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My family and I enjoyed going to the flea market every Saturday morning last summer to do some shopping. (Now, before you go thinking this is just another "I found a haunted doll at the flea market story" it isnt.) Please keep reading....
It was here we met many interesting vendors. There was this older gentleman named John who sells quite a bit of....junk :) We never bought anything from John but we always stopped and said hello everytime we were there.
This year, we decided to go as well only this time we were going to do some selling. We started a few weeks ago. The first time we went to sell we were selling our purebred pug puppies. On the first day we only sold one puppy so we decided to go back on Sunday to see if we could sell the rest. It was raining when we left our house at 5:30am but we were hoping by the time we got there it would clear up and be a nice day. Well, so much for hoping. It was raining pretty hard when we got there. It rained so hard I couldnt even take the puppies out of the truck. We stood around in the rain for a while assuming the day would be a total loss. Just as we were discussing leaving an Asian couple approached us. They had seen us the day before selling the puppies and asked us if we had any left. I opened the door to the truck and let them see the puppies. The woman fell in love with them. They spoke to each other in a language I couldnt understand and said they would take one. That left 2 more puppies to sell. We stayed about another hour and then decided to leave. As we were getting ready to leave the second time we saw John approaching us. He said he had just spoke to the Asian couple and saw the puppy they had just purchased. He started telling me about his pug dog. How she was 16 years old now and she was blind and was having a hard time getting around. He said he would miss her terribley when she passed on. He said he lived alone that his wife died many years ago and that his dog was pretty much his best friend. About then I opened the truck door and there were the last 2 puppies all curled up together, sound asleep in their crate. He opened the crate door and took the female into his hands. I told him I had been calling her Olive since the day she was born. I told him I named her that because her dads name was Pickles. I could see he and Olive were making fast friends. Olive was kissing his face and he was giggling. He said he would take her and just as I was closing the crate door he asked "what about him?" refering to the last puppy left. I told him he hadnt found a home yet. He opened the crate back up and took the puppy out. I told him I called that puppy Cuddle Bum because he loved to be cuddled. It was instant love between all 3 of them. Olive and Cuddle Bum looked so happy, like they had known John forever. John and the puppies were going to make a great, new, happy, family! He put both puppies inside his sweatshirt so they wouldnt get wet in the rain. He thanked my husband and I and walked away with the biggest smile on his face. I felt good about the puppies going home with John. I knew I would miss them so much and I do but I was happy for them to be starting a new life in a permanent home.
We came home and relaxed the rest of the day. We both knew we had a busy week ahead of us because on the way home from the flea market we discussed going back next week. That meant we had a lot of stuff to go through and gather up.
Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday came and went. Thursday came quickly and I hadnt even started going through any of the stuff we were planning on selling. Thursday turned out to be a pretty busy day for me. When I was finished going through everything I went out onto the back porch and was chatting with my husband. The kids were riding their bikes and my 2 dogs Maggie and Pickles were running around playing. Just a typical night around here. My husband and I were giggling at our son Jack who is 18 months old and was dancing to the music on the radio. All the sudden Jack stopped dancing and started looking towards the driveway. I asked him what he saw and he mummbled ( he doesnt say too many words clearly but he does have the word "no" down pretty good.) I too thought I heard something but didnt see anything. I felt the rumble of a large vehicle like it was coming down the gravel road but I didnt see it. I kept on talking to my husband and then I saw the UPS truck pull into the driveway. I turned and looked at Jack and said "I knew you heard something!" My husband went into the house to get something and Jack was on the porch. I went down the stairs to get the package the UPS man had. It took him a few seconds to come out from the truck. He asked me who the Pugs belonged to and I told him they were mine but not to worry because they would never bite anyone. Right then I saw Maggie running around his truck. I didnt see Pickles but figured he was on the other side. He said " I think I hit one of them in the road" I just stood there not quite grasping what he just said. He repeated himself. I said " did you kill him?" He said " I believe so ma'me" I ran up the porch stairs and came in the house screaming for my husband. I told him what the UPS man had just told me and my husband yelled out some 4 letter words. He told me to wait here. I ran down the hallway to get my daughter and as she came out of her room I saw them all in the road from the front door. The UPS man, my husband, my kids and Pickles. I could tell by the way my husband was holding Pickles that he had passed on. My husband and kids walked home with their heads hung low. I ran out the back door, down the stairs and into the yard. My daughter brought all the kids back into the house. I saw my husband put Pickles body on the ground and walk towards the shed. I knew he was going to get a shovel and start digging......there was no hope for Pickles. I slowly walked over to him and saw him laying there on the ground. My knees crumbled as I got to him. I laid on the ground next to him and cried for a really long time. I told him how much I loved him and how much I would miss him. I knew my husband was as torn up as I was. He was right there with me but he was pacing around. The only time my husband paces is when im about to give birth or when there is a death. This was devasting to my entire family. My son Nick cried for hours and hours. He cried himself to sleep that night. The house was silent for the rest of the night. All that could be heard was sniffling. Although every single one of us was crushed I dont think anybody was as affected as much as Maggie. Pickles was her best friend, her partner in crime and the dad of her puppies. She is still absolutely crushed. The morning after Pickles died I took her to his grave so she could say goodbye. She immediately tried digging up the fresh dirt. I kneeled down and told her not to do that. She just sat there looking at me watching me cry with her head tilting to the side. Then she too started crying which made me cry even harder. I put my arms around her neck to hug her and for the first time ever she laid her head on my shoulder like she was hugging me back. Maggie and I were always close before but I think now we have such a strong bond. Her and I both loved Pickles with all our hearts and he is greatly missed.
Now if you will excuse me for just a moment while I get a tissue and try to compose myself so I can get back to the story.
My husband and I spent Friday together. He thought it would be best to be with me and the kids. We went for a ride and he told me he thought it would be best if we kept our plans for Saturday to go to the flea market. He said staying busy and getting some fresh air would help ease my pain. He's often right, not always, but often :) We left Saturday morning at 5:30am.
We go to the flea market at 6:30 and started emptying out the truck and by 1:00pm we were just about sold out of everything we brought with us. We decided to pack up what was left and then go have a look around. We went over to John's area ( he has 2 car ports that cover all his....junk :) We made eye contact and he came right over to see me. He gave me a hug and told me it was good to see me. My husband had gone over to see the lady who was selling plants. I sat with John. I asked him how the puppies were doing and this huge smile took over his whole face. He said he kept their names because that was always hard for him to do...pick out a pets name so he was happy they were already named. I was glad to hear that. He told me they were adjusting well to their new home and how his dog was adjusting to her new playful energetic playmates. When he was done I told him about Pickles. We both had a good cry. I just lost a dear friend and he knew his older dog didnt have much time left either. We talked about it for a few minutes but then the conversation changed to a lighter happier conversation. I even had a laugh or 2.
My husband came back over, plants in his hands. My husband has such a green thumb. I swear he could put a stick in the ground and a week later have prize winning roses!
Anyway, he said we should get back home to the kids. John asked how many we have and I told him 5. He said "wow! I only had the one daughter" I picked right up on the word "had". I took the seat next to John and asked him what happened to her. He said she died a few years ago. He said "its taken me years to even start going through her things. She had a small apartment in the city and it needed to be cleaned out right away after she passed on. She was behind in rent and the landlord wanted everything out right away. I put all of it in boxes and put it in storage. The storage place is going out of business at the end of the month and I have until then to get everything out. I go there every evening and take a few boxes back to my place. I live alone and dont have much room in my one bedroom trailer so im giving most of it away." He paused for a few moments and then went on. "My daughter had a different way of life ya know. She didnt really care what others thought of her lifestyle and that included me. She was a witch id guess you'd call her. She always had these different colored candles burning and those funny incense sticks stinking up the house. She told me she was a spell caster and that she was gifted. I asked her what gifted meant and she replied by saying I can communicate with dead people, people who hadnt crossed over. Well, that put a strain on our relationship because I dont believe in that hocus pocus boloney. It put a strain on us but I tried to see passed that. I worried about her all the time. She lived alone, didnt want a husband and didnt want any kids. She said she was married to her work. She lived alone with only a few friends who stopped by now and then. Her house was full of dolls and everytime I stopped by to see her I was uncomfortable with all those eyes staring at me. She didnt like dolls much when she was a kid and I couldnt understand why she liked them so much now." He paused to light a cigarette and then went on. "I forgot about all those dolls until just a few nights ago. I went to the storage unit and took out a few boxes and brought them back to my place. I opened them to see what kind of stuff was in there so I would know who to give the box to. When I opened them there were all her dolls."
He crushed out his cigarette and leaned towards me and said " my daughter used to tell me that the dolls talk to her and she would talk back to them. This kind of behavior worried me and I wondered if she needed one of those head doctors... or some kind of medicine. I metioned it once and she went crazy. I didnt want to upset her so I dropped the subject."
" Anyway, I called my girlfriend and asked her to stop on by and have a look at what was inside the boxes see if she wanted the dolls. She had taken some of my daughters things and kept them. She came by the house and liked the dolls. She was going to clean them up and display them around her house. She said it would make the place cheerful! Well, a few nights later after she brought the dolls home she brought them back to me. She said they freaked her out. Nothing but weird and scary things happened in her house from the time she took them out of the boxes. She said her lights had flickered, the bathroom sink would turn off and on by themselves. The toilet repeatedly flushed by itself. The house smelled of smoke and fire. She claims someone knocked on her door at least half dozen times but when she checked it, no one was there. She told me to take these boxes to the dumpster and toss them away." He stopped staring at the ground and looked up at both my husband and I and said " I cant throw Reagans things away. Just dont feel right but, I dont know what else to do." I asked him why he didnt try selling them at the flea market with the rest of his......stuff :) and he quickly replied " what if my girlfriend isnt going senial and these things at her place really happened? Then those people will bring them back here and I dont want to deal with that. This here is my only source of income. I need to make enough now to survive the winter months." He rubbed his forehead like he was getting a headache. I asked him how many dolls there were and he said "too many far as im concerned" I aksed him I could look at the dolls and go through the boxes. He said of course I could but he didnt have them with him. He asked if my husband and I could meet him later. We made arrangements to meet later.
I could see the moment we pulled up in front of John's trailer that he didnt just sell his junk.....he lived with his junk. We met up on the porch and had small talk and then he led us to the back yard where the boxes were under a make shift building. He opened the 2 boxes and started showing me the dolls. I felt pretty excited. There were composition dolls (my favorite) and some vinyl dolls and porcelain ones too and all kinds of little trinkets. He showed me a wooden box with small pieces of paper in it. He said she had many more boxes with pieces of paper in it. Balled up like it was trash and some were even burned up. He said he didnt understand any of it. I kept all my thoughts to myself ( for once :) We continued going through the boxes and I found this one box I fell in love with. Its made of wood and looks like it isnt that old. It has 3 pentagrams on the top of it. The lock was broken so I looked inside. There were 3 pieces of paper. Each was burned. I knew without a doubt Reagan was definately doing spell work. Other boxes had old jewelry and other stuff. We went through everything right there in Johns back yard then put it back in the boxes and brought the boxes to my husbands truck. I said to John "lets sit a minute" he nodded and brought over some rickety old chairs. I held my breath as I say down hoping the darn thing was going to hold me (its not that im big, its that the chairs were older than I am , hehehe) I looked John in the eye and told him Reagan was a practicing witch and that she was doing spell work. He looked at me and then ran his hand through his beard. He told me to hang tight for a minute and he got up and disappeared into his trailer. A few minutes later he came back out. He held this doll in his hand and handed her to me (this is not the doll in this listing) He said " I want you to take this one too. I cant believe I forgot about this doll. Forgot all about it til I saw it in that box. This is the one she always kept by her. She used to tell me this one talked to her all the time. One day she called me and asked me to come over and have a look see at her stove. She said it wasnt working. I was busy that day but told her id come and have a look. When I got there she wasnt home so I let myself in and went right to the kitchen. First thing I did was check to make sure it was plugged in. My daughter was a little funny bout electricity. She was afraid of it or something. So I checked it and it was plugged in alright. I checked the burners on top ya know, make sure those were plugged in too and they were. I turned the knobs on and waited a couple minutes for them to warm up but they didnt. I turned on the oven all the way up to 400 degrees and waited but nothing happened. I figured she needed a new one. I left the room for a minute to use the restroom and while I was in there I heard some banging around. Thought my daughter came home. I came out and found this doll was on the stove, wasnt there when I went into the restroom and all the burners were glowing red and the oven was hotter than fire. I rubbed my eyes and thought my old imagination was running amuck! I went over to the stove and turned all the knobs to the off position but none of them would shut off. I pulled the plug from the wall. Everything stayed glowing red. A few minutes later the red glow started to fade. I know it sounds crazy ma'am but it happened." I asked him what happened next. He said when he was sure the stove was completely cooled down he left and went home. A few hours later his daughter called and thanked him for fixing the stove. he told her he hadnt done anything to it besides unplug it. She said "no dad, it was plugged in and it works great!" He said "ma'am, that doll in your hand had something to do with it, I just know it" And then he got up and said he forgot something. Back into the trailer he went. This time he came out with a book. He handed me the book and said he almost forgot that the doll and book should stay together. I told him I would take them both and keep them together. We said thank you to John and told him we would see him soon. He kissed my cheek and said "thanks for all your help honey." I hugged him back and told him I would see him soon. My husband and I loaded the 2 boxes into the back of the truck, waved to John and came home.
Since then I have been going through the 2 boxes and I get this feeling there is something different about my house. A different feel. I feel somewhat at peace with Pickles death even though I am unsure if I will ever completely heal from the broken heart I am left with since he left me. | 
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