Everyone Tells Ghost Stories

The first time I saw a ghost, I was six. I was surprised at how clearly I heard her, considering I can't hear anything without my hearing aids. She was my Aunt Carol, who had just passed away from Breast Cancer, and she had come to me just as I was getting ready for bed.

"Laura, sweetie." She appeared to me while I was brushing my teeth. I turned around at the sound of my name, and she was standing before me wearing a hospital gown. "Auntie? Mommy told me you went away." I told her, confused. I took my hearing aids from the bathroom sink and put them in my ears, making sure I wasn't talking too loud. "Laura," She said, kneeling down to get eye level with me. She put her hands on my shoulders, but I felt nothing. I didn't feel the warmth of her hands on my skin. I glanced at her hands, they were pale, wrinkled, and shaking slightly. "Your mommy wouldn't tell you, because she doesn't want to believe it." She told me slowly. I cocked my head to one side, my short brown hair falling over my right shoulder. "Doesn't want to believe what, Auntie?" I asked, staring into her watery, powder blue eyes. Her expression changed to understanding and melancholy when she answered. "You see ghosts, Laura. You see me. And you'll always see them. But I don't want you to be afraid of them, I want you to be brave. Can you be brave for me?" She asked, I nodded. "Wait, that means..." I trailed off, fitting the pieces together. "You died? Then how can I see you, Auntie? How can I hear you? When people die, they don't talk, or walk, or hear. They go away, forever." I explained slowly. My six-year-old mind couldn't comprehend that I was talking to my dead aunt, and she was trying to explain to me that I was going to see dead people for the rest of my life. "Baby, I want you to help the people that went away, okay? The people you see, that went away from their families, can't...um...sleep. They need to sleep, and if they can't sleep, they'll stay awake forever." The fact that she was using sleep as a way of explaining that spirits only walk the Earth because they can't find peace caused major problems for me in the future. "You want me to help people fall asleep?" I asked, and Aunt Carol nodded. "And don't give up, even if things get scary, okay?" She said, her voice sounding strained. I giggled. "Auntie, why would it be scary to help people fall asleep?" That's when she disappeared.

Ever since then, I've been helping spirits find peace, being brave and loyal to my Aunt Carol's last wish. My mother refused to believe me when I told her I talked to her dead sister in my bathroom. But as time wore on, and my mother realized that I didn't have just a bunch of imaginary friends, she grew to accept my gift. Somehow, though, I never fully did.

I was never a girl of faith. I never believed in the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, or even Santa Clause. I believed that there was a logical explanation for anything and everything, even as a small child. Having the ability to see the dead made me think that I was either hallucinating, I was crazy, or someone was slipping me shrooms in my apple juice. Regardless, I had to deal with the fact that I can talk, see, and hear ghosts whether I believed I was sane or not.