Our last Christmas with Mr Gerald

This is a random picture of a snowman figure. It isn’t Mr Gerald, although it might look like him for all I know. You see, although we have never seen Mr Gerald, we seem to share the house with him. We know this is nonsense, by the way, but stick with me for a while…

Ever since we moved in here, which is now 14 years ago, there have been strange 
things happening...

Sometimes it was just a glimpse of someone or something passing a doorway, just caught out of the side of the eye. 

Sometimes it has been noises coming from upstairs. So you think it must be someone next door upstairs in their house. Then you remember – they don’t have an upstairs next door. 

Or maybe it’s the heating pipes or radiators – but in the summer? 

And on at least one occasion a dark figure seen outside in the garden on a winter night. 
Then there’s been the usual scenario of things mysteriously missing or moved to a different place.

How do we come to have a name for this presence? And how do we know it’s a Mr? Mr Gerald is just what a seven-year-old Debbie called him/it. I have no idea why, but the name has stuck.

I must say though, I have never felt at all creeped out by all this. Actually it’s been handy to have someone to blame when I can’t find my keys or whatever. A convenient Mr Nobody, as it were. The dog isn’t spooked by an alien presence or anything. We’ve got used to having Mr Gerald lurking in the background of life, and we joke about him. But I do hope he isn’t moving house with us in the new year.

So while Saggy is preparing for the Great Christmas Escape, I will be hiding behind the sofa planning a very scaled down last Christmas in the old house. I haven’t quite cancelled it altogether, but Mr Gerald will be the only guest.