It was the night before Halloween and I was watching cartoons with Whisper and the kittens, on a Children's channel, that played around the clock children shows. I thought Whisper would like the cartoons.

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She was fascinated.

"I have never seen a television before," she told me.

"I had heard of them, but we could never afford one, Daddy would say."

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"Well you can watch as much as you want."

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"Thank you Will."

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As I watched, I thought about Halloween and the fact that I had absolutely nothing to hand out to the kids. I never celebrated Halloween before. I usually turned off the lights in my apartment and hid in my room, drinking.

But this year I wanted to do it. I would go to the general store in the morning and talk to Mayor Maynard about it.

But then I wondered if any kids would even venture this far from the village for tricks or treats.

But it would be a treat for Whisper, I was sure of that.

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Suddenly a feeling swept over my whole body and brought tears to my eyes.

I looked around my living room, at my cats, the cartoons on my TV and somewhere near, my little ghost.

It hit me like a ton of bricks; I was home.

I was a part of a family. It was a unique family, but it was a family.

My family.

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I wiped my eyes, sniffled slightly and got up quickly from the couch. I headed for the bathroom and a tissue, to dry my eyes.

By the time I got there, my eyes were filled with tears and they were stinging slightly.

Reached for a facecloth and wet it with cold water. I put it over my eyes.

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"Are you okay, Will?"

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I jumped slightly at the sound of Whisper's voice. I took the cloth from my eyes and looked toward the open door, where I assumed she was.

"I am okay. I must have got something in my eye."

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"You sounded like you were crying. Are you sad?"

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I smiled, tears began streaming down my face, again.

"No, Whisper, I am not sad."

I wiped my eyes again and knelt down in front of the open door. I knew she was there because Ghost and Spirit were sitting in the hallway.

"Are you in front of me?"

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"Yes. I am right in front of you."

I felt a slight tingle on my cheek, like a feather gently touching it.

.

I put my hand to my cheek.

"Did you touch my face?"

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"I'm sorry, Will. I just wanted you to know I was here."

Her voice sounded so sad.

"I won't do it again."

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"No," I said quickly.

"No. Really, its okay, Whisper."

I wiped my eyes again.

"I am glad you are here."

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"Me too, Will."

Again I felt something on my cheek, but it was a different sensation.

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I heard Whisper giggle, the sound moving away from me.

Ghost and Spirit ran back into the living room.

I knew Whisper was gone, back to watching cartoons.

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I put my hand to my cheek.

"She kissed me," I said softly.

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I watched television until almost midnight and then decided to go to bed, to once again try and write something.

Ghost and Spirit were asleep on the floor, I assumed, next to Whisper, so I decided to leave them there.

I also decided to leave the tv on, to keep Whisper company.

"Goodnight, Whisper."

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"You are going to bed?"

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I nodded. "Yes. I will leave the tv on for you."

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"Thank you, Will. Goodnight."

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I smiled.

"Night Whisper."

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Why I even bothered to set up beds for the kittens was beyond me. I was no sooner in bed and had the notebook turned on, then the two little rascals were on the bed.

I was surprised that they were even able to get up on my kingsize bed, but they somehow managed to jump high enough, hook in their claws and climb up.

As soon as they were on the bed, they were on my notebook, walking across the keyboard and making all kinds of weird things happen on the screen.

I started laughing and playing with them, but within a few minutes they both scurried to the end of the bed and immediately started getting up on their hind legs.

If I didn't know any better, I could have sworn that they were trying to dance.

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"Whisper, are you there?"

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There was silence.

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"Whisper?"

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"I am Will."

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I sat up straighter in bed and closed my notebook.

"Sweetie, listen. I want you to understand that my bedroom is ...

well."

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"Your private place," she offered.

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I nodded.

"Yes. It is the one room in the house that is off limits to you."

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"Okay. I will leave."

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"No," I said quickly.

"I need you to listen and understand. Okay?"

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"Okay Will."

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Her voice sounded so sad. It was tearing at my heart.

I choose my words carefully.

"My bedroom is the only room in this house that I want you to ask permission to come into.

All the other rooms are yours to roam about, anytime you want, but this room.

Well, I need you to ask permission to come in. Do you understand?"

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"I do Will. I should knock first."

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I smiled.

"I don't know if you can do that, Whisper, but you can stand outside and call to me.

Can you do that?"

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"I can," she said quickly.

"Do you want me to leave now?"

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I shook my head.

"No. You can stay, but in the future ..."

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"I know," she answered quickly, an upbeat sound to her voice.

"I wait outside until you tell me I can come in."

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"So. We have a deal?"

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"We have a deal, Will.

So if I have my own room, one day, will you have to knock first?"

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I nodded.

"Yea. I will."

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I heard her giggle, then she asked, "It is okay if I play with the kittens for a while?"

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"Of course."

I watched as Spirit and Ghost danced around the edge of the bed. Then they would jump off and back up again.

All the while, I could hear Whisper's soft giggling.

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I gave up trying to write and instead checked the latest stock market reports.

One of the things I became very interested in while I was at the spa, reinventing myself, was the stock market. I took an online course in learning about it and I then invested about a million dollars in several companies.

The investments paid off and within six months, my one million had become over two million.

So I invested more.

I tried to contain my stock to internet companies and technology companies, since that seemed to be the way of the future.

I had quite a portfolio built up.

A portfolio that was worth almost as much as the initial amount I had won in the lottery.

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Finally I could barely keep my eyes open.

I closed the notebook.

"Okay, Whisper, it is time to sleep."

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"I don't sleep, Will," she reminded me.

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"But I do. Please stop playing with the kittens, so they will settle down."

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"Okay, Will."

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Her voice was so sad. I felt bad, but I had to get some sleep.

"You will have all day tomorrow to play with Ghost and Spirit. They need their sleep too."

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"Okay, Will. Goodnight Ghost and Spirit. Goodnight Will."

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"Goodnight, Whisper."

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I had just turned off the light and settled down when I heard her voice.

"Will?"

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"Yes."

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"Its okay if I watch the cartoons, right?"

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I smiled to myself.

"Of course it is."

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"Thank you."

I heard her giggle fading as she obviously hurried down the hallway.