Living with an entity certainly has it fair share of challenges. Privacy for one was simply out of the question. Even though Whisper and I had our talk about my bedroom, she got around the situation by coming through the walls of the room.

"You said I had to wait outside the door. You didn't say I couldn't come through the walls."

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So for a couple days, even showering was a daily event that often got met by a giggle. I learned very quickly that a well placed towel was a good friend and housecoats were a must. Something I had never done in my life.

Plus I had to have another talk with my little ghost friend and explain to her that coming into my room, by any means ...

was still coming into my room. And that unless I invited her, she was to stay out.

Finally I believe she understood.

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Whisper seemed to be getting stronger. By that I mean she was becoming able to do more things on her own.

My morning routine was now, get up, use the washroom, got to the kitchen and prepare my morning coffee, feed Ghost and Spirit and then, while my coffee was brewing, go through the kitchen and close every cupboard door.

Whisper had discovered how to open the doors, but for some reason, she did not like closing them, or she had not realized that she could, or should.

The microwave, too, had suddenly become a toy.

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"I like watching the numbers go backward and then it makes a funny beeping sound. And when I push on the numbers they beep too."

And as always, that cute giggle.

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I explained to her that the funny beeping sound, as fun as it was, usually woke me up.

Once again, I had to remind her that, even though she didn't sleep, I needed my sleep. And it seemed the only time Whisper liked playing, was at night when she was alone and as she put it,

"I get bored."

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I had to explain to her that she should play in the daytime when I am awake and that at night, she should quietly watch her cartoons on tv.

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"But I want to be with you when you are awake."

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It was a situation, I was sure, would probably never be rectified.

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Spirit and Ghost absolutely loved her. They would dart around the house, obviously chasing her, jumping in the air and as time went by they began doing what could only be described as a little dance, where they would get up on their hind legs and spin around.

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I was a little jealous, at times, because I was sure the cats could see her and I had only caught a couple glimpses of my ghostly roommate.

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There were several things that absolutely captivated Whisper.

Music was one.

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I am a huge fan of the 50's, 60's and 70's music and especially the vinyl albums. I love garage sales and flea markets and I have a huge collection which now lined the special cabinets along the entire length of one wall of my living room. I have four turntables and an immense stereo system to play them on.

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Whisper loved the music.

"Makes me want to dance. I have never heard anything like this before."

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It was another little clue, as to how long Whisper had been a ghost. She was not familiar with most of the music, except for a few songs from the 50s.

So, I was beginning to feel, that whatever happened to Whisper, happened sometime in the early 1950s.

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That aside, we had to come to an agreement when I played music.

I was very careful with my vinyl albums, but if there was a particular song that she especially enjoyed, she would try to play it again, often accompanied by the sound of scratching. I quickly explained to her that the scratching could damage the album and then we would not be able to play the music anymore.

I suggested that she let me handle the albums.

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At first, it seemed that she agreed, but as I was learning more and more, Whisper could be a tad stubborn and she did not like taking 'no' for an answer.

So, she learned, very quickly, to move the needle with no scratching.

"Is that better, Will?"

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What could I say?

She was actually better than I was. She could drop the needle, perfectly, at the beginning of the song. I often imagined her, hovering above the stereo, carefully laying the needle on the most distinctive line.

Finally, I would just ask her to repeat the songs for me.

And she got very good at finding my albums. I had once thought of sorting them in alphabetical order, but the sheer quantity didn't allow that, so I had the albums in each cubicle on the shelves (about 50 albums or so) listed on my computer, by number. I then had all my albums sorted alphabetically, by artist and then album, on my computer.

I could type in an artist or album and it would show me exactly which cubicle it was in, as they were all neatly numbered, with brass plates, like those on trophies. I actually had the program written for me, by a computer tech.

It even went as far as listing by years, music type and even individual songs. I kept a binder with the info on one of the shelves and it became one of Whisper's favourite reference books.

I would ask her to find a certain album and she would open the book, find the album and a few moments later, she would pull it out, carefully remove the album and put it gently on the turntable. It was so amazing to watch.

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Television was another thing that absolutely astounded her, especially cartoons. Since cable reception was limited in Maynard's Rock, I installed satellite television, just so Whisper could watch cartoons.

I am not a big tv watcher, though I do enjoy buying dvd movies and watching them at my leisure, but I felt that it would be a good way to keep Whisper entertained at nights, especially, so I could get some sleep. I learned very quickly that if I wanted a good night's sleep, I just kept the television on a cartoon channel all night.

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The other thing that Whisper adored was when I played guitar. I often would sit alone in my living room, with just a single light on, play and attempt to sing.

One night, after finishing a song, she told me ...

"That was so beautiful. My Mommy used to sing to me. She had a pretty voice. She would sing silly songs like head and shoulders and another about clapping your hands, if you are happy.

I miss those songs."

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So I learned a bunch of children's songs and bought a pile of cd's by the more popular kids artists.

Whisper loved them. As time went by I could hear her gentle voice singing along.

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In some strange way, I felt more at home than I had ever felt in my life. For many, I realize it would be just a tad weird for them, but people considered me weird anyway, so I didn't care.

I had a home and as far as I was concerned a family, albeit a unique family, none the less, a family.

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And I absolutely loved the little village of Maynard.s Rock. The people had quickly accepted me and really never questioned me about anything.

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And they loved the new shiny tractor, that kept their roads perfectly ploughed. They even fixed up an old storage shed, near the closed fish plant, to store the tractor.

And John did teach me to operate it.

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Time just seemed to fly by for me and my ghostly friend. Before I knew it, winter was upon us and it was nearing time for that jolly old elf to pay a visit.

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Now, I had a real dilemma.

What do you buy an entity for Christmas?