Old enough to sleep on a mattress on the floor, I took the single bed in the front bedroom at my grandparents' farm that night. I don't remember how long Grandma had been gone by that time, but I do remember that I still missed her. I still became teary-eyed thinking that I'd never see her again. And for some reason I was thinking of her as I settled down alone that night.
My sisters were in the full bed on the other side of the room, several feet off the ground and safe from any creatures that might creep across the old oak floor, breathing quietly in the deep sleep of children.
Summer nights on the Texas coast could be still and dark and heavy. "Close" my kin would say. Where I lay was well below the windowsill and the night air had definitely been close all night. I had kicked off my sheets and stretched out flat on the thin mattress in my short cotton nightgown. I tried really hard not to think about the scorpion that Grandpa had killed in the other bedroom the previous summer. It hadn't been very large, but it terrified me and my sisters for a long time afterward. Usually all of us got to sleep up on the beds but that night the house was full of family and I was old enough to take a floor bed. Old enough and brave enough. Or so I thought.
I have the worry gene and very good hearing. Tiny noises convinced me that a giant scorpion, its tale full of poison, was creeping across the floor toward my mattress. Mom and Dad were playing 42 with the aunts and uncles at the other end of the house. They would probably have heard my screams, but I convinced myself they'd never get to me in time. And opening my mouth would only invite that monster from my mind to pounce. So I just tried to keep thinking about Grandma, about her smile and her cool hands and her sweet, sweet iced tea.
That's when the breeze touched me. Cool and soft, it drifted over my face. No other part of my body felt anything, just my face. Like a kiss blown from the palm of Grandma's hand. Instantly my fear eased. The tiny noises disappeared and I was able to open my eyes and look around. Moonlight filled the dark room and I could see that there was nothing to fear. I was convinced that Grandma had come to comfort and protect me, and I was able to drift off to sleep like my little sisters.
Some would say that breeze came through the open windows, a cross-current sweeping through the bayview farmhouse that early summer night. But I rarely experienced a night breeze there, just a hot and sticky stillness.
Now a cool breeze is weak evidence of afterlife, but that night I was certain that Grandma had come to visit. Even now, decades later, I'll take that incident as proof that some part of us continues beyond death. How about you? What are your experiences? Share.
And if you send me an email at t_thackston@yahoo.com that contains the name of any of the reviewers in the links below, I’ll enter your name into a drawing that I will hold July 5 for a $20 Barnes and Noble gift card.
Review site links:
http://www.theromancestudio.com/reviews/reviews/finalwordsthackston.htm
“I was on the edge of my seat for much of the story…”
http://www.paranormalromance.org/reviews/review.php?id=27963
“This is a great mystery with a spooky twist.”
http://www.theromancereadersconnection.com/reviews2/thackstonteri1508.html
“The story is guaranteed to keep you engrossed from the very first page.”
For a spooky, sensuous read, I hope you’ll check out FINAL WORDS at http://www.cerridwenpress.com/productpage.asp?ISBN=9781419915246
Teri
4 comments:
After my grandma died, I used to smell her perfume and dream about her whenever I was worried or sad. Her presence always comforted me. Once I hit my teens, all that disappeared, and I miss that.
Teri,
I love the ghost stories. I think we all have experienced one or two things that has given us chills and made us question the whole ghost issue.
P.S. Congrats on the reviews.
Christie Craig
Chiming in with my one experience that I had. I was about 12 years of age. We were living in Kentucky at the time. We had been there about a year. My father was in the service and my best friend from our last station overseas, Germany, was supposed to be coming back to the United States. We had driven to Columbia to visit with my grandmother before heading to Charleston to welcome them back home from Germany. We made it to Charleston, found out their plane had been delayed, and then when the flight they were supposed to be on finally arrived they weren't on it. We disappointingly headed back up to Columbia and then home to Kentucky. It was late at night (I have no idea what time - but had to be after midnight). I slept in a totally dark room, door closed no light from windows or anything. My bed was in one corner on the same wall as my door. The other wall had my dresser and desk and an available corner - nothing there. I was awkened to a light in my room in that corner. I sat there staring, blinking for a few moments. The apparition told me not to worry about my friend because they had missed the flight and all was well. It was a good thing they had missed their flight because something had happened on the flight they were supposed to take, so they caught a later one - maybe a few days later or something - I don't remember all the details of why they had missed their flight. But the ghostly angel - she was definitely a guardian angel - was very reassuring and after informing me that my friend would be back in the states in a few days disappeared and I went back to sleep, comforted and in peace.
I woke the next day and asked my parents if they had heard any more about the family and my father told me they had contacted us to let us know they would be back a few days later. But we couldn't meet them but we assured that everything was well.
I believe in angels and ghosts and know they do come to us in our times of trouble or feeling down and sad about life in general. They do comfort us, they look out for us. They are around us everywhere. Some have the sole job of never leaving earth because they have to protect us from those "monsters" (like the giant scorpion or fear that something dreadful has happened).
Although this happened over 30 years ago, I still remember that night. Can't tell you the exact date but I can tell you it happened. - see you in the postings - E :)
Thank you, Elysabeth. I, too, believe in angels. I've felt their presence too many times to believe that we are alone.
Teri
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