I never gave child ghosts much thought. There was really no reason for them to be creepy. It was a reason for them to be sad. No one wants to think about a child’s life ending early after all. For quite a while my three and a half year old had been having these mysterious “friends” visit, but that night brought on a whole new level of what was going on.
I am one of those people that when I am woken, I am awake. I am fully aware of what is going on. My spouse and I had one rule, the kids were not allowed to sleep with us. Both of us wanted our space in bed, and it’s hard enough to share a bed with each other, much less a small body. It was pretty dark in the bedroom save for some light streaming in from the window of the next door neighbor’s security light. I was woken up. I think it was more than a feeling than anything else. I don’t recall a sound. The kids always woke me up. Not to mention my spouse was a much harder sleeper than I was. As I looked toward the end of the bed, there was a small figure. I thought it was my daughter at first. I spoke to her. I found it odd she didn’t respond. She would usually whisper back to me something about being awake, bad dream, is it time to get up, etc. She didn’t say anything. It looked like she had her favorite blanket, but it was like she was just inside that shadow where I couldn’t see anything but shape. It was so black where she was. There was just shape.
I got out of bed to put her back. She didn’t start moving toward her bed. This was also odd, usually she’d walk that direction. As I was maybe 2 steps from her, there was a feeling in my gut. This felt off. This felt wrong. This is not my child. What is this? Who is this? Something is wrong. As I started to say my child’s name again with uncertainty, this figure seemed to explode into black vapor. I know I let out a quiet strangled sound. I ran across the hall to my daughter’s room. She’s asleep. My logical mind, if there was one at this time, thought how did she get in here so fast? Is she playing opossum? I whispered her name, she did not respond. She was most definitely asleep.
I run back to my room, everything is normal. Nothing is out of place. No one is in there. I went back to my daughter’s room. What do I do? Do I wake up my spouse? What would I say? There was a child in here, but it wasn’t one of our kids and it has exploded and is gone? That sounds pretty crazy. I took a walk through our small home. Checked on the other child. Down the hall, nothing in the living room or kitchen. The dogs were sleeping peacefully in the laundry room next to the dining room. Then I headed back to bed after peeking at my peaceful sleeping children one more time. I sat on the edge of the bed. Now what? It’s like sometime after 3 a.m. I did the only thing that made sense at the time. I laid back down and went to sleep. However, in the light of day, I can’t help but wonder, what next? Will I see it again? What was it?
I also know at some point today, my daughter will say her friends have come to play. She no longer asks if they can stay and play. She just announces their arrival and goes to play. She only occasionally asks if they can spend the night. Next time I better say, “no. That’s not a good idea tonight.” Like I said, “these imaginary friends have taken things to a new level.” As for child ghosts not being scary, I am not so sure as I am a little shaken. What next?