Embracing the Spirits: True Stories of My Encounters With the Other Side by Barbara Parks (bill gates best books TXT) 📕

in the garden shed when he heard a noise behind him. He

saw some movement from the corner of his eye as he briefly

glanced towards where the sound was coming from. He sim-

ply presumed his father had come into the shed and continued

working.

As Scott began chatting, he found it increasingly odd that

his father was ignoring him, so he turned around to see what

was going on. Of course his father wasn’t there at all, but Scott had not imagined seeing a masculine figure.

There before him stood the ghost of a young man, star-

ing at him with ill-disguised despair. He looked needy and

unhappy. It took a moment to register that the man wasn’t

entirely solid, and as the realisation that he was seeing a ghost sunk in, young Scott began to scream. He bolted through the

shed door and into the house in a matter of seconds; his adren-aline fuelling his flight to safety at breakneck speed.

Melanie reassured her trembling son, after which she ven-

tured into the shed to see who had been trying to get his attention. By then, the young man had gone.

Elliot 229

It wasn’t long afterwards that the ghostly visitor returned,

this time focussing his attentions on young Elliot’s bedroom.

Elliot said that he knew someone was there before he saw

him, as the atmosphere in the room suddenly felt cold and

funny.

“You just know when they’re coming, don’t you?” said

Melanie. “It’s kind of like a buzzing that takes over the whole room.”

Elliot nodded as he continued.

“I felt really scared so I pulled the blankets over my head.”

“I still do that, “I said. “And I’ve been doing it since I was your age. You’d have thought I would’ve grown out of it by

now!”

Elliot smiled.

“I did look though,” he said. “There was a man standing

there; he had his hands on his hips and he looked really angry.”

The man stood across the room for what felt like an eter-

nity, and although terrified, Elliot couldn’t help but look. He was later able to describe the man in great detail, right down to the well-worn hoodie he had paired with his faded jeans.

“And …” said Melanie, “that’s when we worked out who he

was. My husband’s best friend took his own life when he was

in his twenties. Todd used to always wear a hoodie; never saw

him in anything else!”

Melanie said that once they worked out who the ghost

was, she was able to address him directly and ask him to stop

scaring the children. She urged him to go towards the light,

telling him it was time to move on.

“And did he?” I asked.

“Not immediately,” said Melanie. “He needed a bit of coax-

ing.”

230Elliot

Elliot said that for a while Todd’s visits were quite frequent and each time he would move in that little bit closer.

“One time I didn’t even look at him I was so scared. I just

kept my head under the covers … but I knew he was there!

Then I felt him sit next to me at the end of the bed and he put his hand on my leg …”

“I think when he did that he was trying to help you,” said

Melanie. “That was the day you came off your skateboard and

grazed your leg … I think he was trying to make it feel better.”

“Is that where he touched you?” I asked Elliot. “On the

sore bit?”

“Yep,” said Elliot smiling. “It was actually!”

By the time Elliot and Melanie told me this story, it had

been several months since Todd’s last visit. Melanie feels confident that he has made it towards the light; putting his painful history behind him as he moves forward on his spiritual path.

And as for Elliott and Scott, it’s highly likely that their

future will be peppered with similar ghostly visits. I believe that all children are born with a sensitivity to the spirit world, but that in most cases it tends to lessen as they grow older.

If, however, early paranormal encounters are validated rather

than dismissed, it’s more likely that the sensitivity to the spirit realm will continue to thrive.

The added factor of having a clairvoyant mother would

further contribute to the development of Elliot and Scott’s

spiritual gifts. It’s highly probable that they inherited their heightened sensitivity from Melanie in the first place. My hope is that children like Elliot and Scott learn to let go of their fear early in life, and embrace what is undoubtedly a wonderful gift. It’s been a long, slow journey towards this realisation myself and I wish I could have reached it earlier. Perhaps if I’d Elliot 231

been taught a greater understanding of my experiences when I

was younger, I wouldn’t have been so fearful.

Fortunately Elliot and Scott have an amazing mother to

teach and guide them. I have no doubt that Melanie will be

helping her sons nurture their gifts every step of the way.

chapter twenty-seven

O u t o f B o d y

It is widely believed that in the instant before death, the soul vacates the body. It’s thought to be a protective mechanism

to spare the dying unnecessary trauma, thereby making the

transition from the physical to the spirit world as gentle as

possible. Those who have had near death experiences rarely

report feeling physical pain, and often describe the death scene as being viewed from above. The death process seems to be

imbued with peacefulness and calm.

Out of body experiences (OBE’s) are not the exclusive

domain of the dying, and indeed some individuals can instigate them at will. Another scenario whereby human consciousness

can separate from the body, is when someone is undergoing

severe emotional or physical trauma. Again, it is a protective mechanism, sparing the individual needless suffering.

OBE’s go some way in providing us with a glimpse of what

it’s like to inhabit the spirit world. And perhaps the more we 233

234Out of Body

can understand what it’s like to be in spirit, the more we open ourselves up to paranormal experiences of our own.

When I reflect on my out of body experiences as a young

child, I feel sure that they were