Lingering

"Lingering" - David Wilson-Burns © 2010

Their presence was just an accepted part of his routine by now.  Perhaps just emotional impressions from previous inhabitants, or perhaps their lingering spirits.   The house was old enough.   Whatever the case, here they were:  a man and a woman.  Their faces were indistinct.  Their demeanors were anguished, confused, unaware.  When they came, it was in the moment between waking and sleeping, and only if his spiritual vision was active from an evening meditation.

His response was consistent.  “Spirits,”  he would address them, “Guard my home against harm or leave. “

Connor believed in spirits earning their keep.

He only became concerned when his daughter of ten began to complain of emotional disturbances at bedtime.  She described feelings of despair and deep sadness which seemed unrelated to her.  She told him one evening that there were rooms in the house where the feelings were stronger.  She was afraid.  The only room that she felt entirely free of these feelings was the dining room.

He pulled the structural records for the house and noted that the dining room was added twenty-three years ago.  This eliminated the last three owners, leaving only the original owners.  Their names were right there in front him in black and white.