Uncle Johnny Ghost Story

by Erin Delaney

I remember when I had a death in the family. I was devastated - it was my Uncle Johnny.

I remember the night where my whole family went to his house and took a few things to remember him by. I took some of his shells (he loves the ocean and collected seashells), and I took his hairbrush and a shirt (I didn’t really see how it helped to remember him by taking his stuff - the only thing that would help me remember him was him.)

My mom took these crystals he had. They were gorgeous. She brought them to a jeweler, and he cut them and made them into necklaces for each one of my mom's nieces and nephews. I wore it all the time. I felt protected in, some way, when I wore it; no one could hurt me. It was this mighty force protecting me from danger.

One night, I couldn’t stop thinking about him, so I held my necklace that whole night and cleared my mind, only thinking about him. That night, I had a dream that he was home, and he never died. I was trying to warn him that he was going to die (the reason he died was because he was really sick, and the doctors thought he was fine. I guess they were wrong), but he didn’t listen to me. He thought of me as a silly child, trying to get attention. I knew he wasn’t going to believe me, so I just wanted to spend as much time as I could with him. Then, he disappeared; and I found him in my parent's room sitting on the bed. I told him I loved him, and would always feel that way. He looked like a cloud (well, he had that look - he looked like himself, but he had that cloud-look, like thin air). I tried to hug him, but he was like dust that blew away - and then, I woke up. When I was fully awake, I looked in my hand, and I saw the crystal. I always knew there was something special about it, but I just had to figure it out!