Encouragement from Ghosts
Q: My drama teacher told me a ghostly tale of when he was a stagehand and took a bow to what he thought was an empty theater one night after the play ended and everyone had exited. He looked up to see hundreds of applauding apparitions. They disappeared one by one. He said he thinks they were there to encourage his pursuit of becoming an actor. Do you agree?
A: Oh yeah. He’s a teacher, right? I was going to go into acting but I was told I didn’t stand a ghost of a chance. Now I wonder if I quit too soon.
Q: My wife owns a painting of a figure from the 1800s who seems to appear to us and visitors upon occasion. We believe she is also responsible for objects around the house being relocated some nights. Have you heard of other similar experiences?
A: You betcha! I know a guy who claimed everyone he painted came to him either before or after he put them on canvass. I completely understand people coming to him before they’re painted; it’s called sitting for a portrait, and some came to pay him and collect their painting afterward. But once he recalled some woman he had painted visited him after her death. She was complaining that he made her look fat.
Q: I have a friend who claims she dreamed of her baby months before she conceived. She said she saw her daughter’s face, knew her hair and eye color. I saw them recently. The child looks just like her mother. Are there any other recorded cases like this one?
A: Not among humans. In scientific circles what you’re referring to is known as cloning! On a similar note, though, a friend of mine dreamed of attempting to conceive with women nightly for many, many years. Fortunately, they never came true.
Q: I live in a house with three brothers and a sister. I am the youngest. I used to get picked on a lot, but my mom and dad put a stop to that. I am writing because many nights I can’t sleep and I go downstairs to watch television by myself. Quite a few times I have smelled something like rotten eggs in my bedroom I share with my brothers after a night of baked beans. No one else is around when I smell this. What could it be?
A: Obviously, you’re too young to know about hang time.
