Many moons ago when I was a young wife and mother, things weren't going so well and countless times I'd cry myself to sleep worrying about the next day. So it was one evening, after fretfully dozing on the couch I succumbed unto a most peculiar and startlingly vivid dream.
In this dream a gentleman, who I did not know, sat upon the armchair which accompanied the settee in my living room. He was quite distinguished looking and possibly in his late 60s.
His hair was short and impossibly white. Above neatly pressed, white trousers he wore a crisp white shirt, partially hidden by a very smart, white jacket.
Leaning slightly forward in the chair, arms resting upon his lap with hands lightly folded within the other, the strangers manner was that of being completely at ease. A gentle smile prompted creases to form around warm, kindly eyes before lips parted to utter words in soft, reassuring tones...
"You have no need to feel so lonely, Lynn. You are never by yourself, for I am always watching over you. I have sat here with you many times and witnessed the pain of your distress.
Your tears hurt my heart as much as they do your own and so I tell you this, whenever the world treats you badly, all you have to do is think of me and I will be here, right by your side. I am but a thought away...never forget that"
And with that said, he was gone!
Well, shortly after my visitors exit, I woke up with the whole weird scene imprinted very clearly and quite sharply upon my mind. It genuinely was a most vivid encounter. So much so that even the air around me, in my waking state, prickled with an undefinable yet most palpable energy, as if in the wake of another's presence.
My eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness of the room as a sleepy, disoriented hand reached out to switch the lamp on. All the while, the words of my uninvited guest played on repeat in my head and that's when I realised that, thanks to him, my earlier worries had, indeed, dispersed....
...to be replaced by a fear so crippling and so intense as to justify the pungent odour which was now filling the room!
Omg! I mean, just when I thought things couldn't get any worse 'Snowy', my mystery caller, turns up out of the ether in the middle of the night to invade my dreams and sprawl on my furniture so he can distribute his sagely dialogue of comfort and calm!!
Oh yeah, well, THAT worked!!
For the longest time after his gatecrashing my slumbers, I was too scared to even look at the armchair in case HE showed up, all white and wisely! And as for the "You are never by yourself, for I am always watching over you"...REALLY!! Oh, that made me feel LOADS better, knowing some disembodied being was shadowing my life...I don't think!!!
What about bathroom breaks? My ablutions were not to be considered a spectator sport...spectre or otherwise!
I mean, ok, this visitation could have been no more than a figment of my imagination and given Snowy's attire, I can't absolutely rule out the possibility that the KFC I'd devoured earlier hadn't something to do with it BUT regardless, it was very real to me, as was my fear.There was certainly nothing finger-lickin'-good about that!
Anyway, I made a conscious effort never to fall asleep in the living room ever again and I also swore never to think too hard about Snowy ever again, in case he considered that to be an invite for a chat!
In fact, this is the first time I've thought about him, at length, for some considerable time...........hm, can anyone else smell chicken?
© Copyright Lynn Gerrard
