Family Story Part 2: Spence

Every family has their story. For our family it's either the laugh-so-hard-you-cry stories or the stomach twisting, mysterious kind. Unfortunately for you, this isn’t the laugh-so-hard-you-cry sort. I myself don’t clearly remember these unusual events because I was only about two years old, but at the moment I was very aware of what was going on. They say that children can sense things that aren’t visible… and that is true, in my case.

When I was younger, my mom, dad, and I lived in house in Kaneohe. A cozy little house right on the water, which overlooked Coconut Island. It was like living on a houseboat and you could always hear the waves splashing against the back wall.

One afternoon, just after my mom had put me down for a nap and was cleaning the kitchen, she thought she heard something at the door. She went to see who was there, but opened the door to nothing but the wind. “Maybe it was just someone playing a practical joke,” my mom thought. By now the glass door at the back of the house was starting to shake. It sounded like someone wiggling the door back and forth and trying to open it. Since we lived across the bay from Kaneohe Marine Base, she assumed it was just a jet flying overhead. But no jet had ever shaken the house like that before.

That night we ate dinner, played Candy Land and went to bed, but my mom couldn't fall asleep. She got up to go get water when she heard me yell, “Mom! Mom!” “What’s the matter Maile?” she said as I sat wide-awake. “There’s something all around the room” I replied. She told me that it was only a bad dream, but knew that wasn't the truth. My mom rocked me back to sleep in the living room and in doing so saw a light from outside. It looked like a flashlight or maybe the moon. But there was no moon that night and not a trace of anyone standing outside. She couldn’t figure it out. My dad came out to see what all the commotion was. When my mom told him what had happened and what I said, he laughed it off and said to go back to bed.

But my mother could not resist, she just had to unravel this mystery. Unfortunately, I was strapped to her shoulder, which meant, “I was in for the LONG ride” but I didn't know it yet. My mother scurried to the kitchen counter embellished in papers and mail. “Where is the flashlight?” she whispered to herself. I am not sure whether she thought I was asleep or not, but I knew she didn’t need the flashlight just to get a glass of water. Something else was going on. Then I heard her say to herself, “I’ll just get to the bottom of this real quick and go back to sleep.” But that was not going to happen. In fact, she would be lucky to get an ounce of sleep, and that went for me too! I was too terrified to cry or do something to distract her from this doomed plan, for I didn’t know what was out there either. I decided that drawing attention to myself was not a good plan.

Unaware of what she was getting herself into, my mom began to look for a candle. Knowing her luck there was nothing, no flashlight, no candle, only a single match which now seemed worthless. My mom resorted to using the dim light of the night, although she wished to turn on a light in the house, but that would wake my father.

She snuck towards the front door and without making a peep, slowly opened it. Nothing, nobody was there, so she stepped outside to circle the house, assuming it could be someone playing a practical joke. Far from practical it really was. By now I was stone cold, silent as the wind on that dark night, and eyes wide open unable to shut with fright. “If I was to blink, the boogie monster would jump out and get me” I convinced myself. Actually, the boogie monster now seemed nice, compared to what was lurking around our house. Mom reached the back of the house, but the only thing there was the ocean with a tiny light from a boat in the distance. Back to the front door and we could find nothing. In we walked and as my mom locked the door something caught my eye. “Hey” I yelled. “Shhhh Mai--” she started to say, but then noticed that I was pointing to something. On the back sliding glass door was a pair of medium sized hand prints. My mom took a deep breath. Our shadows didn't appear on the door as they usually did, only the outline of the hand prints. I was hoping to hear my mom shaking my arm telling me to wake up but I still found myself in the reality. Facing her fears she walked to the door. As she got closer and closer she could see more and more of the figure standing just outside of the door. Now both my mother and I were face to face with the figure, only the glass door between us. It was the spirit of a young boy. We studied each other for a minute. At first glimpse he had an eerie presence, like he was spying on us, but then appeared softer and looked more like a real person. I blinked to make sure that what I saw was real. Opening my tired eyes, the spirit was now stepping through the glass door. My mom moved backward a step as he came forward. He put his hand up to his face to shade a very faint light coming from the street. His face became very clear and I noticed the cool blue eyes behind his thin simple glasses. He lost his spirit like appearance and now gained a look of liveliness. The young boy, maybe about ten, had come to life. “Spence” he said in a calm voice, pointing to himself. My mom held me tighter than ever before. “Maile” I whispered back.

The living room light flashed on! “Karrie, what are you doing up it’s two o’clock in the morning” my dad said in a strange and confused voice. “Spence” she said pointing behind her, but there was nothing there. He had vanished when the light turned on. My dad shut off the light and hurried us into bed. Just before we turned the corner I saw over my moms shoulder, the boy standing where he was before. “Bye” I whispered but my mom didn't hear me, however Spence waved faintly back at me.

“Maile, Maile, get up we are going to breakfast” my mom said. Rolling around in my bed I said where’s Spence?” My mom told me that I must have been dreaming and that I didn't know a Spence. The look on her face and the sound of her voice sounded fake and as if she were hiding something, but I just believed her anyway. After breakfast we went to Longs to get “a treat”. Dad took me down the isle to go pick out some candy, and my mom went down a different isle. I picked out a pink and purple box of Nerds, but my dad said I couldn’t get them because they were pure sugar. So being a two year old, I ran away down the next isle to see if my mom would let me get them. “Maile! What are you doing over here?” she said in a surprised tone. I could see that she was hiding something behind her back, something green. It was a candle. But why didn't she want me to see it?

Now it was nighttime and I wondered if I would have the same dream about the little boy. I couldn't fall asleep, but remained still in my bed. Thinking that I was asleep my mom crept out of the room. Then I saw a light coming from the living room and quietly my mom returned into the room. Curious as I was I waited for my mom to fall into a deep sleep. As soon as I felt it was safe I snuck out into the living room. On the dining table lay the green candle and next to it the empty match box, the same one that carried the single useless match before. My mom would never light a candle in the middle of the night, “What had gotten into her? What was she trying to keep away? And why not just turn on the light? Would the light have woken me up because of its brightness? And what about my dream where the light made the boy go away? Was it not a dream? Was my mom making it seem like a dream so I wouldn't wonder or be scared?” I had to find out. I blew out the candle and saw a medium set of hand prints on the glass door again... "Hi Spence." I said.