The Seer by Clifford Beck - HTML preview

Chapter 25

The next few days passed like many others in the Whitman household. Tom went to work, their oldest daughter, Kara, went to school, and Linda was left to care for the house, as well as their four-year-old son, Zachary. Easter was coming within a week, and it would be the first of many to be celebrated without Eleanor's presence. Tom wasn't much on the idea of faith, but with Linda, he took the children to church on holidays. He wasn't looking for them to find religion, but took them in hopes that they would develop a foundation for whatever it was they chose to believe later on in life. If nothing else, it gave them a chance to mingle with the community. It was also on that day that the town held its annual Easter egg hunt, and the children always took part, enjoying not only the search, but the hidden treasures of chocolates and small toys. That night, his family sat down to Easter dinner. As in every year, Linda prepared a meal that was more than filling, and leftovers would be used for stews and lunch meat. With such a large meal having been consumed, the children began to fall asleep, prompting Tom to carry them up to their rooms. Tucking Kara in, he returned to the living room to retrieve Zachary, and on the way, glanced into Kara's bedroom. He made it a habit to leave their bedroom doors open, so as to be able to check on them at a moment's notice.

It only took a moment, but at a glance, Tom noticed something that seemed to be out of place, and taking a step back, looked again and found a gray, transparent form sitting on the edge of the bed. It looked human, and as Tom watched, it turned and raised a finger to its lip. What stunned him even more was that he recognized it as his mother. Bringing her hand down, she turned back and gazed at Kara, as though sitting in vigil. Tom and Linda had wine with dinner that night. Seeing this ghostly figure led him to believe that he had drank a bit too much. However, he had consumed much more in his youth and never seen anything remotely unreal, leading him to the belief that what he'd seen may, in fact, be his mother, returning to look after her grandchildren.

After putting Zachary to bed, Tom made his way back to the living room where Linda immediately noticed his troubled expression.

“What is it, Tom?” she asked.

Tom struggled for words, unable to describe what he had just seen, and sitting on the couch, asked Linda a question that completely caught her off guard.

“Uh...I know this is going to sound weird, but do you believe in ghosts?”

Linda raised her brow in disbelief. For as long as she had known him, she never thought he'd entertain the idea of ghosts, or anything remotely paranormal.

“Ghosts?” she asked. “How much did you have to drink during dinner?”

“Not that much,” he replied. “But I'm serious. I think I saw my mom upstairs.”

Linda's expression quickly turned to concern as her mind ran back to the event of Eleanor's death.

“Hon,” she began. “I know it was a really hard thing to go through, but...”

“No,” Tom interrupted. “It's not like that. I saw her. She was sitting on the edge of Kara's bed. She looked at me.”

Linda tried to be reassuring, and searched for an explanation.

“Alright,” she began. “I suppose it's possible that we go somewhere when we die. To be honest, I never really thought about it. Are you feeling okay?”

Tom was becoming frustrated, suspecting that Linda might have come to believe that he was losing his mind.

“No, I'm fine,” he replied. “I saw something the other night, too, but not like this.”

“Wait,” Linda began. “What did you see the other night?”

Tom took a deep breath as he gathered his thoughts.

“It was just for a second. It really didn't look like anything. It was maybe about five feet high. It was near the top of the stairs. I blinked my eyes and it was gone.” He pointed a finger toward the staircase as his voice grew with intensity.

“But this was different. She was right there.” His voice was also growing louder, and Linda interrupted again, reminding him that the children were asleep. Taking another deep breath, Tom tried to clear his mind, but he was still convinced that what he saw was real.

“I know how it sounds. I mean, I'm not crazy, am I?” Linda put a hand on his arm in an attempt to soothe his agitation.

“No, you're not crazy. I think there are a lot of things that just can't be explained. Maybe this is one of those things. And if this is your mom, then why not just go with it?”

She decided to lighten the conversation with a bit of humor, hoping to break the tension Tom was feeling.

“Besides, your mom was a really person. Why should that change just because she's gone?” A grin came to Tom's face as he realized the ridiculousness of her question.

“That's really bad, you know.”

They both giggled as the tension that had filled the room dissolved.

“C'mon,” Linda began. “It's getting late.” Getting to her feet, she took his hand and led him upstairs. But taking the first few steps, Tom senses peaked as he noticed every detail, every fixture, looking for the smallest movement, something that could not be qualified as explainable.