Hojo's Houseguest

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Several years ago when we initially moved into our current house, the dogs were deeply unsettled by something. They'd often stand in the hallway barking at what was seemingly nothing. Of course these incidents were odd, but any living organism living with, near, or in my can't exactly be stable. Not to mention the fact that I was 7 or 8, so it's not like I had the mind to care.

A few years after that I was sitting on the couch watching TV late one evening when I saw movement in the corner of my eye. I glanced toward the doorway leading into the hall when I saw a shadow moving on the wall as if someone had just walked past the door. As it was late at night and I heard no doors open, I decided to see what was up. A brief walk among the family bedrooms gave me no evidence; no one was awake. I polled the family the next morning to find that while my sister had slept all night and had no explanation for the occurrence, my mom and dad were more helpful.

"Oh, that's just the ghost," my mom said.
"Ghost?" I inquired.
"Yeah. When we first moved in the dogs were often unsettled by something beyond our senses, and your dad and I were seeing movement that had no source."

Since then I have had odd happenings during the nights. I am usually on the computer late at night on the weekends, and on most nights I can feel an uncomfortable presence behind me, such as one that exists when someone is staring at me. Something seems to be blocking my immediate rear, as I can no longer hear that ambient "house noise" from directly behind me. My glances behind me yield no results, yet the presence is still there. I believe the ghost decides to pay me a visit every now and again.

Last night was a similar story. My family had gone to bed except for my sister who happened to be in her room. I sat down on the couch once again to find movement catching my eye. I looked up to see the same shadow from years ago retreating to the side of the door frame. And of course as years before I investigated. I walked into my sister's room to find her laying on the bed.

"Were you just walking down the hall about, say, ten seconds ago?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
"Nope, I've been in bed for about five minutes."
"Hmm, the ghost is back." I observed.

So yes, several separate encounters spanning a number of years have caused me to conclude that my house has a ghost. While my sister was so freaked out by this in addition to the previous stories that she decided to sleep in my mother's room last night, I was more incredulous than startled. I decided to give it some analysis.

I opted not to take a definite stance on the issue at first. After all, having never actually conversed with a ghost, it safe to say that everything one thinks about when asked about ghosts is a stereotype. It would be unfair, ghastly even (ha!), for me to make wild assumptions. Despite his or her plane of current existence, this ghost was still an entity and still worthy of my respect, so I refused to apply the usual prejudice.

There are some who believe in ghosts and other who don't. Personally, while I am against the aforementioned stereotype of movie ghosts, we honestly don't know whether or not there are spirits with unfinished business on Earth. Perhaps it is an ancestor, a guardian angel of sorts, looking after my family. Maybe there's some weird blood pact that my mom made during a keg party in college, and this is the result now that the other participant had died. There also begs the possibility of the Holy Spirit manifesting itself in cognizable form, possibly to force me into this analysis. The truth is, I'll never know, but that won't stop me from asking.

Naturally, I had many questions. For instance, how does one become a ghost? Is the word "ghost" offensive to such wandering entities, akin to words such as "midget" or "Indian?" Was he or she ever alive, and if then, human? If and when he or she died, did he or she face judgment in the Kingdom of Heaven? Could I then use that as proof of the existence of such?

It is obvious that our guest is not here with malevolent intent, as he or she has been in this house as long or longer than we have, and my family has been fine for just as long. To tell the honest truth, I actually feel really good about having a spirit in the house. For one, it's no secret that I loathe humanity and those who are cursed with it, so having an ethereal being to call a roommate and almost a friend is a blessing for me. Also, there's some solace in the idea that during any given time of the night there is someone in my house who is awake. My "friend" may or may not be able to do anything about intruders, but the comfort is still there.

When I told my dad about my experience this morning, he told me that he was suddenly and inexplicably awakened at or around the time I saw my friend (11:30 pm Central on Tuesday, January 9, 2007). This bolsters my story a little more effectively, but that the phantasm appeared to me and then possibly woke my father up begs even more questions. However, like it or not, I have quite the fascinating roommate and night time company.