The Night a Medium Met a Ghost

I rubbed my forehead hoping these visions would all go away. They've intruded my mind's eye for as long as I could ever remember. For as long as my first childhood memory.

Every night like clockwork, they would come. They’d come just as I settled under the covers to sleep. Who are they? I’m not sure and I try not to draw on their existence for too long. I just know that they would cluster over to either side of my bed. Sometimes it was just one. Sometimes two. Even as many as five. Every night, there was at least someone standing by my bed.

Their presence terrified me as a child. The disembodied voices, the shadowy figures. Some of which I could only see half a portion of their body. Now, as an adult, I’ve learned to block out their presence to the best of my ability.

I saw these figures in the daytime too and sometimes they approached me then but it was during the stillness of the night when they were more explicit with their visits.

I lay in bed with every intent to think peaceful thoughts and fall asleep. While that was my every intent, part of me waited expectantly for them knowing all too well they would come just as they do every night.

I never knew what they wanted and my curiosity was never as strong as my fear of wanting to find out. All I could do was lie there as still as possible hoping and praying they’d go away.

Tonight was no different or so I thought.

Even just one disembodied voice was terrifying but not near as maddening as hearing multiple.

For what felt like an eternity, the voices ceased. I could hear nothing but the ticking clock and the sound of the heater kicking on. And something else. A voice. More like a mumble.

“I know what it’s like to want to be left alone.”

I sat up abruptly. This wasn’t like the chaotic madness of the other voices I’d heard night after night.

Even though the voice mumbled, I could understand what it was saying.

“What do you want?” I demanded rapidly scanning the dimly lit room.

I felt vulnerable.

“Me? I don’t want anything,” the voice scoffed.

I focused my attention towards the direction of the voice and then I saw him — the transparent figure of a man. He didn’t look too young and he didn’t look even remotely close to elderly either. Maybe late thirties or early forties. It was hard to tell. He faded in and out of focus like a TV with poor picture quality. Only from what I could make out in the little light I had, he wore a dark-colored overcoat and what I was sure was him holding a cigarette casually near his side.

“If I could coincide with the living without having to deal with question after question and their absurd curiosity, my life would be ideal. Or afterlife, I should say.”

I wasn’t afraid anymore but rather perplexed. It was obvious he had no intentions whatsoever of causing me harm. I did everything to focus on him as he continued to go in and out of focus.

“Why do they keep bothering me every night? Who are they?” I asked.

I swore I saw him roll his eyes.

“The hell would I know! Us spirits come from different eras and usually keep to ourselves. We’re aware of each other’s existence but most of us are too focused on our dilemma of being in the spirit world. Some of us came here tragically. A sudden part of some ill fate.”

He stared off into space pondering before turning back to me.

“You aren’t as strong as most other mediums I’ve crossed paths with.” He drew a puff of his cigarette and raised an eyebrow observing and almost mocking me. “And you certainly aren’t like a lot of people I’ve come across either.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, you know. Spirit, do you wish to speak? Spirit, why are you here? How did you die? Tap three times for yes, two times for no,” he spoke in a condescending tone. “I remember what it was like to be human. To be alive. If only the living could understand the spirit world. Not all of us want to communicate with the living. Some of us want to be left alone in the afterlife.” He took another drag of his cigarette and looked up at me. “You’re lacking in your medium abilities. The communication between us is so much more to be desired. You need to let the connection between us come through.” He let out a soft laugh and gave a wave of his cigarette. “Not that I should encourage it.”

I slid down under the safety and comfort of the covers.

“I wish I didn't have these visions. I wish I wasn't able to see you. ”

“You would do anything to have a normal life. To live like a normal person.”

I sat up again and leaned forward.

“Yes!”

“I hate to break it to you but the reality is that you’re stuck with these abilities,” the spirit continued. “Throughout my time in the spirit world, I’ve crossed paths with Mediums who have embraced and even come to see their powers as a gift.”

“Oh, it's not a gift to me. It’s a curse.”

I rubbed my temple trying to subdue the growing headache as the result of doing everything to my ability to keep communicating with this peculiar spirit. I was losing almost complete communication.

“How come I’ve been able to understand you and not those others?” I spoke in a hesitant tone as if they could hear me. I couldn’t be sure. All I knew was that I was losing more and more contact.

“I only told you that I understand what it’s like to want to be left alone. I didn’t expect you to answer. It was your curiosity that pulled you into wanting to communicate with me. The same curiosity that’s there in the many that I had the misfortune of running into.”

He took one last drag of his cigarette as he started to completely fade away. His voice became distant and distorted.

My energy to communicate with him was all but depleted.

“If you had… curiosity… communicate with… others, maybe you would… what they want.”

Silence. My eyes darted around the room and I focused my energy on that one particular spirit or so I tried.

“Wait! I have so many questions! If I learn how to communicate with them, do you think they’ll leave me alone?”

Nothing but a still room. Not even a sound from the others. I slid under the covers and pulled them up tight staring up at the ceiling deep in thought. Maybe this was a gift. But how could I learn to use it? How could I communicate with these spirits when their presence terrified me night after night? I tried to fall asleep but the mysterious ghostly man intruded my mind.

Who was he? Why could I communicate with him but not the others. I didn’t even know his name.