Thursday, October 28, 2010

Boo-fest: True Ghost Story

I laid awake, waiting for my husband to return after dropping our daughter off for her first year of college. I had expected his return hours before this. My imagination was on high alert. Had he been in a car accident?

Then I heard the car pull into the driveway. I waited, just in case I was mistaken. I was still angry from our earlier argument. I had nothing to say to him. But I still wanted him to return safe and unharmed.

The front door opened and shut again. I recognized his familiar gait. I heard his heavy steps come along the hall toward our bedroom. My husband favored one leg and this caused him to limp. The bedroom door opened and he entered quietly. I feigned sleep. I felt his weight sink the mattress on one side. He didn’t speak.

A moment later, he left the bed and walked into our master bathroom. The door shut. The light came on and I heard him start the water for a bath. Then, nothing.

I waited.

Nothing.

The water and light were still on.

Nothing.

If he had fallen I would have heard it.

Nothing.

Not even the sound of him in the shower.

Nothing.

I left the bed and tiptoed to the bathroom door.

I opened it.

No one was in there. No one was in the shower. There are no windows. The water was running and the light was on.

Then I heard his car pull into the driveway.

I heard him open the front door.

I heard his familiar limp along the hall.

My husband opened the bedroom door. “You still awake?” he said when he saw me.

This is a true story that happened to someone I love. I was living in this house with them when it happened and had many of my own experiences. But this one topped them all.

Boo-fest is hosted by Quinn at seeing, dreaming…writing. Click here to check out the other great stories or on the side button.

My question to you; are you scared?

37 comments:

Simon Kewin said...

Cool! I like that!

Personally I find stuff like this doesn't really scare me much. I'm a bit of an old skeptic. Maybe it's to do with getting older but I find there's plenty of genuinely scary stuff - health, money, whatever - that makes ghostly goings-on seem, you know, fun and all, but not something I take seriously.

Unknown said...

I have to admit I was a little angry that the ghost just let the water run, but I'm from California, where water is precious.

Bast said...

That's creepy. I've had a ghost in bed with me, but never had something to this extent happen.
Glad you could participate. I'm not sure this would have scared me, but it would have creeped me out.

Ishta Mercurio said...

Woah. That's creepy! If not for the running water and light, I'd have said the person had maybe dreamed it or something. Very cool!

Francine Howarth said...

Hi,

Oh hell, that's real spooky - kind of deja vu, and the water left running!

best
F

Anonymous said...

That is so creepy! I'd agree with Ishta. I too would have thought the person dreamt it!

Golden Eagle said...

Definitely creepy! I would have been spooked--maybe a little scared.

Joanne said...

Very scary. Opening that door and seeing no one in the room would have done me in!

erica and christy said...

I definitely would have been spooked. I'm a skeptic, too, but anything like this still scares the pants off me! (Maybe I'm not as skeptical as I like to believe!) christy

Michael Di Gesu said...

That is freaky. I think I would have been a bit weirded out. I would have asked myself if I left the light on before I went to bed, but then ...

N. R. Williams said...

Thanks everyone for your comments. I wasn't really scared by this myself either. But by the time this happened I had been exposed to my fair share of weird. The person that this happened to was totally freaked.
Nancy

N. R. Williams said...

Blogger is running so slow this morning. I hope it is just me.

Summer Ross said...

Oh thats really creepie!

N. R. Williams said...

Thanks Summer.
Nancy

Anonymous said...

Jeez, that is spooky!

N. R. Williams said...

Glad you liked it Liz, if I'm interpreting your response correctly.
Nancy

Southpaw said...

That’s pretty cool in a creepy way. Thanks for sharing.

Patricia A. Timms-McGehee said...

Nancy - I liked this story. It is scary. If it had been me I would have been spooked. Luckily, her husband came home right around then and could comfort her. Otherwise she would've been alone and scared. Thanks for participating. I'll send you an email in a little bit in regards to my daughter.

EC said...

Great ghost story! Opening that bathroom door to no one there would have made me scream; sometimes it's not what is there, but what isn't : )

N. R. Williams said...

Creepy is the word Holly.

I'm glad you liked the story Patricia. I look forward to your email.

You're right Erin, what isn't there is always worse in a ghost story than what is there.

Thanks everyone for your comments.
Nancy

Kristina Fugate said...

Oh! This is so great! Really chilling. I would've just died after opening that bathroom door. lol

Thanks for sharing :)

Regina said...

What a chilling story! I think I would've passed out when I opened the bathroom door to nothing but running water! Great story, thanks for sharing!

N. R. Williams said...

I'm thrilled and chilled by your comments Kristina and Regina. Thanks for leaving them.
Nancy

Sondrae Bennett said...

I've always believed that, just like people, spirits can be either vindictive or friendly so I wouldn't be scared...but I would have definitely been creeped out had that happened to me. I'm absolutely loving this blogfest! So many creepy stories.

Vicki Rocho said...

Great story! Haven't had anything this dramatic happen to me (thankfully!)

Misha Gerrick said...

Wow that is so weird!

Patricia Stoltey said...

I would have blamed it all on my imagination and the fact that I have a lot of dreams (and a lot of nightmares). Hard to explain the running water, though.

I do have a writer friend who claims there was a ghost living in his former home. He also suspects the ghost may have followed his family to their new home. I haven't gone over to check it out...

J.C. Martin said...

Freaky! It was deja vu then: you saw him coming home before he actually did!

N. R. Williams said...

Thank you Sondrae, Vicki, Misha, Patricia and J.C. for coming by, reading my post and leaving a comment. I truly appreciate it.
Nancy

Notes Along the Way with Mary Montague Sikes said...

Wow! That's quite a story. I'd like to read more of your true experiences!!!

Monti
NotesAlongTheWay

N. R. Williams said...

Perhaps next Halloween I'll share something different. Thanks for dropping by Monti.
Nancy

roh morgon said...

Creepy on so many levels. Thanks for posting this!

N. R. Williams said...

Thank you as well Roh. Thanks for leaving a comment.
Nancy

Jean Michelle Miernik said...

Whoa, that's so creepy! If it were me, I would have turned the water off and then ran around the whole house with a steel baseball bat, looking for the freak who broke into my house.

I had an experience like this once--some kids I was babysitting swore they could hear someone in the basement. I called my friend who was babysitting two doors down, and she said she had seen a creepy man looking in people's basement windows just a few minutes ago. So I put the kids upstairs by a phone, instructed them how to call 911 if necessary, and tiptoed down the stairs with a baseball bat. I searched the dark basement for awhile until I was sure nobody was in there.

Turns out my friend had seen the meter man, and that's who the kids had heard make a noise. Heh.

N. R. Williams said...

LOL...that is funny. A bat poised and ready to beat up the meter man. Thanks for dropping by and posting a comment.
Nancy

dolorah said...

Creepy.

We had a ghost living with us in our first mobile home. He (the ghost) would come into my room and sit on the edge of the bed in the mornings after my husband left for work. I'd feel the weight of him next to me, the mattress would sink. If I opened my eyes to look at him he'd vanish.

I didn't participate in Quinn's blogfest. But its so weird that you posted my own ghost story.

......dhole

PS: see the words highlighted in green on your post? Thats the unsolicited advertising I complained about.

N. R. Williams said...

I'll investigate, thanks Donna. One of a ghost favorite tricks is to sit on our beds and stare at us. I tell them to get lost. That seems to work.
Nancy