The Phantom Train

Is it possible for demons to possess toys?  This is a question I found myself pondering last night as a peculiar situation unfolded.

Gage’s third birthday party was held this last weekend, and one of the toys he received was a blue remote control train.  It’s got four buttons on it which allows the small engine to make a great deal of noise.  The remote itself has a couple of buttons, one for forward motion and one for a reverse turning motion.  The boys love it!  It’s a bundle of loudness all wrapped up in a pretty blue shell.  Thanks, Aunt Charlotte.

The problem occurred last night, about two hours after the boys had gone to bed.  I was in our bedroom working on the computer, when I heard the train whistling and making chugging noises.  I immediately got up and prepared to bring the wrath down on Gage for getting out of bed and playing with his toys (we never have this problem with Griffin).  When I opened the door, I saw the train sitting over by the dresser, making a huge ruckus, with the remote right next to it.  My boys were both in bed, sound asleep.

I grabbed the engine and took it out into the hallway, making sure to flip the switch to the off position.  I was a little surprised when it just kept going, even though it should have been powered down.  Something or someone was causing this toy to behave in a most unsettling way.  I didn’t quite know what to do with it at this point.  I couldn’t put it back in their room, and I didn’t want it in ours.  As light as I sleep, if that thing went off at the foot of our bed, they’d have to untangle my body from the ceiling fan in the morning.  The only clear solution was to store it in a closet at the other end of the house…with a Bible on top of it.

Maybe you’ve had the same thing happen in your house.  A song spontaneously emits from some small plastic plaything, or a doll whispers “I love you” as it vacantly watches you pass by.  Could demons really be responsible for such a thing?  Meh, probably not.  These are tell-tale signs that you’re up for a battery change.

Funny things can happen in these playthings when the power level barely hovers around what’s necessary for them to function.  In the train’s case, I was particularly impressed at how the manufacturer only installed two of the four needed batteries.  These two were solely responsible for running the DEMO portion of the circuitry.  When I was filling up the batteries on the train and remote, I neglected to change the two that came with it, since they were still working.  In about 24 hours time my boys managed to drain them to the point where it started acting a little funny.

So, let this be a lesson to you.  Unless you live over an ancient Indian burial ground, give the batteries a check.  Four double AAs are a lot cheaper than the going price on a professional exorcist.