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Silhouettes And Shivers

 

Surprise, surprise! We had only been at Nicky's home for a couple of hours when I had my first 'experience'. All members of our little family were still present.

But let me start at the beginning.

Nicky, our eldest daughter, had once more asked me to baby/house-sit for her. She, and a long-time friend, had planned to go on a sea cruise from Durban to the Portuguese island of Pomene in the Indian Ocean, aboard the MSC Sinfonia. A friend/client managed to get her a fat discount on the trip. She deserved a break after the flurry of getting her 'adopted' daughter (Shenay, our granddaughter, and her niece) clothed (strict uniform) and settled in her new high school.

Ray, my husband, took me through on the morning of Saturday, 17th February. He had planned to put up a ceiling fan in Nicky's loft bedroom. The ladder available was too short, so his day's work was cancelled. We spent most of the day having lunch, and chatting, on the patio.

After lunch, Nicky went upstairs to put drops in her eyes, as she had an allergy which was affecting them. She lay on her bed, and I guess she fell asleep, although she says no. (But who takes almost three quarters of an hour to put drops in their eyes?)

I was sitting on the other side of the table, facing the open glass sliding door leading to the lounge and open-plan kitchen. Ray and Shenay were sitting opposite me with their backs to the interior. Movement inside caught my eye. As I watched, the silhouette of a person emerged from the passageway which led from the downstairs bedrooms and bathroom, moving towards the kitchen island. (Five steps, I counted them later.) I blinked, and the figure was gone.

On the Wednesday, while Shenay was at school, I sat outside reading at the patio table. I was in a chair facing the garden gate with the glass door to my left. Once again, movement caught my eye. This time, it was a reflection in the glass. I glanced up in time to see a dark mass glide past and disappear through the 6ft brick wall which surrounds the property.

On Thursday, I had my most surprising experience.

I was once more seated at the patio table, reading. (I manage a lot of reading while there.) This time I was in the chair nearest the gate, with my back to the interior. In front of me, and slightly to my left, are three quite large elephant ear plants growing along the wall. (Colocasia, for those who require the botanical name.) Suddenly, there was a sneeze from the direction of the plants. It sounded like one of the dogs. I peered around the chair which was obscuring a clear view of the ground at the base of the nearest plant, wondering which of the two dogs it was. No dogs in sight. At that moment, the nearest plant... Shivered! I didn't want to believe my eyes. The plants had been swaying in the breeze, but this was different. The other two plants were dead still, as there was a lull in the breeze. The two dogs were lying on the opposite side of the garden, enjoying the patch of sunlight which the shifting clouds had revealed. Both their heads were up, looking startled, in the direction of the elephant ear plants.

On reflection, I wonder if Nicky has an elemental residing in her garden?

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Comments about this paranormal experience

The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, Fergie, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

Fergie (40 stories) (1159 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2018-04-04)
Babygoatpuller, I am still getting over the fact that my youngest granddaughter is a Teenager! We collected her this morning to spend the rest of the Autumn break with us. Thankfully, Shen has adjusted well, and her first term marks are not bad at all. I will see if I can drag her away from her computer and/or phone to have an intelligent conversation with me, lol. I will do my best to worm any further information from her. I must say though, Shen has never mentioned feeling scared at her/Nicky's home. I am sure she would have told me, if that was the case.

Somehow, I don't think the shadow in the house has anything to do with the garden... Who knows, I might be wrong. It's just a gut feeling I have. This elemental, or whatever it is, just feels... Different. I don't know how to explain it. 😕

Thank you, as always, for reading and your comment. ❤
babygoatpuller (4 stories) (432 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2018-04-04)
Wow Fergie, it's hard to believe Shen is already in high school! I do hope she's adjusting well to it. 😊

So now you've got sneezing breezes and shivering elephant ears. 😉 Do you think the elemental and the shadow figure in the house are connected or could it be two complete different entities?

It or they don't seem to evoke any fear from anyone so doesn't sound like anything to worry about. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to get Shenay to open up a little more to you about what she's seen and how she feels about it. Might help to get a little closer to what's going on.

Thank you for sharing Fergie. I always enjoy reading your accounts! ❤
Fergie (40 stories) (1159 posts)
+2
7 years ago (2018-04-04)
Tweed, *sigh* sadly, I was completely incommunicado in the internet department. I have only a desk model PC at home, so I have no YGS while I am house-sitting. 😢

I agree, Nicky's home does seem to be quite active. I am sure, if Nicky wasn't so busy always, she would pick up on more. She seldom notices anything besides an occasional visit from Angel - and then those need to be 'in you face' type visits.
Nothing scary ever happens there; but then again, I don't seem to have scary encounters (well, not for me, anyway!)

Your last comment lame? I thought it was cute and witty! Anyway, it made me smile. 😁
Tweed (36 stories) (2529 posts)
+2
7 years ago (2018-04-03)
Fergie, were you reading YGS during any of this? 😆

Sounds like a super active place and laid back by the way you write about it, good stuff. Kind of fascinating how some places are just active while others not so much. Glad you had a supernatural time!

That was so very lame, apologies. 😐
Fergie (40 stories) (1159 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2018-03-31)
Rex-T, I'm beginning to wonder if there is more than one spirit at Nicky's home, though your theory about a changing spirit, is a good one.
Let's see; it can switch lights on and off; it can turn the radio off and make motion sensor lights go on - those are the electrical things. It can also open locked (?) gates. Then there are the shadows or silhouettes, and now a sneezing, shivering plant.
Oh yes, I nearly forgot about the dog in the living room. I am starting to think that home is alive with spirits, all of them benign.

Shenay has seen spirits at her home, but seldom speaks about them. I think she has just made a habit of keeping quiet about these things in general. She has been warned (by us) to guard her 'secrets/abilities'- not everyone is open-minded.

Oh Rex, I can just imagine you sitting on that patio, next to the elephant ear, surrounded by the bees, geckos and fairies, reading to them. The pot stickers, you will have to forego, but maybe I could organize some milk-tart and koeksusters. 😜
Fergie (40 stories) (1159 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2018-03-31)
CuriousDee, I'm not fazed by these images. I don't know, maybe I am blase, or maybe because I have never encountered a scary spirit (except for my experience in the prison - if that even was a spirit.) I don't get bad vibes from them. So when these things happen, I just have a wth moment, or a little chill of excitement, run up my spine.

I wonder if the mystery of the 'garden inhabitant' will ever be cleared up? I would simply love to know what it is.

Thanks for you comment, CuriousDee. 😊
Fergie (40 stories) (1159 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2018-03-31)
Jubeele. I promised to wait for you, didn't I? I always try to keep my word. 😉

I think I was just lucky to have been where I was to see the figure in the kitchen. Right time; right place. I wish the others could have seen it too.
Nicky has told me of a shadowy figure she sees, either at the top of her stairs, or descending them. The figure has also been seen by Shen, and by a regular visitor to their home.

The front gate is 6ft high, to match the garden walls. Nicky had to make her little garden as secure as possible, as her one pooch is an escape artist. The gate is secured by a sliding bolt which then gets a lock slotted through, which is always kept locked. I am positive, only cats could get into the garden unseen, but then the dogs go crazy.

Lol, Jubeele, if it was an Aziza fairy, it must be quite big, to have sneezed so loudly. BTW, thank you for the article - very interesting. I must admit, I have never heard of these creatures before. I guess they must All be from a culture further north than us. We only have the Tokolosh around these parts.
Rex-T (5 stories) (288 posts)
+2
7 years ago (2018-03-31)
Fergie,

I'm now starting to wonder if there is one spirit at Nicky's home which has the ability to change it's attention grabbing behavior every time you visit.

Jubeele raises a good question about whether Nicky or Shen feel or have seen anything strange. If not, is the spirit/s only interested in you and why?

Got to say having a real fairy in the 'bottom of the garden' would be quite amusing, particularly the sneezing and shivering elephant ears.

I have to admit I'm greedy - I'd love to sit next to the elephant ears reading your's, Jubeele's and CuriousDee's experiences to the fairy while munching on pot stickers.
CuriousDee (8 stories) (631 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2018-03-31)
Fergie, your experiences sound fascinating! I'm curious; Did you feel scared or unnerved at all? Usually, from what I've encountered, when someone sees a black mist or shadow person, they are frightened. It seems you weren't fazed at all.

I also wonder if there is an elemental in her garden. I admit, I don't know too much on the subject, but if the shoe fits... I would think the dogs would have investigated or at least barked, so it doesn't sound like an animal.
Jubeele (26 stories) (899 posts)
+2
7 years ago (2018-03-30)
Fergie, what an eventful house-sitting you had. It's interesting that whatever entity there was in the house only showed itself to you. It seemed to pick just the right (or wrong) moment when Ray or Shenay were facing away, and Nicky was upstairs. Does Nicky or Shen see or feel anything at all in the house?

Hmm, maybe you might also get Nicky to double-check the security of the gate; in case some neighbour's child has been slipping into the garden...?

Still, I do wonder if there's a nature spirit (woodland or earth?) quietly dwelling in the garden. If a stray dog, cat or strange person had wandered in, I think the dogs would instantly be up and on alert at the intruder on their territory. But then they only looked startled at the single moving elephant ear plant. I find that strange. 🤔

Wouldn't it be nice if there was a shy little Aziza fairy sheltering in Nicky's garden? Though they're supposed to be from Benin in West Africa:
Http://www.blog.kugali.com/five-mythical-african-creatures-you-probably-havent-heard-of/

Thanks for "waiting" to post your latest. I wouldn't have missed it for all the pot stickers in the wok. 😘

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