She Wanted To Go Home
I drove home that early morning going over the events that had taken place within the past hour (“The Uninvited Passenger”). I mentally reviewed Tina's story – her ability, her history with her mother, the strong scent of perfume, the hairs standing on end at the back of my neck. I no longer felt scared, but I had a sense of validation that these phenomena existed. The further I got from Tina's, the more curious I became of her abilities. I wanted to know more.
Over next few days, Tina and I talked about her ability to see spirits and about the spirit that followed her that night in great detail. Tina had tried to ignore the spirit one day, she said, and in retaliation, the spirit unleashed the most foul stench that lingered for days. It was the smell of death, of decomposition, of putrefaction. It was so bad that it didn't escape the noses of the people whom she lived with. They searched the house for any small animals that might have snuck into the house and had died in the walls, hidden from view to no avail. Within a week, however, the spirit left as mysteriously as it came.
"Since the day of her funeral, the woman's spirit remained in the church looking for some way to return home..."
Tina confided in her boyfriend when they could not find the source of the smell. She was reluctant at first because he'd shy away or get scared when it came to subjects dealing with the paranormal. Much to her surprise, he was very accepting, calm and understanding when she confided in him. He even tried to help her "appease" the spirit until they could convince it to leave, or until it left on its own. She was lucky to have such a supportive partner as more spirits began to notice her and follow her around in the ensuing days. One Sunday, Tina and her boyfriend found out how "attractive" she had become to the spirit world.
Tina and her boyfriend attended mass at St. Mark's, a local cathedral located in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood whose circular stained glass window can be seen from I-5 below, when the spirit of a confused older woman approached Tina asking for help. Tina noticed the spirit when large curtains near the pew they sat at began to move on their own without cause. The woman’s spirit told Tina that she "woke up" to find her friends and family crying around her. She did not recognize her surroundings, nor did she know how she arrived at the church. Since the day of her funeral, the woman's spirit remained searching for some way to return home. Tina, having gotten used to communicating with spirits, offered her help. The spirit left with Tina and her boyfriend after mass ended.
Later that week, much to her surprise, Tina was able to find the woman's obituary on the Internet. The next day, true to her word, Tina and her boyfriend drove the woman's spirit home. “It was easy as that,” Tina mentioned as if she were talking about helping a confused, but living, stranger she had met on the street.
Many years have passed since I last talked with Tina, but I can only imagine how her life had changed after our drive during that fateful morning. I know definitely that my life had been affected because it was more proof that there is another world.
Although I don't "see" spirits the same way Tina did, a misplaced scent is enough for me to know that a spirit is nearby. Whenever I catch an odd smell, the hairs on the back of my neck stand straight up to this day. I’m more collected about it now, and I calmly talk to whomever it might be as if there were sitting right next to me.
