My Little Shadow: Chapter 4

Playing with the shadows

“What is it Bogey? What is it, boy?”

The dog lifted his head and stared into the hallway. Head cocked, as if listening to someone, he let out a low woof. With a sigh, he stood and sauntered into the hallway, looking back to invite me to follow him.

“Okay, okay. I’m coming. Lucky for you I need to get up and walk around anyway, dog.” A shiver ran down my spine. I could feel a presence in the house. Same presence I’d encountered when Wendy left.

Eyes narrowed, I stared into the doorway to the kitchen, where the spirit of a young girl, peeked around the corner at me. Around ten-years-old, a sneaky, underhanded energy surrounded her. She was trying to hide herself from me, which is why I could only see her in shadow, sensing rather than seeing her. There was no interest in talking with me at all.

Spirits in our home was nothing new. It didn’t make me uncomfortable to have her in the house with me. Her energy felt off. Wrong. As if she didn’t belong here, in the earthly plane or the house. I sensed she needed to cross over and could help her with that, but she wanted nothing to do with crossing over. Or me.

I like it where I am and don’t want to leave. I don’t want to go away.

In that split second, I knew what to do. I practiced reverse psychology on her.

As I mulled over her words, and her firm desire to not go away, I failed to acknowledge her words and walked to the back door. I called Bogey over and put him outside for some fresh air. Her eyes watched my every move. I stayed the course and pretended she wasn’t even there.

Bogey followed me in the laundry room a little later. So did the shadow. She stood behind the dryer door watching me. Her curiosity was palpable as she watched me doing my chores.

It was time. I tried talking to her again.

Hey there! I like how warm the laundry is when it comes out of the dryer, do you?

There was no answer. Didn’t need to be one. Her inching closer to me, curious energy reaching out to me, told me everything she didn’t want me to know.

The shrill quacking of a digital duck interrupted our fun in the laundry room. There was a text waiting for me. Duck quacking told me it was from my friend, Tony, whom I’d known since Rudy was a baby.

Tony: Hey. What’s up?

Me: Hey Tony. Nothing much. Pretty typical day.

Tony: Why do you feel odd? Like there is a negativity around you.

Me: Hahahahaha Right, well, yeah. Kind of. What else are picking up?

There was a pause in our conversation. I wandered back into the kitchen and got a glass of water. Another text came in as I sat back at the desk.

Tony: So who is the little girl?

Me: lol Not sure. Still working it out. Who do you think she is?

Tony: She feels stuck. Older than she looks. Attached to an energy, but not yours. Not at first. She’s drawn to your Mom-energy now.

Tony and I chatted a while longer before he had to sign off to do some work. As the director of a senior citizens residence, his career path had taken him exactly where he needed to be. His mediumship abilities allowed Tony to tap into the needs and desires of the seniors in a way no one else could. Watching him work with the seniors made me smile and reminded me how blessed I was to have such a talented medium and caring man as a brother-by-choice.

Geordie and I picked Rudy up at seven-thirty and headed to our favourite ice cream shop to pick up dessert, not that Rudy needed the extra treat. We pulled into the driveway as Carly exited Sylvia’s car. Waving to Johanna’s mother as I walked up to the house, I noticed a shadow in the office window.

Fear mixed with worry, then relief, as I unlocked the door and entered, dropping my purse onto the credenza in the office before heading into the kitchen.

We took our bowls, piled high with ice cream, and retired to the family room for dessert. Time to visit with our favourite TV family, The Simpson. Bart’s disrespectful antics never failed to entertain us.

One episode in, the kids dumped their dishes in the sink and yawned in unison.

“Good night, Mumma. Good night, Daddy. See you tomorrow.”

“Good night, sweetheart. Love you. Sleep well, baby.” I squeezed my baby boy tight. It was unbelievable to me that he would be in junior high in the fall.

“Good night, Buddy. Love you. See you in the morning.” Love inflated my chest as I watched Geordie embrace our son.

Years are flying by us. Our babies aren’t babies anymore. Heart constricting with the passage of time, I turned to my not-so-little firstborn.

“Good night, Missy. Love you. See you in the morning.”

“Good night, Mummy. Good night, Daddy. See you tomorrow.”

Hugging my baby girl was melancholic. Their childhoods were slipping away by far too fast. Look on Geordie’s face said he had the same thoughts going through his head.

“Good night, baby girl. Love you. Sleep well.” The kids missed their father’s misty eyes as he wished them good night, but I didn’t. I understood it. Some days it felt as if we were still kids ourselves, never mind watching our babies becoming young adults.

Carly and Rudy scrubbed Bogey behind his ears, dropped a kiss on his head, and called out their nightly send-off in unison.

“Good night, Bogey. We love you.” This chorus began when Bogey was a puppy and got crated when we left the house. Every time we left him, we would all sing out ‘Goodbye Bogey, we love you’ as we locked the door behind us. We still do that, although he only uses his crate once in a while these days. When we have guests with young children and he needs to escape, which is when I wish I had a crate of my own, too.

My loving smile followed the kids down the hall to the stairs. I noticed there were three children walking away from me. Carly, Rudy, and our new little houseguest, whoever she was.

Good night, little one. Have a good sleep. Will I see you tomorrow?

Her little shadow faltered, a sense of confusion and inclusion overwhelming her. Thrilled I lumped her in with my children, she gave me a slight nod as she grabbed the newel post like the did and waved to me before following them upstairs.

It didn’t worry me to have her upstairs with the kids. They learned years ago how to protect themselves from spiritual or psychic attacks. They’d be fine.

I cuddled into Geordie’s arms and turned our attention back to Netflix and choosing a movie for the night. Days like this were what made the sacrifices necessary to follow our dreams and be entrepreneurs worth it.

To keep reading, check out the next chapter here:

If you wish to read this story from the beginning, start here, with My Little Shadow: Chapter 1: