I watched a movie I had recorded on my DVR the night before and after, feeling pretty good, I went in and got ready for bed. I always read for a bit because it helped me to get to sleep a little quicker. I was lying on my back, reading, when I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and froze in a panic. What the hell was going on? I just knew that if I looked over I would see my uncle again and I couldn’t handle that. It didn’t matter; I had to look, and sure enough, there he was.
It was weird and frightening to see him in my bed, especially so because what I had originally taken for a smile of pleasure was actually a sad smile; as soon as I realized it and started to look in his eyes, he disappeared again. Suddenly, it seemed like the house decided to make all kinds of noises, which I’m sure it always did, but now it sounded different, almost ominous. My heart raced. I wanted to run but I couldn’t move a muscle as I lay there in scared confusion. It seemed like hours before I could finally move again and I jumped out of bed and left the room. I wandered the house without having a clue what I was doing or what I should do. I was now consumed with trying to understand and figure out why I was seeing his spirit. My first thoughts kept bringing me back to my subconscious trying to send me a message.
I never knew I fell asleep, but I woke up on the couch as the sun was rising and I could hear the chitter of birds in my back yard. It was so normal; last night seemed like a dream, and I tried to carry on believing that. It was almost like the feeling of dread you get when you know you might get hit with a football. I sat until the sun had fully risen and my front room was bathed in sunlight. What do I do now? I thought. I sighed and started to rise off of the couch and there he was again, sitting in my easy chair. My legs gave out and I fell back on the couch. I shivered in fear and no longer cared why it was happening; I just wanted it to stop.
I looked back over and he was still there. This surprised me because he’d always disappeared when I looked at him. As I watched, he looked like he was trying to tell me something and against my better judgment, I tried to read his lips. I could see that he was struggling and as soon as I thought I was beginning to make out what he was saying, he looked to his left almost fearfully and disappeared. What am I doing? I asked myself. Do I really believe that my uncle is trying to talk to me from the “other side?” I don’t believe in that stuff … do I? I didn’t know anymore and I just sat huddled, feeling very alone.
If there was an afterlife, what did it mean? Do we move on to another place? Do we get to be with those we loved and lost in our lives? I didn’t know, but this was sure changing my mind, unless I was really losing touch with reality. I started shivering, shivering so hard my teeth chattered. I had to do something about this one way or the other or I’d go insane.
I felt a little foolish but I decided to call my mom and see what she would say. I could just imagine, and I was sure it wouldn’t be good. I got up my nerve and called.
“Hello.”
“Hi, Mom. It’s me.”
“Hi, son, how’s things?”
Moms always seemed to know something was going on—must be a mother thing. “I, ah, have to tell you something.”
There was a short pause and then she said, “Go ahead.”
That was a strange answer for her; she was never that abrupt. “I’ve been seeing …” I couldn’t finish.
She waited and when I didn’t continue, to my surprise and horror, she asked, “Your uncle?”
“How … how the hell did you know?”
There was a slight chuckle and she answered, “I’ve seen him too.”
There proceeded to be a long discussion about life and death and what it means, but then she summed it all up by saying, “There’s something I think he wanted you to have but I forgot what it was. Maybe he’s trying to tell you.”
“You have no idea?”
“No. I just know it meant a lot to him for you to have it.”
“How do you know?”
“He told me years ago that if he died before me to make sure you got it. I don’t think any of us knew he’d go this soon and I’ve totally forgotten what it was he wanted you to have. I think he knows that and is trying to tell you.”
I thought for a moment and had no clue what he could have wanted me to have. I hung up and I saw him again in my sliding glass door. It looked like he was literally in the door and now he was shaking his head, looking sad. I stood and watched him, trying to figure out what he wanted me to know. I could see his lips moving but it was unlike any language I knew; I just knew he was trying to talk to
