Ghost story

[fbhjr]

It was July 1986 and I lived in Worcester. I worked in Winchendon, which was 55 miles away over back roads. So, to get to work at the required 7AM, I had to leave home about 5:30.

In my wonderful housekeeping way, I never put any of my clean laundry away. Instead I had a big arm chair that used to be my grandfather’s that my grandmother gave me when I got my own apartment. I put all of my clean laundry on that and pulled out what I needed as I needed it.

One morning when I woke up about 5 I saw something strange in my laundry chair. It looked like someone had come into my bedroom, lifted up the laundry, sat down in the chair and put the laundry back over them. I couldn’t tell who it was and couldn’t think of any reason why someone would do that. As I lay there looking at them, my alarm when off. I shut it off and when I looked back at the chair only laundry was there.
I put it down to still be partly asleep and went to work.

The next morning when I woke up I saw it again. Someone in my chair under the laundry.
I got up and walked over to the chair. I stood about a foot away from it and still couldn’t tell if someone was really there, or it was laundry in a funny pattern. It was like it was a person, but without features that could be identified.
Again, I looked away when my alarm went off and only laundry remained when I looked back.
Again I went off to work.

The third morning when I saw it, I got right up and walked over to it. As before I couldn’t be sure I was really seeing something and not a trick of the light. But, no mater how close I got to it or what angle I looked from, it looked like a person under the laundry.
I reached out to it. Standing a foot away with my hand right at the edge of the laundry I really thought I was going to touch a person.
My hand hit only clothes.

This was not a very social time in my life. I left for work early, got home about 6:30-7 and went to bed by 9 and liked to spend about an hour on the phone with my (now) wife. I really didn’t talk with folks much except for weekends. So, the only person I told about it was my (now) wife over the phone.

My roommate Ellen had the room across the hall from me. It was a converted walk in closet so had no windows only a dutch door. So, she often slept with the top half open, especially in summer.
If my door was open, she could see into my room.

She came up to me a day or two later.
“Who was staying in your room the other night?” she asked me. “And, why did you make them sleep in your laundry chair?”
“What?” I asked.
“Earlier this week I saw someone sitting in your laundry chair in the morning,” she said. “I thought it was strange you made someone sit under your laundry and was wondering why.”
I asked her when it had been, and it was that third day.
I know I hadn’t told her, or my other roommates about it.

That was back when I was still talking with my parents and called them once a week. So, I brought it up the next call.
“When did your father die?” I asked her.
“It was ten years ago last December,” she said. “Just before our wedding anniversary. Last week would have been his birthday.”

The days I had seen whatever I saw in his old chair was his birthday and the two days before it.

I don’t know what I saw. I’m sure part of me remembered it was his birthday, even if I didn’t when conscious.
But, I can’t think of any reason my roommate would know or care.

I do believe in ghosts as I have no other way to describe what I saw that seems to fit. I don’t know what they are or why. I don’t claim any religious or spiritual connection.
But, it was very strange.

Comments

[kismets-kiss.livejournal.com]

I'm one of those weird people who say COOL! to this. I have seen, or I should say been aware of, ghosts and things like that since I was a kid. I usually can tell if a place has a memory attached to it, some places stronger than others. I've had friends who used me as a ghost "dowsing" rod. Sometimes fun, sometimes scary as hell.
It's nice that your grandfather wanted to say hey, and that he chose his birthday is common, from what I've read. Just wanted to let you know he cared!

Yeah, I remember you telling me about that.

[gilden.livejournal.com]

Strange things happened at "The Heights"

[palusbuteo.livejournal.com]

wow! How interesting!

I'm still fairly wishy-washy about Ghosts myself, I think I have had instances/encounters but was so oblivious I just didn't realize what/who it might have been.

Hearing stories and encounters make me think more about it more than passing it off as baloney or feaking out...Which is what I likely would have reacted years ago.

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there is a lot of strange stuff out there.
But, a lot of it isn't what you expect it to be.

I can't watch that ghost hunting show because I say "it's nothing like that".