The Sallie House Haunting: A True Story by Debra Pickman Read Free Book Online Page A

had always chalked it up to the typical fibs of a child not wanting to be responsible for picking up his toys.
    She added that her daughter had had the bedroom with the walk-in closet. She hadn’t remembered anything strange about the room, with one exception. She remembered her little girl had not only grown attached to an imaginary playmate named Sallie, but would entertain herself for hours playing with her in the closet. Remarkably, the little girl had not spoken of Sallie since moving away.
    We found the information quite interesting. “Perhaps we have a little girl ghost by the name of Sallie?” I wondered out loud. We both just looked at each other, silently wondering if this was a possibility.
    Tony’s brother Larry called. His boss, Annie, had called her sister Barbara and briefly relayed our experiences. Barbara, without having met or talked to us, said she felt we had the spirit of an young girl between five and thirteen years old. She also felt the little spirit not only liked the house and felt comfortable there, but was protecting a baby.
    Barbara also explained that the movement of the stuffed animals was probably this little spirit playing with them as if they were her own toys. Barbara had asked Annie whether or not our baby could see this spirit. Even through Annie did not know much about the situation and couldn’t answer the question, Barbara had felt confident that Taylor probably could. She had explained to Annie that controlled testing using infrared cameras has shown that young children can see spirits whereas adults—even those sitting right next to the children—cannot. Annie couldn’t answer the next question Barbara had asked either: “Has the baby been waking up a lot during the night?”
    The idea that Barbara had known to ask this question indicated she had been able to focus on what had been taking place in our home and she was trying to verify what her psychic abilities had been picking up. As a new mom uncertain of my motherly instincts, I had often blamed myself concerning Taylor’s night time sleeping habits; I just knew I must be doing something wrong. Not wanting others to think of me as a failure or a bad mother incapable of taking care of Taylor, I had told no one of the baby’s sleeping trouble except my sister. For Barbara to have hit on such a major issue from as far away as California, not to mention by way of a fourth party, was truly astonishing—and it eased the thoughts that it had somehow been my fault.
    I held the phone tightly to my ear, listening to the information Barbara had provided. While doing so, I began to draw even more parallels. For instance, I found it uncanny that Barbara had described our spirit as a young girl, the same conclusion I had come to. The idea that she believed the spirit was “playing” with the stuffed animals again paralleled my thoughts. “It’s okay, you can play now,” I’d said in the nursery.
    Barbara suggested we tell the ghost that although she was welcome to stay with us, she would have to behave; she could play with the toys, but she had to put them back when she was done. We were also instructed to make it clear that this was our house and if she wanted to stay with us, she would have to follow our rules.
    Larry said Barbara would welcome a phone call from us and I wrote down the number. Just before ending the conversation, Larry told me the most bone-chilling thing I had ever heard: Barbara had casually mentioned a name which was persistent and overwhelming in her mind. The name was Sallie. I managed to say good-bye before hanging up the phone, but my heart had momentarily stopped as I felt the weight of what that name meant. The imaginary friend named Sallie, which the previous tenant’s daughter had played with, was actually a ghost.
    I took a couple of deep breaths to calm my thumping heart. Seeing the worry on Tony’s face, I recapped everything Larry had told me. Afterward, we fell silent. We were dazed by the