Aunt Ellie and Mrs. Berris is a story I wrote back in April 2012. It was a flash fiction of 1000 words or less. The story is fiction based on a few actual truths. If you haven't read it before, read it before continuing to read this post.
My son and his family, which includes my 3 year old grandson, moved in with my Mom a few days ago. Last night, my son and I had the following text conversation.
Him - Mom, is this house haunted?
Me - That depends on if you believe. Say hi to Mrs. Berry for me…bwahahaha
Him - We have heard footsteps on the second floor two mornings in a row with solid proof no one is up there. Like today, I heard them right before I left with Grandpa for work. He was in the kitchen like 10 seconds before I walked in and Steve was right behind me. Everyone else was asleep. Then Heidi heard it again and again, so she got up to check, and Grandma and Chris were still asleep.
Me - Her name is Mrs. Berry. She is harmless as long as you don’t anger her by being afraid of her. It is okay to talk to her, she likes it. She loves children. She always made sure you stayed covered up on cold nights when we lived in the house. She probably remembers you. The house was a wedding gift to her from her new husband nearly 100 years ago. They lived, loved, and raised their children in that house. After she died, Mr. Berry couldn’t stand to be in the house without her, so he sold it…to your grandparents. Just say…Hello Mrs. Berry, and know, she is always keeping an eye on your son. You are safest in the house with her there.
Me - She can’t leave the house because she can’t bring herself to leave the memory of her wonderful life there. That is where her children were born and came home to on Christmas. That is where she lived her life with her true love. It is a wonderful story.
Me - We used to live upstairs with her. I appreciated all the trouble and harm she kept you and your brother from getting into. Again, tell her I said hi.
Him - So this is truly real? Because we have heard true footsteps up there one after another all the way across the room above us.
Me - Yes, it is truly real. But zero reason to be afraid. I see her as the best Great Aunt and Nanny I could have had. She is/was a wonderful and caring woman.
Me - If you are hearing her, she is testing you to see if you are afraid. Really, just talk to her and you will hear her less. But, every now and then you will hear something fall in another room that shouldn’t have fallen. When this happens…check the children…she is trying to tell you something is wrong.
Me - Ask your Grandma about her. She knows the whole story. I met Mr. Berry not long before he died. He came to the house one last time to tell his love goodbye. She won’t hurt you, she will keep you safe. Treasure her presence like I did when I lived there.
Me - By the way, your bedroom, the bathroom, the storage room, the kitchen, the laundry room, and the sunroom are all additions to the original house. Those additions are all single story…there is no room above your bedroom.
Me - Sleep well Son. Goodnight Mrs. Berry.
Him – Goodnight Mom…GOODNIGHT MRS. BERRY!
So…tell me…do you believe?
I believe that their are more things in heaven and earth...Good Night, Sweet Prince.
ReplyDeleteI believe that we all have a non-physical essence. Call it spirit, soul, whatever feels comfortable.
ReplyDeleteI want to think that it is possible for that presence to visit the mortal/physical plane after death.
If you believe that evil spirits are condemned, then those who are able to return here would be, at least, neutral if not benevolent.
"I believe that we all have a non-physical essence. Call it spirit, soul, whatever feels comfortable."
DeleteAbout 15 years ago I had a near death experience (due to med intolerance) where I found myself looking down on my body from the ceiling. I felt myself move through the blinds and window into an aqua colored column of light. I moved upwards in this light, through clouds and I could feel moisture and an air current moving around my legs. I looked down to where my legs would be but couldn't see any legs. I realized I was not in my body but the shape of my body was with me. This led me to believe that we do have a spirit/soul that fills the whole of our body. When I returned to my body, the same way I left, as I came through the blinds, I could again see my body up till the second I re-entered my body.
I've had a few experiences while living in a house built by the doctor who delivered me. The house was built about 1960 and besides being home to the doc and his family, it also served as the clinic as well as overflow when the hospital ran out of beds.
ReplyDeleteAfter the doc and family moved out another couple with a son and daughter occupied the house. The son was killed in a car accident and the father died of cancer years later.
I suppose my experiences with spirits/souls there could be from either previous owners.
The first situation happened when I was playing scrabble with a friend and my hand flipped the board sending the game pieces flying. We laughed and told "Mr. Brown, stop that!" Didn't take it seriously.
Another evening I was sitting at the computer in what would have been the office for both previous owners and I was smelling cigar smoke. I checked inside and out to see if someone was smoking because no one in my family was smoking. No windows or doors were open and the smell was coming from a nearby arm chair. I looked in in the direction of the chair and the smell started moving away from the chair to the hallway. I followed it down the hall, around the corner into the master bedroom, through the bathroom and it stopped at the window in the bathroom. The cigar smell was gone.
Another day I walked into the entrance hallway. My cat was sitting on the half wall to the stairwell, watching the door. I looked at the door and saw the door knob turn. At first I thought someone was breaking in but I couldn't see any human shaped shadow at the window. I looked at the cat again, she was very alert, twitching. I looked back at the door and there was a sense that someone had entered the house and moved down the stairs. My cat howled and ran off to hide.
One another occasion, I smelled smoke in most of the main floor so had everyone leave the premises and called the fire department. The smoke smell moved through the house like the cigar smell had. Being that it was an older house the fire dpt checked the wiring throughout the house including the attic as they could smell smoke as well, but couldn't find anything. Nothing smoldering. Nothing inside or outside.
After this incident we didn't have any more situations. We felt that "footsteps" we were hearing was the furnace sending air through the ducts as is common with many furnaces. But I believe the other situations were truly someone who had lived there earlier.