Returning Home
Pa Moss lived on a haunted farm. He had stories about a shadow figure that would pass travelers on a particularly lonely stretch of a dirt road that wound through the woods. He told of an inquisitive "sparkle" that liked to investigate anything new that might come to the house or barns. But by far, the farm's most persistent ghost -- or "haint" as he called them -- was a young girl with a lantern.
She would appear at sunset, walking beside the remains of a barbed-wire fence that was older than Pa Moss himself. The glow of her lantern would appear first, flickering as she walked a path between two fields, always heading north towards a thick stretch of woods. Sometimes you would see her white dress ruffled by the evening breeze as she walked, moving like a mist beside rows of corn or stalks of sugar cane. Every so often, especially when the moon was out, she would appear fully: a child of five or six with delicate features and flowing hair.
Throughout the summer months, the little girl would appear with almost every sunset. As the weather grew colder, her visits became less frequent. She would almost always appear on Christmas Eve and then not walk again until the following spring. Family, friends, and neighboring farmers had all seen her, but not everyone believed.
The light of her lantern was most often dismissed as "swamp gas," but no one could explain why it always followed the same path towards the woods. Pa Moss's granddaughters would sometimes wait by the fence line to see the ghost girl. But even though they would see her, she never seemed to see them. A few times they followed her, describing how she would fade away at the edge of the woods leaving only the glow of her lamp. Finally, the lantern itself would wink out a few dozen feet into the woods.
Pa Moss explained that there had once been a house in those woods, very close to where the light would vanish, but it had burned down long before he was born. Nothing remained to mark the spot; even the fireplace bricks had been recovered and re-used over the years. No one seemed to remember what had happened to the family or who the little girl might be.
Ma Moss felt sorry for the little girl and would always say a prayer when she would appear. But Pa Moss always thought the ghost girl seemed content, or at least neither sad nor frightened. He would simply say that she was "returning home."
Innocent Lost Souls?
While this was the first ghost story I was told as a child myself, it is not unique. Across many generations and in many different cultures there are stories of ghostly children. Paranormal investigators have encountered child-like spirits that giggle, play pranks, move toys, and are seen or heard in places where they once lived. The question here becomes, why?
Many hauntings are thought to be caused by a ghost that is seeking justice, hoping to right a wrong, or attempting to complete unfinished business. But what would bind the spirit of a child to the earthly realms? Some people believe that even innocent souls can become lost in the journey to the afterworld. Like some paranormal version of "Home Alone," they have "missed their flight" and so continue to wander familiar places, perhaps even unaware of how to move on.
If you should encounter one of these innocent lost souls, be kind. Child ghosts are rarely malevolent or even mischievous, and should not inspire fear. Instead, be respectful and kind-hearted. Or, in the words of Juvenal, "Be gentle with the young."