The Ghost of Graham's Grandmother
A Short Story
by Janette Nicoll
Graham had called in to see us. My grandmother passed away a few weeks ago he said. "I am sorry to hear that" was my reply with compassion in my words, but I failed to see how that could help us.
My husband, Peter and I were looking for a house to rent, we had our first child, a boy, four weeks ago. We were living in a small apartment and found ourselves in a crowded situation not comprehending the stuff needed for a baby until we came home from the hospital and started living as a family.
Well Graham said, my father and his two brothers have inherited her house and I heard them discussing what they were going to do with it. They were unsure if they wanted to keep it or sell it and this discussion went on for hours the other night.
My ears pricked at this information, a house in Leichhardt, the suburb where my mother had been raised and only fifteen minutes from Peter's work place. An old suburb of Sydney but central to everywhere. My excitement grew as I thought of being able to rent this house, having a yard and being able to also offer a home to our old family dog, Lassie. Mum and Dad were purchasing a unit and would not be able to take Lassie with them and no one else in the family could take her either. Graham said he would speak to his father that night and let us know in a couple of days.
So it was decided that we could rent the house on a temporary basis. I imagined this condition being part of the agreement because it would give Graham's family time to consider the situation and come to terms with their grief. Of course there was the problem of a lifetime of furniture and stuff for them to deal with. As it was a large house, one of the conditions of our rental was no garage and the fourth bedroom at the back of the house was off limits to us, as this was where all her stuff was to be stored.
We moved in and set up our new home. Lassie moved in with us, we were a family. Peter and I took the front bedroom and our baby boy was in the bedroom next to ours.
What was that noise? I awoke from sleep and rushed into the next room, Paul was in his crib sleeping peacefully, the room was warm and cosy. Something outside I decided and went back to bed, noticing how cold our bedroom was, not like the baby's room, as I dozed back to sleep.
Peter worked shift work and arrived home early the next morning before I was up. He lit the fire in the lounge room and came into our bedroom with Paul, noticing how cold it was in there. We left the bedroom and went out to the kitchen. I noticed a cup, saucer and plate on the sink. Odd I thought. I put everything away before I went to bed last night. After breakfast we let Lassie inside to warm her old bones in front of the fireplace. She was very unsettled and would not sit still. I put Paul on a baby bouncer on the floor of the lounge room and she immediately sat next to him, with a very worried look on her face.
I was in the kitchen and I could hear Lassie growling very quietly and looked to see what was wrong - nothing! She was still laying very close to Paul. As I went back to what I was doing I thought I saw a shadow move out the doorway towards the laundry. I turned to look. Nothing! The bedroom/storage room door was in the laundry. I checked the door knob...it was locked.
Peter had gone to bed and hopefully would sleep most of the day as he was on night shift. I fed the baby and put him to sleep in his crib in his bedroom, once again noticing how warm his room was, but I did note that the fireplace was on the other side of his wall adjoining the lounge room. I cleaned the kitchen and put things away and then proceeded to do the endless nappy and baby clothes washing. No automatic washing machine in those days, so washing was a real chore and a lot of time was spent by mothers in the laundry. As I was working over the tubs and wringer once again I thought I heard a noise. I listened attentively - no, nothing! I took the clean items outside to hang them on the clothesline. Lassie was laying in the winter sun. As I finished the pegging out I called her to come inside with me. I turned to walk inside and again I saw the shadow and so did Lassie. She moved in front of me and started to bark and growl...the shadow disappeared. I did see something I thought, and so did the dog. The fine hairs on my body were standing on edge. As I tentatively walked inside with Lassie at my side I wondered what I had seen. I was not scared but I knew something strange had just happened. Lassie went straight to the door of the storage room and was sniffing the around the bottom, I checked the door knob...it was locked.
I went into the kitchen and sat down at the table trying to comprehend what I had seen. I looked toward the sink and there was a cup, saucer and plate where not too long ago I had cleaned and put everything away.
We lived in this house for about a year and a half until we had saved enough money for a deposit on our brand new home. There were many experiences of Graham's Grandmother living with us. The crockery never stopped appearing on the kitchen sink. Peter had tropical fish in a large tank and once when he was overdue cleaning the water and moss had grown on the inside of the glass, we found that the glass had been cleaned...neither of us had done it. The noises and bumps never ceased we found out that they come from the storage room which was always locked the whole time we live there.
Her presence just became part of our lives, except Lassie, she never really came to terms with the spirit dwelling there. Although she did stop the growling and never let the baby out of her sight, always sitting beside him like a protector.
I tried to make contact with Graham's Grandmother. She never acknowledged me but I did feel she was quite happy having us live there. We never felt in danger of fearful of her.
I later thought that she was the reason the baby's bedroom was always cosy. I think she liked having a baby living in her old home and I often felt her in his room just watching. Maybe that is why the dog was so protective, poor old Lassie may have thought that this spirit wanted to take her baby away from her?
Adapted from a true experience.
A ghost is defined as the apparition of a deceased person, frequently similar in appearance to that person, and usually encountered in places she or he frequented, or in association with the person's former belongings. The word "ghost" may also refer to the spirit of a deceased person.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghosts)