I'm Liz Sauer and this is Ghosts in The Burbs, a podcast of ghost stories from Wellesley Massachusetts, a warning adults who use adult language told me these frightening tales. These ghost stories aren't for kids. I've begun my full immersion into our lovely spooky season. I watched the ninth gate last night, a cozy book mystery wrapped in the devil worship tonight. I'm continuing my dead files binge.
No one will ever replace Amy Allen, but Cindy Caza is carving out a truly spooky path of her own on the show and I'll probably watch the frighteners. I'm doing my very best to remain in a cozy terror mindset, but I'm sure we can all agree that reality is too freaking terrifying right now. Wait till you get a load of what my neighbor has to share.
I'm almost sorry to tell you this next story, story is coming up next month, but for now, we're on to go story number 73 a never ending stream of chatter this past summer, we made our fifth move in 10 years. Of course, that's neither unique nor impressive. But while they've all been predictably disruptive, this one was aggravatingly so finally in bed on moving day, I realized that my hips hurt, my ankles ached. I'm getting too old for this rigmarole.
The basement flooded the first night and again, two days later, Chris broke his big toe tripping down the stairs. The oven isn't working and I don't know if it's user error or an actual problem. And I'm not entirely sure who to call to ask for help. The neighborhood is much busier and super friendly, which is awesome. But the dogs monitor the windows and bark constantly. It's the first week of school as I break this.
Thank God, I can begin to see a glimmer of some semblance of a schedule and just in time, I don't know what I would have done with even one more week of summer vacation. I mean, of course, I do. I would have continued on jumping from request and activity to request and activity in a never ending chain of reactivity and obligation and no one would have noticed or cared. But inside trust, I would be burning with the rage infused boredom of 1000 sons. Anyway, thank God. It's finally autumn.
Yeah, I know not technically but fuck off. I need this. Mum's arrived out front of the Roche brothers. So in my mind, it's officially fall. I was arranging said mums, I bought six and a planter in front of the new house, avoiding both unpacking boxes and my family. When I felt a hand on my shoulder nerve and that I am. I jumped about a foot, banged my elbow on the railing beside the front steps and blurted, goddamn it. We have a ghost in the house, by the way.
Actually, he stays in the detached garage. He's very nice and quiet and just wants to hang out there. This had actually been his house for years and he approves of the changes to it, but he'd like to continue to exist in the space and has asked for privacy. I told him we'd do our best, but we needed the garage to store our bikes and the snow blower and the garbage cans, yada, yada. And he said that was fine. But hope we kept our visits to a minimum deal. I agreed.
I haven't told Chris, he's convinced there's something in the closet of the attic office. I've assured him that it's empty. He doesn't believe me. He said he heard noises in there and pushed the filing cabinet in front of the door. So I'm not telling him about Mr Darby, the garage ghost. If I do, I'll have to be the one in charge of garbage day. And for the life of me, I can't keep that date in mind and I'm, I'm pretty sure it's Monday, but I don't know.
Anyway, I only bring up the ghost because I just run into him in the garage. I got in to grab the planters and he gave me the jump scare of a lifetime. He wedges himself in the corner in a little space between where the, these like two plastic shelving units meet the planters were on one of those shelves and I was listening to a podcast and I glanced over and there he was like, inches from my face. So annoying.
Anyhow, that's why I was a little on edge and may have overreacted a touch when my new neighbor Katie snuck up behind me and said they repelled ticks and then sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. No, it's fine. I reassured her rubbing my elbow. I was just saying the chrysanthemums, they repel ticks. I'll take it. I replied, Katie was in workout gear, black leggings, chunky weight sneakers, a sporty tank top hair and a high bun, a tall woman.
She had a couple inches on me and I'm pretty tall, but those sneakers could have added an inch or so. We've chatted on the sidewalk a handful of times since my family had moved in. She lived diagonally to us and had just sent her kids, two boys off to college, a freshman at Northeastern and a junior at some place in North Carolina or maybe Nebraska. I don't know. She asked after the girls and Chris, I asked after her family, her husband Jay traveled quite a bit for work.
I couldn't remember what he did exactly. But I had the sense it was something business like office related something, something reorganization. He was usually in a button down a time. Anyway, an awkward silence fell. I just wanted to get back to the damn bums. The neighborhood was so much friendlier than our last, much more welcoming. At the same time, it was hard to go outside without having to socialize.
Well, I began about to make an awkward parting comment just as Katie said, I read your blog. Oh, shit, I thought, and then for some reason I said, oh, I'm sorry. No, it's fascinating. I started and I couldn't stop. I read every story over the course of two days. Oh no, it's all real right. I know it. So you really can see ghosts and other things I can. I replied, wondering where this was headed. I liked Katie. I liked having a nice surface, pleasant neighbor relationship with her.
In fact, I like to keep most of my relationships light and pleasant right now. Don't get me wrong if anyone needs anything, I'm here to help. But quick five minute chats are all I have in me at the moment. Like everyone else, I have a fuck ton on my mind and my attention is getting pulled in so many directions right now that I've been really struggling to keep track of everything to accomplish what needs doing in a day. It's begun to freak me out a bit.
I used to be able to manage so much more I could socialize and have three different projects going. Remember what the kids needed and keep the house running. But I'm losing my edge. Part of me doesn't care. I don't feel motivated to keep so many balls in the air, but I do want to be able to do the things I set out to accomplish every day and I don't even have a centimeter in my calendar for one more person's needs. And I had the sense Katie was about to need something.
I just wondered if I could. Well, it's just that I have this situation and oh, her hand shot up to the back of her neck. Ouch. Are you all right? I asked, she glanced toward her house, then back at me. Yes. Sorry. Must have been a b they're everywhere lately. I offered, she looked back at her house again, but this time for an extended period. Well, I tried again, awkwardly wanting out of this interaction. I'm seeing something. I need your help. Katie said quickly.
I'm sorry, he won't stop talking. So it's hard for me to concentrate. A ghost, I guess. Definitely not clear. Muttered. No, Katie replied. It's she winced. Look, maybe you could come over for tea or coffee or whatever you'd like to drink tomorrow morning after school. Drop off. Sure. That would be nice. I lied. Spooked. I'll see you. Then she said, then turned on her heel and jogged back across the street. Is it safe to go over there? I asked under my breath. Trying not to stare for you.
I think so for her. I guess it depends on how much she tells you. Claire replied, is there a demon across the goddamn street? I muttered, straightening out the mums. No, it's not a demon. Don't make it obvious. But I turned and stared at Katie's yard. Claire sighed. What am I looking for? I asked and then I saw him, he was standing in the shadows at the back of the house so I couldn't get a good look at him, but I could tell it was a tall man in a suit with short dark hair and glasses.
He was staring right back at me. So I raised my hand to wave. He didn't respond. Spooky. I muttered, climbing the front steps. Will you go over there with me tomorrow? Mm. I'll stay until it gets too weird. Claire replied, it was excruciatingly hot that following morning we were finally getting a taste of the horrendous heat. So many people had dealt with that summer, the air was heavy and it felt like the front end of a bad storm. I've been obsessing over the hurricane coverage on Tiktok.
One of my favorite ways to dissociate and a storm named Lee was all the talk. It was 10 days away. Meteorologists assured us that it wouldn't make a direct hit on the east coast, but tiktok is agreed. My little prepper stash was stocked and ready for a power outage and I'd stocked up on a few extra groceries just in case. Prepping is such a lovely distraction from daily life. And yes, I know that sounds fucking privileged and careless. There have been too many tragedies to count this year.
Too much devastation. And it seems it's only getting worse as for prepping. It's only your best guess at what's to come. Right. During COVID, I found myself in the basement surrounded by candles and seeds and batteries, scarfing down the hostess cupcakes.
I had stockpiled that disaster only needed us to stay home if we were able a fire, medical emergency, water damage or some other something that I can't imagine those are more likely than a clean and easy power outage and a week or so of store closings. I suppose. I'm always prepping for the disaster. I want a cozy couple of days without electricity, surrounded by candles and sweets instead of the one that I suspect is really on the way. Time will tell.
In fact, by the time you read this or listen, we'll know what's to become of that cat five monster Lee, not to mention ho the other cat five churning out in the Atlantic. One thing is indisputable, the storms are getting stronger and faster and they just keep coming. If Katie is to be believed, what we've experienced over the last few years has been a warning. Only the tiniest taste of what is possible if we don't get our shit together.
As I said, it was hot as I climbed Katie's driveway, I just dropped the youngest two off at the elementary school walking. There was a mistake. They were overheated and pink cheeked by the time we made the trek and now I was dripping with sweat and agitated. Katie's house is an absurdly charming cape with a matching detached garage set atop a little nole and set back from the street.
It's easily one of my favorite houses in town out front, there's a pretty retaining wall about 3 ft high that runs along the sidewalk, holding the front strip of lawn in place. The house itself is nestled in happy healthy limelight. I dr of bushes and a scattering of holly and rhododendron. I was really looking forward to getting a peek inside the pretty cottage until I spotted the open windows. No air conditioning.
There were window, a CS sticking out of the two second floor windows, but no such luck on the first floor. I wondered if it would be rude to ask to sit in our bedroom for our chat. Don't be such a snob. I told myself wiping a hand across my forehead before reaching out to ring the doorbell through the door. I could hear the ticking of tiny paws, followed by heavier footsteps. A muffled voice and then the door swung open. Come in. I have iced coffee and all the fans are going.
It's not so bad in the kitchen. Katie wore a bright flowy calf tan and held her dog stew. A pudgy Yorkshire terrier in her arms. Without thinking, I reached out and took him from her. He was one of the cutest dogs I've ever known. Lazy as all. Get out and perfectly happy to be carted around. Neither of them protested. Katie just let me take him seemingly relieved to have someone else to lug him around and Stuy just sniffed my cheek, then shifted his little bum against my hip to get comfortable.
I followed Katie through the kitchen, gawking at the dining room and family room. As we went, the interior did not disappoint. I saved countless images of the exact design style on Pinterest. I don't know exactly what you call it.
It's a lot of white fabric, white canvas or wool upholstery, slouchy off white pillows, a small pattern wallpaper here or there again in shades of white bordering on blush, then deep dark wooden accents, a chest of drawers here, a wooden chair there details lots of details but not cutesy ones, curated ones inherited collected cared for art on the walls, real art in wooden frames, gilded with real gold leaf. It's part New England, part someplace gloriously southern part American horror story.
The type of setting where gorgeous willowy women might decide to do horribly deprived evil. Also the perfect place to cozy up on the white couch with stew to doze off while rereading an Agatha raisin. The kitchen was equally as dreamy white cabinets with black knobs. A freaking pink Pain Island calamine by Pharaoh and Ball. I asked a round reclaimed wood table was slip covered graham chairs and a hutch in one corner. The kind that has those bars to display plates upright.
Katie's dishes held black and white sands and to up top and a cabinet beneath three fans sat around the room, moved the air and I had to admit it was comfortable through an oversized picture window. I could see Dragonflies flitting around Katie's backyard. I took a seat and Stewie shifted into a ball in my lap and closed his eyes. Katie placed a linen cocktail napkin down and gently put an ice coffee and a large glass on top of it before me. Can I get you anything else? She asked?
I declined and she flopped down into the chair across from me. You don't have to hold Stuy, you can go to his bed. She indicated a small floof covered in ticking stripe in the corner. He's fine. I assured her I hadn't seen that tall guy yet. I wondered if maybe he only lurked outside. I don't know where to begin. Katie admitted. Does it have to do with the guy lurking in your yard? She looked relieved so you can see him. I wasn't sure if you'd be able to.
Yeah, I saw him yesterday standing beside your house after you went in. I explained. Katie nodded. He prefers the outdoors. He was listening yesterday. It's ok. If I talk to you, it's been cleared, but I'm not entirely sure where the line is weirdly controlling. I thought I said, what's his story? She looked out the window with her eyes scanning the yard most likely looking for her Lurker. You've spoken with people who've seen aliens? I read the interviews. Oh, no, I breathed, forcing a laugh.
Is he an alien? And I'm out said Claire, be careful and don't bring that thing home with you. He is an intra terrestrial but alien is an acceptable label for him. Katie explained what's an intra intra terrestrial? I didn't know either until he showed up. They live in the earth or on the sea floor. Theodore. That's his name is one of the seafarers. No shit. So they are in the ocean. I knew it. She smiled. I am so relieved. You don't think this is crazy that I'm crazy. Who am I to judge? Crazy?
I laughed. My spirit guy just took off after warning me not to bring the Ellen home with me. Katie's smile. Disappeared. Your guide left. Why she doesn't want anything to do with aliens? Oh, ok. I'd hope to get her opinion or advice. She trailed off. Sorry. But I'll do what I can to help. Um Your best bet is probably to hook up with a group that Frankie and Alan. Those are the two people I'd interviewed about their alien encounters. They belong to a sort of support group. It seems to help them.
Can you text me their information? Sure. She leaned forward, her expression expectant. Oh, now, ok. I shifted to get my phone out of my back pocket, which pissed Dewey off. He jumped down and wobbled over to the flu in the corner after sharing the contacts. I said, so what's going on? How did you connect with this alien or intra terrestrial? She checked her phone to make sure my text had come through and I felt a little guilty.
I had come to understand that people with alien problems don't ever escape them. There's no hiding, no detaching. Find yourself the attention of an alien being. You just have to hope they get bored and move on. It seems they have full control over the interaction which brings forth a lot of questions, doesn't it? I used to be utterly terrified at the thought of them.
But now with everything that the government has released, which I take with a Texas sized grain of salt and the way the world is just insane. I find myself intrigued. Borderline, obsessed from Claire's reaction to anything alien related. I know it's not a good idea to dig too deep. She won't tell me anything of substance, but her opinion is that it's just never a good idea to go looking for something whose attention you definitely don't want.
But I can't help myself from consuming every bit of alien content. I can get my hands on before I talked to Katie. I thought maybe they needed something from our planet or us. Maybe they were here to observe or maybe they were us in space suits. Evolved from the future. Katie's story suggests otherwise, it seems we are closely connected to them entangled. No enmeshed in a severely dysfunctional family sort of way. And we're walking around oblivious as they pull strings. We don't even know exist.
My husband loves deep sea fishing. She began this past July. He found a guy to take him out off the cape for Striper. It was supposed to be a gorgeous day and he convinced me to tag along. I don't know what I was thinking eight hours on a boat. I like being out on the water, but we left at 5 a.m. and really, it just turned out to be devastatingly boring and I don't like fishing being that close to it. You know, it's cruel. That probably sounds absurd.
But I've been off meat for years and that trick put me off seafood too anyway. By hour three, I was bored to tears. I brought along a book, but any attempt at reading made me nauseous. So I decided to pass the time by meditating. I picked up the habit at the beginning of the year. I was dealing with a lot of anxiety about the kids going to college well, really more about the expense of college.
And I found that if I forced myself to meditate in the morning and again before bed, it really helped me to stop my mind from racing. It was a taste of quiet, you know, at least it was, I haven't had a quiet moment to myself since that fishing trip. Wait, you met the alien on the boat? I caught his attention on the boat. Hold on. He was living on the sea floor and he could sense you on that boat. I am never going in the ocean again. I thought more or less.
I don't want to go too far off track, but they aren't us, you know, so they don't sense. They know he'd been on the lookout for someone to carry his message and I was in the wrong place at the wrong time doing the wrong thing and he chose me. I muttered uselessly. Hm. Weird things happen to me after meditating occasionally, but something about the boat and the white noise of the ocean, let me really tap in more than I usually do. What other weird stuff has happened? She considered the question.
Do you meditate? I really only do guided meditation and even that rarely, my mind is way too busy. And besides, I don't like letting my guard down. You know, I just end up becoming a fucking magnet for every spirit within five miles. Oh, that makes sense. Well, when I'm really in the zone. I see a light show behind my eyelids and eventually symbols start to appear and this probably sounds preposterous. But I've begun to sense when something unusual or emotionally charged is going to happen.
You must be an intuitive. I suggested she shrugged. I guess I should have probably stopped meditating when I realized it was affecting me. I knew it was leading somewhere that something was going to happen. I could sense it, but it was just so relaxing. And on that boat that day, I saw the light show and I dozed off when I woke up, we were just about back to shore. I had the worst headache of my life. And so I went straight to bed and didn't get back up until late morning. I felt bad.
We were staying in Chatham for the night and we were supposed to go out to a nice dinner. But my husband said I was dead to the world and he didn't want to disturb me. We drove back to town the next morning and my husband was leaving for two weeks for a work trip. So he had a flight to catch that evening. He left. I settled on the couch with a book and there was a knock at the front door. It was him Theodore.
He told me that he had important information to share with me and that I needed to share with the world and the sooner the better circumstances were dire. And did I have a computer we could use to communicate? It was weird, but I assumed he was mentally ill. I didn't want to call the police. I didn't feel like I was in danger and I didn't want him to get caught up with them when it seemed obvious to me he was having some sort of break with reality.
I asked him if there was someone I could call for him and suggested that he might be confused. He was very polite. He said, enjoy your evening. I'll be back. Same time. Same place. Katie shook her head. That's one of his favorite things to say. Same time, same place. He literally means it too. How so they manipulate time? Oh, yeah. So he did exactly as he promised, he showed up the next day at the front door, same time, same place. And that scared me. He told me the exact same thing.
There was information to share. I had to be the one to share it. We needed a computer. There wasn't a second to lose. I flat out told him you're frightening me. Please do not come here again. I do not want to call the police, but I will if you don't leave, he just smiled and told me to enjoy my evening and left. Did you tell anybody that this guy was showing up at your house? Yeah, I mentioned it to my husband and he called the police.
To tell him what happened, they told him they'd send someone to keep an eye out. Sorry, I interrupted. But your reaction seems kind of muted. You were home alone, weren't you freaked out at all? Oh, that's part of it. He was influencing me and manipulating my mind and emotion so that I wouldn't have that sort of reaction. That's why I'm so flat all the time. I do get anxious. Very anxious. But all other emotions are adults. They don't. Aliens. I mean, apparently don't have the highs and lows.
We do so interacting with us can frustrate them, especially if they have to go through us to get something done. This is really bad. I breathed. Katie agreed the third evening, he showed up, I let him inside the house. We sat right here at the kitchen table and he explained to me my intended role in what they call the avoidance. Oh, dear. Do I even want to know? Suddenly Katie looked frightened.
She looked over my shoulder and even though I didn't want to at all, I turned slowly to look behind me. This is impossible. I whispered as I heard Sty's little toes tapping their escape out of the kitchen. Theodore the alien stood in the doorway. His side swiped black hair just about an inch below the doorframe.
He wore a navy suit, a white pocket square situated perfectly in its breast pocket and a crisp light blue button down with a dark silk tie and wide stripes, tortoiseshell glasses, check, chiseled jaw check. He told me they believe it's best to take the form of an alien we are familiar with whose intentions we believe to be good. I shifted my chair so I wouldn't have to turn my back to him.
The only difference between this creature and the one that was imitating were his eyes Theodore had what I can only describe as dead shark eyes, Katie. I began, I'm really sorry, but I can't be here, please. Her voice shook just five more minutes and you can go. I promise I gave her a look. He promises. She added this is his station. He's stationed here with me. He's not to engage anyone else. You're safe. I gave her another look. I'm sorry. This isn't why I had you here.
I want to ask if you could, I didn't think, ok, she winced and her hand went to the back of her neck. She drew in a slow breath through her nose then said in a shaky voice, I will explain what is happening and it would be appreciated if you were to relay that to your blog people and I will continue my path forward. Do I have a choice? I asked, laughing nervously. The guy, the alien was thoroughly terrifying. If I have an ounce of intuitive ability, what I was getting from him was intense.
Will like unstoppable power. It doesn't make sense. He was the embodiment of unrelenting willpower. Katie shifted nervously. Theodore is aware of your spiritual abilities and he doesn't consider you an asset at this time. Is he communicating with you telepathically? She nodded. He would like me to tell you a story, the story. You may share it with whomever you see fit. Ok? I agreed. Picking it a hangnail. I was fucking terrified, terrified, but I didn't fully feel it.
He was able to interrupt my like fight or flight response. My sense of self preservation, I should have stood up and left, but I didn't, I was completely under his influence. Consider the people you have interviewed who've had alien interaction. Katie began that woman who felt aliens were trying to test the perimeter to bypass human bravery and determination to take advantage of weakness in humanity. And then the other man who was house sitting and was obviously taken several times.
You realized they were interacting with different species, correct? There are countless species and sets of alien beings, for example, extraterrestrial and intertrial aliens. And these species do not fully agree upon what is to become of humanity and they do not all interact with us in the same ways extraterrestrials have what we would think of as a soft spot for us. That is why Theodore is here so well. We are unique in that we have souls.
We are unique in that we forget universal knowledge when we enter the earth experience and then reenter it over and over again. Aliens do not forget they exist outside of that process. And just like we, humans all come from different continents and have different experiences and different governments and different belief, et cetera. Throughout Galaxies. There is a multitude of experience but belief is certain.
So our ability to forget once we enter the human experience is one that gives us an advantage in that we can emote and feel and experience things in this utterly technical world here on earth. And that has value that generates energy and that energy. The result of the feelings generated by various events on earth echoes throughout time and space. And that energy is beneficial and can be harnessed and it can also cause destruction. All is connected.
But because we humans forget that connection, it provides all possibility and has resulted in a breeding ground for narcissistic existence. Because of the forgetting that happens when we reenter this reality, we can't truly grasp that our really big feelings, our emotions both positive and negative combined with our effect on our planet reverberates and that is acceptable in moderation. But in the past, when things have scaled, wait, I don't understand.
Katie looked at the alien in her kitchen, obviously trying to figure out what he was telling her to communicate. OK? I guess scale is right. Oh, scale like tipping point balance. OK. Sorry, sometimes it's hard to understand and I need images to clarify. OK. When we've reached a tipping point in the past, they've stepped in to stop us because it would be too disrupted to the other communities if we were allowed to continue in those situations, all alien species have agreed.
Wait, sorry, how have they stepped in? Can they steer things in a different direction? I asked, wondering if there might be hope for us yet? Um They've enacted subtle influence and they've found cause to wipe out millions of human beings when necessary to stop momentum towards the unimaginable. It's only when we begin to veer our creations to the perverse that they have found the need to step in and put a stop to our constant striving towards total annihilation. Oh, no, I breathed.
Katie took a moment to collect herself. She wiped tears from her eyes and studied her breath. They've kicked us back to the stone age more than once. This isn't our first go round with technology. In fact, we've gone further and that could be acceptable. However, we start tinkering with certain things that they must step in to stop. They're stepping in now. They're considering it.
Ok. So the avoidance, I guessed the avoidance we are quickly approaching another reset, but there's a chance to correct course. What are we doing wrong? Are we about to start nuclear war? No, that is to be avoided. But most of us don't grasp the amount of bombs that were set off during the creation and perfection of nuclear warfare. Yes, we can do worse. But the damage to our environment and health has already been done.
And if they wanted to stop us, they would have before that first bomb went off in the desert. The last time they forced a reset was when we were tinkering around with genetics. At that time, we'd begun mixing species and it went against the order of this planet and had begun to result in true suffering consciousness, being trapped within creatures that were not equipped to hold such weight and responsibility.
They, the aliens can steer us through world war and climate change disaster, but they will not tolerate suffering past a certain level or no um suffering of that form. What the hell are we doing? I asked it's our pursuit of A I, it's close to absorbing consciousness and if we are successful, we will open a Pandora's box of suffering. The world has never known. Remember we forget our connection to the universe when we enter the human experience and we forget that all is truly connected.
We are not to create beings in our own image. We lack the levels of empathy, love and kindness needed for the balance of that sort of creation. So at some point, we must be stopped. Forgive them, father. They know not what they do only grants us so much lenience Jesus. How the hell are we supposed to stop A I? Well, Theodore's community believes there are enough reasonable people who would listen to their message. I am one of the chosen tasked with conveying that message.
How I, I started a blog. I breathed Katie. I don't want to over a step, but I've had a blog for seven years and trust me, it's screaming into the void. I know there are others. This is my rule. It has been long agreed that a plan for annihilation cannot be carried out until sufficient warning has been offered to humanity. It is a necessary redundancy and a final check on the path to the annihilation and the resurrection. That night, I told Chris to call her a realtor.
We just moved into this house last month, but he loves the move. So it wasn't hard to convince him of everything Katie had said. Her statement that he is aware of my abilities and doesn't consider me an asset at this time had frightened me the most. What if Theodore changed his mind? You can't get away if an alien has you in their sights. So there's that. And I just don't want to live right across the street from him. He doesn't need a constant reminder that I'm here.
We were placing small pumpkins on the fence post. A few days later when Kat told me I only walk on this side of the street. Don't worry. Ok. I replied, only half listening. I promised I won't cross the street. I know I'm not supposed to go near that man that got my attention. What man, the one with the same haircut as daddy? I looked at her then looked across the street at Katie's house. Katie was in the side yard pulling weeds from her flower beds.
She must have felt us watching because she looked up and gave a quick wave. You can see the man standing with Mrs ST. I asked Kat in a low voice. She nodded and began to lift her hand to point. But I pushed her arm down. The alien Theodore stood behind Katie watching her work. I could see his mouth moving in a never ending stream of chatter. That poor woman. I thought I looked down at my six year old, almost seven. She would want me to tell you, you know that not everyone can see him. Right?
Sure. She said dropping one of the pumpkins. I knelt down in front of her. It is very special that you can see him. I told her I can see him too. But I hesitated. How was I supposed to explain something so complicated without shaming or traumatizing or scaring her, which is basically parenting in a nutshell. You know, most people can't see him and some people because they can't see him won't believe that you can. And well, that's their prerogative.
But then there will be other people who might be frightened that you can see him and they can't. I know she said tossing the small pumpkin into the air and catching it. That's why I don't usually tell people I can see ghosts. I just want to tell you that I won't go over there. I stared at her how long I began then corrected. Course the poor kid had no concept of time. Does it scare you ever seeing ghosts? Not really. I just usually pretend I don't see them so they don't talk to me.
How long had this been going on? And I hadn't noticed what was wrong with me? Fucking hell. There's a third kid for you again. Parenting in a nutshell. Thank you for telling me. I said giving her a hug. Do you have any questions? Can I walk to Starbucks to get a cake pop if I promise to hold Joey's hand the whole way? Ah Sure. Let's finish out here first. I stood and grabbed a pumpkin. Hold on. Who told you not to go near that man? Mr Darby. Congratulations Katie ST.
I wish little theo and your whole family health and happiness and zero alien contact your mom. Kelly. Shot me a note to share the good news. I send you all my very best wishes. Head on over to ghost in the burbs dot com. For all the links including those to merch. As always, all merch proceeds go to a charity of my choosing and until the end of the year, those profits will be donated to heading home inc dot org. This has been ghosts and the burbs. Good night. Sleep tight.
And don't forget your night light.