess her to be 9 or 10. My skin is tingling as if I'd just walked through a massive cobweb, and I know this is no mortal child.
Inwardly I sigh, do I have time for this? Sure, if this was a breathing child, and I ran late, work would understand. I don't think saying, "Well I ran across a ghost" would pass. I can hear the 'encouragement' for counseling already. I glance up at the moon for a quick fix on the time, and I've made really good time; at this clip I could arrive 15 minutes early easy. I argue with myself, technically it IS late start, I'd only gotten permission to come in at my usual time. So technically I had about half an hour 'extra'. Again I sigh. Breathing or not, she was still one of God's children. "Ok, God, have my back because I think this is what You want."
I clear my throat. She doesn't even glance my way. "Hello?" I think at her. Still nothing. Audio it is then. "Mind if I sit here, for a minute?" I joined her on the wall. "Beautiful morning isn't it?"
Her head turns ever slightly, and I sense she's looking at me through her long hair. Its color was hard to determine in the light, but I thought it was brown. "You okay, Sweetie?" Suddenly she's staring me full in the face, eyes wide, mouth opened in a slight 'oh!'. Her eyes were dark, and along with surprise I noted something else in them, fear perhaps. "Yes, I see you."
"Really?" It was such a soft whisper. I nodded.
Sometimes, talking with a spirit can be a bit of a jigsaw puzzle. Sentences can have pieces missing, and you have to reassemble what you hear to have it make sense. The following is what I pieced together.
She told me her name was Katie, and she's 9 years old. She had been in the van, coming home from play practice, but there had been a horrible crash. She didn't remember more about it. She didn't remember going home, but her parents seemed very sad, and wouldn't even talk to her. "It was like they couldn't even see me." Then one day they took everything, and left, leaving her behind.
There'd been other families over time, but none of them paid her any attention either. She tried even being 'bad', but that just seemed to scare them, and that isn't what she wanted. She wanted her parents.
How does one tell a wee ghostie, "It's like this, you're dead, and need to move on" ? "Have you seen anyone you know since that day?"
"Only Grams, she wanted me to go with her but I ran and hid."
"Why'd you do that, Sweetie?"
Katie looked at me like I was stupid. "She's dead. I must've imagined her, but she keeps coming back... "
"Maybe, you should see what Gram's wants? Since she can see you and all." Another glance at the moon, just then a car passed, it's headlights nearly obliterating the image I was seeing - and then she was gone. I couldn't sense her, and the cobwebby feeling dissipated. Just in case, I spoke to the air. "I come this way almost every morning. I'll look for you." I stood up and resumed my walk.
Your experience is well worthy of publication. It is an easy read and thus not too long. To me, it is based on paternal emotional conflict - Do I tell her she is dead and help her move on? This will stir up a bit of debate, soul searching and those 'factual' questions. Of course, there may be a few smarties out there that will liken your interaction with Katie to the 2 main characters in the movie 'The Sixth Sense".
Considering all this, if it was me, I'd wait till things settle down then post away. Heck, you might even catch up with Katie again and have something to add.
Like I said, T-Rex, I'm not ready to share it over there yet. Sometimes I can post my experiences almost immediately, sometimes not. It's weird, but, it's like my mind needs to settle and wrap completely around the event, before I can share over there. Sometimes I opt not to share at all, simply because it seems wrong to, and it might be so in this case.
She's a 'local'...I did some research online, and think I may have found her. At least the details fit what she told me. It was only 2 years ago. Her parents' pain would still be fairly raw I think. If they somehow stumbled across it, would it do more harm than good?
I'm glad you stopped to talk to her. That poor lonesome little girl. It's sad how she couldn't reach through to her parents or anyone else all these time. I hope she took your advice and talked to her Grams. Then they can both move on and be at peace.
Not sure how the parents would feel about reading about it. But since it's been only 2 years, I think they'd still be feeling raw.
Go with what your heart tells you. If you're not easy about sharing this experience with others, then the time (or place) probably isn't right for it.
Well, it's been about a week, and no sign or feelings of Katie. Maybe it was just one of those one off things, or maybe she went with Grams. I may never know.
