I submitted a story several months ago about a long conversation I had with my deceased father one night. Since then, things have been exactly as he said they would be. Life has gotten harder. But, I think he's doing exactly what he said he would do. He said he would be right there with me.
I have noticed often that when my oldest child (who is 14) is not at home someone walks around in her bedroom, which is right above mine. My second oldest child (who is 8) is afraid to play or sleep upstairs in his bedroom, so he stays downstairs. He says somebody else lives there. When pressed about it, he says he doesn't know who it is, but they have pushed the screen out of his window several times (once when he wasn't even inside the house). He says somebody moves his stuff around his room, so he doesn't want to go up there.
My daughter, on the other hand, is not afraid. She is more accepting of the situation. She also hears someone walking in her room at night. They have knocked over a lamp while she was sleeping, and while she was awake she and a friend watched a heavy coffee mug that is in the shape of a unicorn head move across her dresser and fall to the floor (this happened on what would have been my parents' anniversary). Most recently, she woke up from a deep sleep to the sound of her Elvis Presley snow globe playing music. It wasn't on the dresser where it belongs, though. It was in her recliner. I asked her why she didn't come downstairs or yell for me, and she said she just said "OK, Leon. I hear ya". She is convinced it is my father, and I lean towards believing her because she has talked about a tall, thin man with dark hair since she was able to speak. She used to call him "the red man". She hasn't spoken of him in several years, but she is getting older and she knows it scares me.
Several people suggested that I speak to him to let him know I acknowledge his presence. I have been doing this each night when I lock up the house, but I have only had one personal experience since our conversation. My husband takes my children to school in the mornings so I can get dressed for work in peace. We recently got a puppy, and he is a ball of fire. There is a door leading to the stairs that take you to my two older kids' rooms, and we keep it bolt locked because we have two year old twins who aren't allowed upstairs. Everyone had left for school, and I had just gotten out of the shower and was getting dressed for work. The puppy had somehow gotten locked upstairs and was crying and the sound was irritating me. I intended to go let him out as soon as I was dressed.
I heard the back door to the house open and close, then the door to upstairs open (it is very heavy and very loud), and a man's voice say "Titan, come on!" (Titan is the dog's name). I thought my daughter had forgotten something and come back into the house. I knew it didn't sound like her voice, but that was the most logical explanation. I walked into the kitchen to wait for her to come back down so I could make sure she had what she needed, but she never came down. I opened the door (the puppy was already out at this point), and yelled for her. She didn't answer. I walked outside and saw that my husband's car wasn't there. They were long gone. Being the chicken that I am, I threw my shoes on and showed up to work twenty minutes early.
My dad was known to be a prankster in life, and I have been told over and over that my daughter has his personality. I don't know if he has "shown himself" to her for all these years because she is a lot like him, but I think it's pretty neat that she has a bond with him. I just wish I could get over my fear because I really would love to talk to him again. That conversation changed my life.
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Ghostly98