Ghostly

While in Provincetown with his “nieces”, the Gay Uncle and his youthful ward Tal had occasion to watch the girls engage in some compellingly dangerous activities: playing in the ocean, consuming immense portions of artery clogging fried foods, and exploring his friend Danika’s grandparents’ eerie 19th century estate. The house has a tiny cupola atop its oldest portion, accessible only through a creaky series of stairways that climb along the edge of what used to be a barn, up into a strange balconied mezzanine, and then through a door and into a dark attic. Danika’s older daughter Erica is somewhat cautious, and generally avoids the space–sticking to prowling the yard looking for blueberries and bunnies–but her younger daughter Anna is more adventurous (reckless?) in spirit, and when offered the opportunity, clambered up there. She was gone for a few minutes, and when she returned, Guncle Tal asked her about her explorations. “I saw a ghost,” she said, flatly. “It went whoo-whoo at me.” Tal wanted to ask her more questions about this sighting, but it usually takes him a beat or two longer than necessary to come up with age-appropriate follow-ups even on ordinary subjects, and he felt flustered. He tried “who was the ghost?” and “did you see it?” and maybe “was it nice?” but he asked all three questions one after another, the second based on his insecurity about the comprehensibility and appropriateness of the first, and so on and so on, thus creating inevitable brain-fritz. Anna stared at him. “Can I have a popsicle now?” she asked. He and Gunc wish to remind parents (and uncles) that, when dealing with children’s reactions to the supernatural (or anything else–it’s nearly all supernatural to them), it’s important to s-l-o-w down, and allow time for answers.