Do ghosts feel lonely? Everybody knows by now that all of the Toys R Us outlets have been closed. The Toys R Us in Sunnyvale, CA was and still is haunted.

The occurrences in this outlet have been well documented and even had a live TV ghost hunt for the nation to watch. Amazingly, the cameras actually filmed a shadow of a man leaning against the shelves watching the ghost hunters do their thing. (Actual photo above).

The given back story is that he was a preacher and a hired hand working the Murphy farm that was previously there long before the city structures. Long before asphalt and concrete and neon lights. At some point in the 1880’s.

Coincidentally, his name was Johnson, he was in his 20’s or 30’s, and he spoke in a mild Swedish accent. He fell in love with the farmer’s daughter, but she ran off with an East Coast lawyer.

Apparently, he died from an accidental ax slash to his leg while chopping down trees. By the time he was found his body had bled out.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/haunted-toys-r-us/

Imagine the loneliness of wandering the farm unnoticed for decades. Then imagine him watching a massive structure filled with toys and games being constructed right where he was standing.

He loved playing tricks, like turning the water on and off. Calling out names. Staff would come to work and find toys and games in the middle of the aisles. They knew his favorite place was up in a corner of the second floor behind the stock of toys and games.

Toys and games stacked floor to ceiling. Children laughing and giggling and running up and down the aisles. Christmas time was special. So many haunted places are dark and dank and dilapidated. His world was joyous.

Then, without warning or explanation, it was all gone. He saw the shelves being emptied. The lights being turned off. The doors padlocked. There would be no more children filling his aisles with laughter.

Does he wander now? The building cold and dark. Can a ghost give up all hope? What is to become of him? What will replace his beloved Toys R Us?

I wonder what he must be thinking. I wonder how deep is his loneliness.