Recently, I asked my son who is almost 6 if he remembered telling me about the skeletons talking to him from under the road, when he was three.  I wanted to see if he would now say it was a made up story or game.  He readily admitted that he did not remember that happening, but he had heard a voice talking to him recently while we were driving down the road.  Huh?  He had not mentioned it before.

What voice did you hear. when and where? He explained that a few weeks ago as we were driving through an intersection near his school that we pass every day, he heard someone talking to him.  At first he thought it was me talking to him.  But it was soft and different from my voice.  It said his name then said, “You will join me here.”  This is the same area where he told me skeletons under the road talked to him when he was three.

I gathered my wits and asked basic questions, was it a boy or girl, old or young, fast or slow, etc.  It was a small girl’s voice.  Have you heard other voices? No.  He said the first part of his name was not clear, but the rest of it was very clear.  He is sure he heard it.  How did it sound?  He then imitates the voice, as a soft harsh whisper.  “you.. will.. join.. me.. here..”

I finally found the courage to ask him, “Why did the voice say that?” He shrugged at first, looked out the window and said, “I don’t know.”  So I tried again, “What do you think it means?”  He said, “I think it means I will die there.”

I just sat there stunned.  How do I respond?  I don’t want to minimize this at all, but I do want to comfort him.  I blundered around and finally just told him that I don’t think that will happen.  My future sense does not seem to have a warning about it, but clearly something dark is calling to him.  How do I help my child deal with that?