"So, it's afraid of the dark y'are?" Uncle Mikey squints at me.
I give a nod hoping the dark doesn't hear me.
This is not just dark but country dark.
Unable to even catch sight of my own hand in front of my face.
As if the darkness had solidified around me.
My body melted away and I only a tangle of thoughts
floating through the air being both there and not there.
"Sure don't ya know your grandfather was born a ghost!"
Uncle Mikey attempts to comfort my six year old self
"And sure wasn't your grandmother a banshee for over a century or more!"
Granny in her chair turns up her eyes.
I sit stunned at all these revelations.
"And your grandfather had a terrible habit of
turning into an owl!"
I can hardly believe what I am hearing.
"So if the dark ever comes after ya..."
"Yes...yes...!" I wait with baited breath.
"Then your grandfather will give a hoot and
no one not even the dark will argue with a a natural born ghost!"
Outside an owl hoots. Uncle smiles to himself.
After that the dark can't lay a finger on me.
*
Nyctophobia struck deep into the heart of my six year old self. I was a townie and the dark never touched me until I experienced Cork country dark which was terrifying...you simply vanished into it as if it had consumed you and you were in the belly of the beast. Uncle Mikey had a unique way of dissolving the dark for me and did a good impression of an owl as well.
Nyctophobia struck deep into the heart of my six year old self. I was a townie and the dark never touched me until I experienced Cork country dark which was terrifying...you simply vanished into it as if it had consumed you and you were in the belly of the beast. Uncle Mikey had a unique way of dissolving the dark for me and did a good impression of an owl as well.
It was a strange sort of comforting but it worked...after that I always thought the dark was afraid of me and didn't want to argue with a natural born ghost!