GUEST POST from Don – GHOST CABIN (chapter 5)

GHOST CABIN, Chapter 5

Charlotte said, “First, the murder of your daughter.  Second, your own murder.  Third, betrayal.  The least difficult of the three is probably your own death.  People die every day and don’t hang around as ghosts.”

The ghost got it instantly, “Three … “

Sedona commented, “Yes.  If you never separated the three events in your mind, you could never deal appropriately with any of them.”

The ghost thoughtfully said,  “Correct you may be.  I see that my own death is least.  I would gladly have died for my child or my lover.”

Sedona continued, “And that is a big issue, too.  You think least of your own life.  Yet you were murdered.  No woman wants to die when she has everything to live for.  Your life was stolen just then.  You should grieve that.  Think about it.  Understand it.  Then grieve it again.  It may be least, but it is not unimportant.”

The ghost blurted, “Important?  I never imagined being important.  I was a mere woman…”

Charlotee interjected, “A woman with hopes and dreams which were cruelly crushed.”

At this moment the ghost faded out.  The daughters wondered what had happened.  Where did the wraith go?  A minute or so later the ghost returned.  She seemed suddenly angry.  Thankfully, as it turned out, the anger was not toward them.

The wraith spat angrily:  “That is what I have missed!  I felt betrayal.  Yes, greatly!  Whence did it come and why me?  However, never once did the thought of the lost dreams and hopes enter my thoughts.  That betrayal was also against MY hopes and dreams.  My future.  My love was so great.  My joy as well.”

Cautiously Charlotte proceeded: “How young were you?”

The ghost seemed to come out of deep thoughts:  “What?”

Charlotte apologized, “Sorry to interrupt your thoughts.  I asked how young you were?”

The ghost stated, “I had just passed my 15th year when we began to care for one another.  He was nearing his 18th year…so we had our child after I had passed my 16th.”

Charlotte continued, “Today, in our time, that is quite young to become a mother, maybe not in your time.”

The wraith responded, “Many lasses married at 15 or 16, some later…my cousin Margaret married at 20…quite old to settle down.”

Sedona interjected,  “Well, then … not unusual to have children at 16 or 19.  Yet I would guess you know none who were murdered.”

The ghost said, “Aye.  Not a one.  Yet death was not fully uncommon.  Disease, accidents, fires, and childbirth … any woman can die.  A few I knew.”

Sedona said, “So, you died young and with many unmet hopes.  You lost a lot.  We are sorry for you.”

The ghost, after a small sob, replied, “Now aware of my own loss, I trust with it I can mourn in truth.”

Sedona pressed on, “That brings up the second issue,  You never were allowed to grieve for your daughter.  It was shocking.  Unexpected.  It was without explanation or known cause.  Most mothers have days, weeks even, to process the loss of a child.  You had no time at all while you yet lived.”

The wraith agreed,  “Aye, yes.  Grieved I have for a hundred or so years o’er her.  Not a night has passed when I have not.  Yet, as you say, I have been confused, mixing grief with grief and grief.”

Charlotte commented, “… and more grief … because you never were allowed to share your daughter’s existance with those others you loved as family.  Think about your own mother?”

The ghost responded, “That be so true!  My dear mother never met my blessed child.  She loved babies.  She never knew she was a grand-ma-ma.”

Sedona felt awkward.  There had been so much explored in such a short amount of time.  “It seems we are adding to your grief.  But we are only exploring it.  My dad loves to call it “Incrementalism.”  By that he means that large jobs can usually be divided into smaller, easier to do, tasks.  That is what we are trying to do for you…divide the pain into parts that can be grieved each for its own reasons.  When we are able to break down our grief we can feel it.  We feel it and feel it again and again until we can handle the parts, the grief is never gone but it becomes easier to cope with it.”

The ghost knew exactly what Sedona meant, “I never pondered it that way, but sense it makes.”

[Watch for the conclusion to this story next Thursday]

Copyright 2024 Donald Whelpley

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