Monday, November 29, 2010

White-haired and Quiet

A few minutes ago, my little niece came running past me and said, "I saw a ghost! I saw a ghost!"  She had just come from upstairs and then from the living room.

I picked her up:

"What did you see? I didn't hear you." Just to be sure.
"A ghost. I saw a ghost."
"Where did you see it?"
"In the living room."
"Was the ghost a girl or a boy?'
"A boy."
"A little boy or a daddy?"
"A daddy."
"Was his hair light or dark?"
"It was white!"
"Did he speak to you?"
"No."
"What was he doing?"
"Standing there, looking."
"Could you take me to where he was?"

We go to the living room.

"There!" she said, pointing to the coffee table area where Mimi was standing.
"Was he smiling?"
"No."
"Well, there's no need to be afraid.  He was just visiting. Just saying, 'Hi.'"

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Downstairs . . .

A couple of weeks ago, I expected a guest of ours to appear at the top of the stairs in the middle of the night.  After all, somebody climbed the steps and stopped at the newly-installed fish tank on the first landing.  That's been going on every night since.

Also, Mimi has played with someone called "Lucy" -- younger, maybe two -- on the porch. 

"Do you play with her often?"

"No."

"Oh."

"She usually just watches me."

And the other night, I was afraid that our youngest, visible houseguest might be wandering around downstairs in the middle of the night.  It sounded like a little child in the kitchen -- the indiscernible words, the little shuffling of feet -- so I went down to investigate, noting that the cat was on our bed.

Nobody was awake. 

Lucy is with us for now.