(excerpt from The Child - Alien in the Delta)
Grandfather’s Ghost
Grandfather (Papa) had what he described as horrible nightmares. When Papa was a young man, he killed a man and before being captured went on the run for seven years. The dead man’s ghost would come for Papa nightly. He must have relived that shooting hundreds of times in his dreams. Grandma would have to awaken him to stop his screaming.
The day Papa killed the man. Papa was inside his house when this man came to the front gate and called him to come outside. Papa must have expected trouble because he went to his front porch with a Colt .45 in his hand, and he asked the man to leave and not to come on his property. But the man wouldn't leave. In fact, he told Papa that he was going to come inside the yard and beat-up my grandfather. Papa warned him that if he opened that gate, he would shoot him. The man ignored Papa and opened the gate, and Papa proceeded to empty his gun into him.
Papa would then stand up and pretend he had a gun in his hand to show how he shot the man. That's when my grandma would say.
"John, why are you telling that child about that man you killed?"
My grandmother had lost her hearing, so she didn't know what Papa was talking about until he stood up and pretended he had a gun in his hand. Papa never told us who the man was or why he wanted to harm our family.