“woman, let me go”

I went to visit a friend in Saskatchewan a few years ago because, well, she invited me. So being a good hostess she took a few days off work and drove me here and there, showing me the sights. Now there isn’t much to see in the prairies unless you look at what’s right in front of you. The fact that most of the land is flat is quite a sight to behold and the quietness will make you hold your breath. It was like an empty canvass and the farmers were the artists. Anyway……..

One day she told me about the valley. My thoughts were the same as yours, “where do you get a valley if you don’t have any hills?” However, there was a valley, of sorts. The land was cut away and there was a large lake nearby too. Beautiful area but lets get to the ghost.

We went into a souvenir/tourist shop. They had all the regular stuff such as, “Kiss me I’m from Saskatchewan” keychains, and “My Grandpa went to Saskatchewan and all I got was this T-shirt” and hoardes of dream catchers. We looked around for a while, I picked up a few things cause it was a good shop as far as souvenir shops go. The lady at the checkout struck me as sad and lost like. As she was ringing in the keychains I watched an older man sitting on the stool behind the counter. He was heavy set, had dark hair mostly gone grey, wore a sweater over his shirt and tie and his head hung to one side in sadness and resignation. I also noticed that he was attached to the check out lady, some force held him to her. He was tired and wanted to go but her force kept him with her. It was the oddest thing I’ve ever seen in the ghost world.

So, being too damn nosey, I had to ask, “Is this your shop?”

“Yes”

“Have you been here long?”

“Well, yes, since my husband died”

Bingo.

We chatted, and chatted, and chatted - let me spare you the long conversation.

Her husband was a professor and quite well known in the area, had done great things in his life, they were married for more years than I had existed and she was very surprised I didn’t know who he was.

Lady, do I look local to you?

Anyway, this is why he was miserable in his afterlife. She couldn’t let go of him, he was grounded, stuck to her because of her sense of loss and misery. I imagine if she could hear him he’d probably say, “woman, let me go.”