The Cut - Looking for My Brother’s Ghost

What our pediatrician called “night terrors,” our 2-year-old son Kian called “the scary lady who I see at night.” He slept just ten feet down the hall in our Brooklyn apartment. The close proximity didn’t keep me from checking the Nest Cam constantly. I would stare at the blurry black-and-white image on the screen, his little belly rising and falling as he slept.

One night, I heard a rustling and grabbed the monitor. Kian was sitting up, staring at the foot of the bed, seemingly in full conversation. His toddler rambling became more and more anxious, and then he lifted his arm — not unlike in a scary movie — pointed with his index finger, and began to scream.

Kian’s father sided with the pediatrician. But I recognized the look on my son’s face. I had seen it before on my little brother Neal.

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