Scary New Beginnings 2

Finding out I was pregnant, after suffering two miscarriages, was a dream come true. I know our house reeled with the joy of it all, but as the intensity of the spirit presence progressed, so did my fear. Not so much for myself or my husband, but what about the baby? Since the bookmobile stopped right across the street from my house, I decided to investigate the strange things going on in it.

I read everything I could get my hands on. I learned a lot in the process. From the books I read, I determined that it was a friendly spirit, however, somewhat aggravating at times. What need or purpose it possessed escaped me. In a way, I felt sorry for it. In the rush to get ready for the birth, my mind chose to overlook some of the sounds, feelings and sense of excitement, but I knew it was there all the same.

After our little girl was born, following an emergency C-section, I noticed a feeling of peace, even in the hospital. When we got home things quieted down for a while. I no longer sensed anything. It felt good to finally get some peace. But after a while it started up again. I'd almost forgotten about it. One day when "Hope" was going on two years old she asked, "Whose coming?" I'd heard the side door open and the footsteps on the porch. I said, "I don't know. Let's look." But no one was there. After checking with the neighbors and calling my parents, no one had stopped by. "Hope" couldn't understand where they went and neither could I. Or did I?

I started to feel the fear welling up in me again. Oh, no. Please don't start again. But things only got worse. One day I noticed "Hope" sitting on the floor in the doorway leading into our other living room. Looking in from the kitchen, I couldn't believe my eyes. Her beautiful face was looking up and she was smiling and shaking her head as if someone was asking her questions. I hadn't heard anyone come in, so who was she talking to? It went on for what seemed several minutes, when I asked, "Hope", what are you doing?" She lost her inviting smile and whatever was going on ended abruptly.

"Please, come sit on Mommy's lap," I said. With her innocent brown eyes looking at me, I asked the dreaded question, "Who were you talking to?" "A woman," she answered. "Did someone come in and I didn't hear them?" "No." "What did she look like?" The answer floored me.

"She wore a long black dress with lots of buttons," she replied. She didn't act scared or anything. I tried to find out more about this mysterious lady in black. My daughter was pretty smart for her age (today she has a Ph.D.), so I took what she said to heart. She said she wore her hair up and was nice. Let me tell you, when my husband came home from work, I told him what happened and he then confessed to hearing things too.

Our son was born about a year later, and I had had enough by then. But what cinched the deal was when my husband asked me when I returned from the grocery store, "Why didn't you come in the house? I heard the side door open and you walk across the porch. Did you forget something?" I just looked at him and said, "It wasn't me." We started looking for another place to live. The rest of my story will follow soon.