#therationalempiricist

[therationalempiricist-blog]

“The Man in the brown suit”.  The following anecdote is a recollection of true events. They are recounted to the best of my ability. Names of persons or places mentioned have been changed for privacy reasons. As with most ghost stories, sometimes the more simple they are, the better they are. In evaluation, out of all of the ghostly encounters I have had, this one was one of the strongest in memory and one of the most important for me as it , in my mind, consolidated WITHOUT a doubt, that the spirits of the deceased do walk amongst us. My whole life the paranormal has followed me. I didn't often have people I could talk to about my encounters. The kid of people you could swap stories with, chat and try and make sense of it all. Sometimes I felt those who I did open up to used my accounts against me and just wanted to continue my pariahdom throughout my childhood, however, it wasn't until I was in my second year of highschool that I really started to gain friends. They were incredibly understanding and as I would soon find out, empathising friends. One friend in particular could empathise with me on a very similar level, Rebecca. Rebecca and I had both not only had our own encounters with the paranormal but also shared encounters. We talked a great deal about our experiences, our beliefs and our lives. We both had similar challenging upbringings and we really bonded and stuck together because of it. As time went on, gaining more and more independence from our parents and as pressure grew in our final years of Highschool, Rebecca decided it was time to move in with her boyfriend, Lucas and his family. Lucas and his family were very familiar with the Paranormal. Especially Lucas’ dad Peter. Peter was an very intelligent man. It was never confirmed, but I had asked him more than once if he had something along the lines of a Photographic Memory. One thing he did confirm, and speak openly about was his Clairaudience. While he didn't sit around and relay messages from the other side, he did give a good insight into the abilities of others.  He was the first person to tell me I was “ a mecca for paranormal beings and spirits” and that they liked my energy. I'm not sure what they saw back then, I was a pretty sad kid most of the time but he had suggested to me once without really saying it, that it was my strength that drew them close. Lucas’ mum Susan seemed to agree when it was suggested. She often supported the “mecca” suggestion when we would chat about our experiences. Rebecca similar to me, seemed to be more of a emotional conduit amongst other things at the time. She quite often had her little psychic hat on and we had alot of fun when she would randomly say what I was thinking, no matter how random it was. But before I knew Lucas’ parents, the first night I ever spent in their home really opened the gateway for me to start confidently asking questions about the other side. They lived in an older suburb, in an older home. Their home and land seemed to have a decent history and held a heritage listing within the local area, though of what grade, I am not sure. The facade of the single story Edwardian-esq 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom residence was cream in colour, weatherboard, with a maroon roof and a dainty white picket fence complete with an ornate wrought iron swinging gate. A thick, heavy wooden door accented with a period original white stained glass horse and horseshoe halo silhouette, held guard at the entrance. Either side, two double sized square windows. The front room of the house, the living room, was the entirety of the original dwelling, being no bigger than 5m by 5.5m. The ceilings still as tall as the day they were erected completed with dark wooden picture rails and Baroque inspired crown moulding. I imagine the real substance of the room would have once been a beautifully abundant fireplace, now covered over with an old 70′s style elemental gas wall heater.   The living room always had a weighted gloom about it. Whether it was the partially midnight green walls or the density and height of the trees covering the small front yard absorbing the light, I am not sure. The remainder of the home wasn't much better. There never seemed to be any natural sunlight beaming through the windows. Always a cloud or a shade of some type. It was hard to imagine the residence ever having a luminosity and radiance about it. I don’t know much about who lived in the home or the types of energies they bought with them that perhaps over the decades oppressed and suffocated any brilliance that enter, but what I do know is the original landowner was a Military man (suggested to me WW I but possibly earlier). I was told he built the house, adjacent workshed/ garage and stable himself.  If he was accompanied by a family or was alone remains a mystery but I imagine he kept to himself and earnt a keeping dealing with livestock that reside on the remainder of the property. The remains of the original, now roofless stable and original workshed/garage were still on the property and became a boundary lines later down the track when the property was subdivided and more residences established. It was never indicated to me how large his land really was but Susan and Peter quite often would find horse or cow bones in the yard while gardening, so it suggests the owner had space for animals a plenty. When you walked through the remainder of the home it was almost like you were walking through time. Different parts of the house were added on in different decades. You are greeted with this simple but lovely heritage facade, lovely tall ceilings and polished hardwood floors throughout the living area and adjoining matching bedrooms but then followed 50′s/60′s/70′s tacky Linoleum floors, mixed match pastel coloured walls and cupboards and not to mention original worn out plumbing in the bathroom, kitchen and rear laundry/ toilet. It had a lot of history. the kind that costs a fortune to fix and replace!  One of  which, and  one of the creepiest parts of the home was undoubtedly a “bungalow” that was built in the yard. I couldn't pinpoint what era it may have been built in, but we know it had Asbestos and was built out of concrete and chipboard. Very tacky looking shed like structure with a small sink and no immediately obvious purpose. It was built in a such a way that it divided the yard in two horizontally so you could only see the back of the property through the Bungalow windows if looking on from the house. The windows of the Bungalow lined up with the windows in the laundry perfectly and quite often if you were at the laundry sink, say washing your hands, it was a shocking cliche` that you would see shadows moving past in the back of the property where the remains of the stable were. Every person who I had ever spoken to about the rear section of the yard had negative feelings and experiences about it. It just had “Haunted” written all over it. My first impressions of the home being full of activity were pretty accurate. You could feel such a mix of emotion and history in the home. You could almost see everyone who had lived there wondering the through as they might have done so many years before in their stereotypical period garb. Rebecca and Lucas never said straight away they thought the house was occupied by more than just the living. However, when I first visited and expressed my concerns, Rebecca did say she felt the same as me the first time she visited. That in itself said enough. I never imagined though that on that same night I would see what I saw and find out that I wasn't the first. The first time I visited  their home was on my 17th birthday. Rebecca thought it would be a good idea to come over and hangout with them and just chill. So that's what I did. After school on a Friday, I walked to down the road to the train station and jumped on. A handful of stops and a short walk later, I was there. I met a couple of Lucas’ friends and we played cards, listened to music did what average 17 year olds did and just chilled out. There were no ghosties that any of us were cognitively aware of, nothing sinister, just happy vibes. Lucas’s mum had told me when I arrived that for many years that house had been full of children coming and going so, i picked up on the fact that Lucas’ parents did not feel unfamiliar or put of by lots of noise. The house at that time, just felt lived in. When it was time to go to bed, Rebecca set me up with the living room on one of the big, white, super comfy and cushy couches, a nice warm blanket and Susan even left the heater on the living room as while it was coming into spring, the nights were still a little cold. Being that I was in a strange house and still afraid of the dark, the orange glow from the heater provided a very nice night light and illuminated the entire living room. In some ways I thought in contrast to my impressions on the house fighting for light during the day, at least it saw a warm glow at night.   I was laying there trying my best to go to sleep, but being the insomniac that I am, falling asleep was proving difficult so I just lay there there mulling over the evening and listening the the creeks and cracks of the old wooden floorboards and the tall now sepia walls as the temperature grew colder and the house settled. After counting scallops in the architraves and tassels on the red persian rug, I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I could remember was jerking awake. I do not remember dreaming but if I was, I imagine that I was dreaming about falling or running away from a predator. My whole body had and electric tingle and I could feel my pulse in the ears and hitting my body like a hammer . When I opened my eyes, they were very blurry and sticky because I had stupidly not taken my eye makeup off that night before bed, so I rubbed my eyes. I looked out in front of me and immediately I saw a man standing at just in front of the entrance to the hall. He was an older caucasian man wearing a brown plaid like suit, a white or cream collard shirt, a tie in a similar colour to the suit and a matching Bowler hat and cane. Had a gentle looking face. Not harmful or predatory looking at all. He was standing there illuminated in the orange glow just looking at me. He was standing is such a way that suggested he was walking toward me just before I saw him. I felt my heart drop and for maybe 2 seconds our gazes locked. That short time frame felt like an eternity. A multitude of thoughts ran through my head. “How long have I been asleep for? Who is this? What does he want with me? Don't hurt me! Is this one of Lucas’ Grandpas coming over? Why is he here after we have all gone to bed? Is this a lost neighbour? How did he get in here? Through the back door maybe?” His expression was such that I was expecting him to  say something such as “Oh! I didn't mean to scare you” or “Sorry love, Im... I'm just here for” and I was already preparing my replies in my sprinting chain of thought, but, as soon as I blinked, he was gone. I sat up and without hesitation, I realised what I had just seen. I didn’t know if I should be scared or excited or wake up Rebecca and tell her what I had just happened so, I just layed back down, adrenaline pumping. I ran through his expression, the texture of his clothes. I tried to pinpoint what decade he materialised from. Was there any telltale sign? What would his voice have sounded like if he had spoken? What were the colour of his eyes? Was he wearing a wedding ring? What was it like where he came from? Why was he here? Why did I see him? So many questions I may never have answered. It was maddening. Eventually I was exhausted enough to fall back asleep. The next morning I woke to the sounds and voices of Rebecca and Lucas stirring around in their bedroom which was backed on to the living room. I jumped off of the couch and hurtled myself to their room. I quickly collected myself at the door and knocked. Rebecca opened the door and after a casual, “Good morning!”, asked how I had slept. I was just about to start spurting it all out when I heard crockery clinking and unfamiliar voices coming from the kitchen. I pointed toward the kitchen and whispered to Rebecca, “ Who’s that?” She responded with, “Oh! That’s Lucas’ sister, Elle and her partner, Leo”. I tried to remember hearing them come in at any stage during the night or morning but I couldn’t. I must have really been out of it because I am usually a very light sleeper, if I get to sleep that is. Rebecca took me to the kitchen to introduce me. Susan told me that we were having a big breakfast on the front porch because Peter’s parents were coming over, “so better go and have a shower before the hot water runs out!” - The pros of having an ancient Hot Water heater!  While I was in the shower, the same questions and thought circled around my head to nowhere, like water down the drain. I was so sure about what I had seen yet so unsure all at once. Was I just delirious from lack of sleep? I had never had hallucinations before. Was I just dreaming and letting my imagination get the better of me? It felt SO real... it couldn’t have been a dream! I pondered countless ways to subtly talk to Rebecca at breakfast but I still felt so indecisive about how to approach the topic, given their whole family would pretty much be there. What would they think of me??   Sitting down to breakfast amongst the introductions and the small talk, I waited patiently to tell Rebecca what had happened and after about five or so short minutes, I finally got my moment.  Even though both of us had seen “things” before, either of us had seen a Full Bodied Apparition- a full of ghost, I was half waiting for a throw away remark such as, “ Are you sure? Maybe you dreamt it?” but, she looked at me with a sort of cheeky smile as if she wasn't surprised. Before I could question her expression, Lucas asked what we were whispering about and Rebecca told him, loud enough that the whole table could hear mind you. I was just beyond embarrassed but then Lucas had this very interesting look on his face. It was very similar to the one Rebecca had held on her face not moments ago and before I could even ask, I was interrupted by Lucas’s Grandmother who looked at me with a smile on her face chimed in. “Funny you should say that!” As soon as I heard those words, I just felt goosebumps run over me me and I slumped back in my chair. My mind was racing with possibility. I was so very hoping I wasn't the only one, and it was starting to appear as if I wasn’t. She turned to Lucas, “You may not quite remember, but you were little you used to talk to yourself a lot. I sometimes wondered if it was an imaginary friend or maybe something else but I specifically remember one day, I walked into the living room where you were nicely sitting on the floor playing and chattering away and when I asked you who you were talking to, you turned to me, and said ever so sweetly said, ‘The man in the Brown suit nana’”. As soon as I heard phrase, “The man in the brown suit”, I felt my heart stop. Lucas just said, “ Looks like I am not the only one now.” and everyone had a good laugh. I felt so many emotions crash over me and I had a barrage of questions for Lucas but, he told me he didn’t really remember much. “I remember enough for the story to sound familiar, but I haven't heard from him in years!”. He said with a big sarcastic grin. Even after poking Peter’s gifted mind,or ear rather,  for a little while we just bounced ideas and scenarios off each other but in the end we had more questions than answers. Every night since that I spent in their house I had hoped to see him again, to ask him all of the questions I couldn't before. And while we had many Ghostly encounters in the home, it couldn't really be defined who or what was responsible. Many emotions, impressions and vibes. Overall, no one is really sure who the man in the Brown suit was. Maybe he was the original owner of the house? Maybe a long lost relative? Maybe he was just a long lost soul hitching a ride on the Kate Mecca Express! I hope one day, that we will have answers to these questions but for now all I know is that, that was the moment that washed away any doubt I ever had in my mind about Spirits being among us. I have seen first hand that they are and for those that are here with us, I hope that they are happy. I hope that they no longer experience pain or sadness and that they are in a better place. I understand that through experience, it is difficult to communicate with the Spirits of our loved ones but every day we get closer to understanding more about their world and how we can break the barriers. We just have to be persistent and hold onto experiences such as this which make the research all the more worth it! Forever curious, -Kate