The Lady in the Corner

Today I had to be at a client’s medical examination really early in the morning.  And it didn’t help that the exam was scheduled at a location that’s at least an hour from my house, without traffic.  I quickly got myself ready and then headed upstairs to get the girls up.  I walked into Greenleigh’s room first and told her it was time to get up.  She stirred, but didn’t wake all the way up.  It was then that I realized that I forgot her chocolate milk downstairs and figured I’d let her sleep for a couple minutes while I went downstairs to get her sippy cup.  By the time I returned to her room, she was sitting up in her crib, talking.  She said hi to me and asked if we were heading off to school.  I said yes, took her out of the crib, then started to change her out of her pajamas and into her school clothes.

At that point Greenleigh started babbling about all sorts of things while looking over my right shoulder.  I started talking back to her, but she ignored me for the most part.  After a minute or two of me trying to talk back to her, she said, “No, Mommy!  I’m talking to the lady in the corner!”.  She was so adamant that I actually spun around and looked, thinking there might actually be someone in the corner of her room.

Then conversation went something like this:

Me:  You silly goose!  There isn’t anyone in the corner.

Greenleigh:  Yes, Mommeeee!  Right there.  Look.  The lady in the corner.

Me:  No honey, there isn’t anyone there.

Greenleigh:  Yes there is!

Me:  You mean outside?

Greenleigh:  No, right there.  (pointing towards the corner)

The more I tried to discourage the idea of there being a lady in the corner of her bedroom, the more sure she was.  I even took her over to the corner to show her no one was there, but she continued to point and insist on the lady’s existence.  By this point, I’ll admit, I was pretty freaked out.  But I was running short on time so we agreed to disagree about whether there was a lady in the corner of her room.

I’ll just put it out there – I’m not beyond the idea of ghosts, spirits, or any of those types of things.  Although I have never encountered one myself, I suppose it’s possible.  But I also know that Greenleigh has a very active imagination. She’s the girl who tried to convince my sister-in-law that she saw monkeys in the trees as they drove down the highway earlier this month.  I also know that shadows can look like monsters and all sorts of things in the dark.  And she might be around the age where they start to create imaginary friends.  I know I had a few growing up.  Don’t laugh, I had real, live friends too…I swear…

And yet, there’s something in her tone this morning that makes me wonder.  What did she see?  Who was she talking to?  I know she was wide awake.  It was bright out, so there weren’t any shadows.  And there aren’t any pictures in that corner.  What could it have been?

So the bad news is that our house might be haunted.  The good news is that Greenleigh is perfectly happy to be sharing a room with the ghost.