The Clerk's Final Farewell

My husband Frank and I run our own business. Our junior clerk, Darren, was more like a brother and friend than an employee to us. We knew he'd been having some rather traumatic times with his girlfriend, but as he was simultaneously doing brilliantly at university, we assumed that he was strong enough to cope with romantic tangles.

We bade goodbye to Darren shortly before Christmas, 1989 as we were setting off on a two-month tour of the country. He seemed quite cheerful when we asked how his love life was, and we were happy when he reassured us that everything between them was fine. When we returned to Melbourne, Frank decided to go to the races at Flemington the following day, which was a Saturday. When he returned, he said to me, "Guess who I saw at Flemington? It was Darren." I said, "I never knew he gambled. In fact, I thought he was against it!" My husband replied, "Well, he did look a bit sheepish when I spoke to him." I said, "Are you sure it was Darren?" Even as I spoke, I realized it was a silly question. Darren was a very unusual looking youth - one could describe him as "pretty" with his soft features, beautiful complexion, and doe-like eyes. Frank confirmed that it was Darren, looking as he always did. He had greeted Darren, who had smiled, as though embarrassed to be caught betting, and then the crowds separated them for a moment. My husband saw Darren walk away, then turn once again to give his usual, enigmatic smile before disappearing once more into the throngs.

Frank then realized that he hadn't reminded Darren to come in and do the bookkeeping. He asked me to ring Darren and arrange for him to do this task the following day. I rang Darren's home, and his girlfriend answered. When I asked for him, she became rather cagey. Finally I said, "Look, I'm his employer and we need him to do the books." She said, "Yes, now I know who you are. Darren doesn't live here anymore." I said, "Well, can you give me his new address and phone number then?" Eventually, after a lot of hedging about, the girlfriend told me that Darren was dead.

I nearly fell over with the shock. I asked if he'd been killed in a car crash en route home from the races the previous day. She was very taken aback and told me that Darren had never been to the races in his life. I said, "Yes, he was at Flemington. My husband saw him there yesterday, but forgot to mention the bookwork to him, which is why I'm ringing now." The girlfriend responded shakily, "That's not possible. You see, he died on New Year's Day, by drowning himself."

We visited the grave, checked the obituaries and spoke to the police who'd been in charge of the coronial enquiries. It took many weeks before the realization of his suicide fully sank in, and my husband, a rationalist who does not believe at all in the supernatural, was very perturbed. He reasoned that he must have seen somebody who resembled Darren. To this I replied that when they had met, near the bookmakers' booths, they were only a meter apart, and Frank could hardly have been mistaken at that short distance! Personally, I keep an open mind about ghosts. I like to think that Darren was saying farewell to us and I sincerely hope, wherever he now is, that he has peace. - F. Lata

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Coincidental Tunes

My friend and I experienced a very strange coincidence several years back that still has us scratching our heads. She had purchased a new CD - a compilation of songs from the '60s. We went for a drink after work that night and I asked her if we could have the bartender play her new CD on the stereo. She was hesitant because she was afraid we'd forget it, but agreed. Well, of course, we did forget it and when I realized it the next day, I told her I'd call the bar and ask them to hold the disk for me until I could pick it up after work. I called the bar, asked the bartender to look for the CD, and read him the rundown of songs on the disk from the empty case my friend had given me, so it would be easy to locate. He quickly found it and agreed to hold it for me until after work. When I went to pick it up, he handed me the CD - and to my shock and amazement it was the wrong one. This CD had every single song, in the same exact order, as my friend's CD, but they were "covers" by other musicians, not the original recordings of the songs. Isn't that bizarre? - Jean-Chris M.

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My Son Saw a Ghost

On April 20, 2002, I had just put my baby daughter to bed and told my son to go brush his teeth. A few minutes later he came into my bedroom and said, "Mom, I just saw a ghost." We had not been talking about ghosts, nor is he the kind to make up stories. I asked him exactly what he saw. His reply was, "It looked like an army man because of his hair. He had a plaid shirt, glasses and a moustache." Then I asked where he had seen the ghost, to which he answered, "It came out of the mirror in my bathroom." Trying to lighten the mood, I jokingly asked him, "What did it do, sit on your sink?" He was very serious and scared. "No," he said, "it stepped through my sink and looked at me. Then it went back in the mirror."

By this time I was a little scared. We went back into his bathroom, but nothing was there. I told him I believed him, and we said a prayer and went to sleep. About an hour later, I noticed that it was becoming very hot in the house. It was nearing summertime; we'd had temperatures in the 80s and 90s, so we keep the air running even at night. I went downstairs to double-check, and the heat was turned up! I definitely did not turn it on, and my son is too small to reach the thermostat. My husband was out of town at the time. We live in a brand new house on a military base. We are the first family to live here. I'm just wondering if a soldier got killed somewhere nearby... and can't find his way "home."

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Impossible Phone Call

My uncle died a week before Christmas, 2001. This devastated his family, his son and daughter more than any. In April, 2002, his son was at work and left his mobile phone in the car while he went to a shop. On return he had three missed calls registered, two from his wife - and one from his father's mobile phone. He was really distressed by this and is searching for an explanation. When his dad died, they removed the sim card from the original phone belonging to his dad and gave the phone to a grandchild. The sim card was thrown away into the refuse. We hope that it is a sign. Could dad really be trying to ease his son's pain by making this effort from the other side? - Sonaya

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