Ghost

Yesterday evening I was in my friend’s mother’s flat. She died relatively recently and it has been empty ever since. He had asked me to find something there.

I was in her bedroom. I went to open a drawer in her dressing table and the light went out in the room I was in. It was dusk. I had been there a couple of hours already and the darkness was falling. It’s old wiring. One working bulb in a chandelier attached to an old fashioned dimmer. I went to the switch on the wall and turned the light back on. I went back to the drawer and started to open it. The light went out again. I froze for a moment. A little shiver went down my spine. Just a coincidence. I went and switched the light on again. Then I waited by the switch. The light remained on. One minute. Two minutes. Light still on. I returned to the drawer. My hand touched the handle. The light went out again. She doesn’t want me in her drawers.

That was enough for me that evening. I had a few respectful and apologetic words with the spirit of his mother and after switching all the lights off and plunging myself into semi darkness I hightailed it out of that flat with my hair crawling. I’m not going to be there after dark. Parking is impossible without a permit before five. So my window is an hour or two from five to get anything done in there before I start to get too freaked out to stay there any longer. That’ll be manageable, and as summer comes in the evenings will get longer. And it’s coming. I was too hot in my coat when I arrived at work today. It’s getting to the season when we don’t know what to wear anymore.

I don’t really have any strong opinions about ghosts. There’s something that goes on beyond though. The light switch might just have been coincidence and pattern matching. But it means that from now on, when I go in there, I’m always going to explain what I’m doing and why I’m there to the idea of the spirit of his mother. No harm in it, and it helps me crystallise my purpose being there. There are some things that he wants me to try at auction houses. If we can release some capital from things he doesn’t want, he might be able to come back to London for a short while and move forward with getting the property sold. If I’m taking photographs of her precious things and rifling through her drawers its best I keep her on my side as much as possible.

Brighton tomorrow and a much desired escape from London to Lou. Next week looks busy again and even though I’m getting better at these workshops they don’t come for free in terms of energy. I’m knackered today again even though it was lovely. Off to a good long sober Friday sleep. Night/morning.