GHOST STORIES
So I don't often tell long stories, but I have one (well, four) ghost stories that I feel like writing. They all intertwine gracefully, I swear.
Here goes:
THE GHOSTS IN THE DARKNESS
or How I Very Nearly Needed a New Mattress
In 1999 I was in college. One night I woke up in the middle of it, opened my eyes and saw—about three feet from my bed—a ghostly
woman and child seated, staring at the wall opposite them, and looking like they were listening to someone speaking. I FREAKED OUT, thanking
Christ that they weren't staring at me.
After confirming that I was actually awake, I closed my eyes, lay perfectly still for as long as I could muster, and then tentatively opened
my eyes again. They were gone. I was unable to fall back asleep, but didn't even consider reopening my eyes for anything less than a threat from
a nuclear attack.
Two years went by and no reppearance from my visitors. I had since moved from the wackiness of the U of M and was living downtown. One night
I woke up at three in the morning and opened my eyes to find a ghostly disembodied head on the pillow next to me. It looked evil. This time I
didn't even try to ascertain if I was awake or not. I shut my friggin' eyes and cowered there for the rest of the night, freaking out.
Some of the scariest nights of my life.
Do I believe they're ghosts? Actually, no. As terrifying as it was, I calmed down and tried to look at it rationally: when I shut my eyes with
the woman and child, I could still see them. That, combined with the fact that I was just waking up out of a deep sleep seemed dicey. And add
to it my complete lack of any sixth sense/ESP.
So I theorized that it was a combination of a recent lack of REM sleep and being in a half-sleep/half-waking fog. I had never heard of such
a thing, but that was the best I could come up with. 'Sides, the idea that I see dead people? Please, dear God, no.
So I was flippin' through the posts on Fark the other day reading ghost stories and someone mentioned that many people's ghostly encounters
were actually the result of Sleep Paralysis. It's a condition(?) that makes people—among other things—see people that aren't there.
HELLO? Exactly what happened to me. And apparently it's rather common. Thank God. In the process of trying to sort it out, I thought I might
be schizophrenic or developing mental issues or something. But no. I think.
But with the vagueness of the description of Sleep Paralysis it makes me wonder if a very realistic (well, sorta) dream I had in Oregon was
Sleep Paralysis. I'll repost the original... post:
originally posted: 11.15.02
THE LATE-NIGHT GARDENER
or Why I'm Never Sleeping on the First Floor Again
11:47 am CENTRAL STANDARD
Or 9:47 am in Eugene, where I am currently typing this, waiting for access to the server. I'm on my laptop and bored.
Slept horribly last night. I was just falling asleep and something started vibrating the bed and then violently shaking it. I
stared at the wall for a minute trying to figure out if I was dreaming or awake and if something was actually making the bed shake. So I got
up, looked at the clock (2:30 am) and turned on the TV to get myself a little less freaked out. Mind you, I'm on the first floor in a room with
glass sliding doors to the outside.
After a few minutes of listening to Dennis Miller, I flipped off the TV and went back to bed.
I don't know how much later it was, but it happened again. Shaking. And then it started happening more and more often and was
getting louder and louder, until I realized it was a chainsaw.
So here was someone cutting the hedges at three-something in the morning.
Just then, my patio door opened and the offending gardener stepped in. Big guy. Plaid shirt. Chainsaw.
It was all I could do to hoarsely shriek "F*cker!" and jolt up in bed.
It was, you clearly know by now, just a nightmare. But it sucked all the same. Freaked me out.
...So ends the original entry
I don't remember if I dove back under the covers, or curled up in the fetal position. But that was quite the dream/sleep paralysis.
Let's bring this back to Fark, shall we? They got into a discussion of ESP and ghosts in this thread. First, ESP:
LITTLE KIDS AND GHOSTBUSTERS
I got nothing
This is a second-hand story, but from a reliable source. Believe it or don't:
A friend of mine worked at a grocery store near our office. One day, a woman and little boy came in to buy groceries. The little boy kept bugging
the mom: "A lot of cars could fit in here, Mom." "Yes, honey." "A lot of cars could fit in here, Mom." "Yes,
honey." "A lot of cars did fit in here, Mom. They did!"
Apparently, he was so insistent, that the mom inquired with the staff about a connection to cars, but they were clueless.
Until one worker remembered that, before Riverside Market was Riverside Market, it was a used car dealership. Lots of cars fit in there. This
little boy had a vision that it was a car dealership. The mom told my friend and others that this sort of thing happened a lot.
To my non-ESP havin' self? Pretty cool story.
The store closed recently, for those that wound up here looking for info. The closing was related to issues with the building's condition and
insurance being cancelled (the owner of the market was not the owner of the building). Last I heard, the owner was contemplating opening another
store relatively nearby.
I'll miss that place. My mom used to shop there when I was little. I remember when they stopped selling lottery tickets because the owner
got tired of watching people buy them instead of milk for their kids. I have no idea why I still remember that...
But I digress. Anyway, there's someone else locally who has this similar skill. She went to my church. Her job description: a real life ghostbuster.
As a kid, she would see ghosts all around her. As an adult, she developed a bit of a drinking problem because of it.
After going through rehab, she was on a double-date with a friend of her's she'd been to rehab with. She was riding in the car with them and
was struggling with an overwhelming feeling. But she didn't want to ruin the date by weirding out her companions. She finally made up her mind,
turned to the woman in the back of the car, and said, (and I paraphrase) "I see a cancer in your body and if you don't do something soon,
you're going to die." Then just turned back around and stayed silent.
After the woman got over the initial shock and awe, she went to the doctor, took the tests, and did indeed have cancer.
Which brings me to my last story:
It relates to several things I was thinking about today. Who becomes a ghost? Suicide? Murder? Would I be a ghost if I died unexpectedly? Earlier,
I had gone to Dairy Queen with Heathrow. And I saw some high school kids hanging out nearby. I was tempted to tell her about the fact that we
always went to a nearby Bruegger's after our school day.
And then I stopped myself as I remembered a trip to Bruegger's that I had taken with my best friend at the time...
THE DAY THAT SUCKED
or Stay Away from Semis
It was a snowy day. We'd left Bruegger's in Highland Park and were crossing the Ford Parkway bridge. It was icy, but my best friend and I were
in a jovial mood. We had been discussing a trip we were planning for summer... a trip to LA, if I remember correctly. We were almost over the
bridge when I lost control of my car. Instead of turning with the curvey road, I kept going straight.
Straight into oncoming traffic.
Straight into a semi.
I remember just screaming my head off. A long, gut-wrenching scream that made me hoarse for days. By divine fate, we missed going under the
semi by seconds and hit the back wheels.
At the time, I don't think I understood the fact that we almost died. The semi was so badly damaged that it was unable to be driven. They had
to tow it. And I totaled my car.
I remember my step-dad trying—at home—to get all the glass off of me. Shards were everywhere. I had a cut by my left eye. I still
have a weird scar from it. I think I actually have dirt embedded in my skin.
For my birthday that year, my co-workers bought me a helmet.
I try not to think about it. Everytime I do, I end up getting a little nauseous. I often freak out when semis are near me when I'm driving.
So I didn't mean to, but it crept into my thoughts today at that Dairy Queen.
