House Of Dark, House Of Light

I know that WOO WOO WEEK largely included the freaky happenings at my former abode, but WOO WOO is about more than just goosebumps, and scariness, there's a positive to it as well. Kind of like a little yin and yang WOO WOO Universe.

As a teenager, I knew better than to have guys in my room. One evening, while my boyfriend stealthily moved in for the kill, I glanced up and saw an angelic figure standing in the doorway, looking forlorn. The man seemed aglow in luminescent white robes, and our eyes met for a mere second, before he disappeared. I kicked out the loser boyfriend, and immediately felt repentant.

Twelve years ago, my Mom found herself embroiled in a horrific custody battle with my ex-stepfather, the father of my then 11 year old brother. They had divorced years before, and my stepdad took off for Florida in an attempt to isolate my brother, and as we discovered later, to abuse him. It wasn't enough for Child Protective Services that the man ran in a circle of convicted pedophile friends, since he, himself, had no criminal record. When Joel came for a visit, my mom decided that she would never let him go, and she sought help from CPS, and relinquished him to their custody. An investigation ensued, and my former stepdad claimed that my mom never even tried to see Joel for all those years, which was blatantly untrue. My mother defensively told them how she purchased plane tickets, and then my stepdad would refuse to put Joel on the plane. Skeptical, one of the attorneys asked to see the plane ticket receipts. My mom holds the record as the world's worst record keeper, and she knew that producing such documents would constitute a near impossibility. Defeated, frustrated, and sobbing she went home to pilfer through her antique rolltop desk to try and find any shred of evidence to back up her story. When she arrived home, and opened the desk, there lied an entire stack of papers, neatly compilated into a little pile, and held together with paper clips. Every single plane ticket receipt mysteriously accounted for. Another oddity stemmed from the social worker assigned to the case. After hearing the long, and very sordid story of all that had happened to Joel, she promised my mom that even though she just started the job on that very day, she would literally move "heaven and earth" to ensure the safety of my brother, and that he would never return with his father. She worked countless hours, and things miraculously fell into place. The day after Joel's father was denied custody, and CPS opened a formal criminal investigation into his dealings, my mom returned to the office to thank the case worker, Judy. The other ladies informed her that Judy just abruptly left the day before, and they had no idea where she went, or even where she came from. Judy just saw that all was resolved with Joel's case before disappearing into the ether.

People always ask how we could live in a house that had so many creepy, abnormal things going on, but we never felt threatened in any way. Scared half to death occasionally, yes, but not in imminent danger. You just get complacent, and live your life, until the next even occurs, that is.....