After School Hours

From: Billyfred (jmh19762000@yahoo.com)
Story type: Ghost
Location: Central Texas
Source: Form Submission

After School Hours

Do you believe in ghosts? For many years I steadfastly answered NO. Reason and logic do not permit you to believe in what is not readily seen. This is my hangup.

I am a college educated man who has been trained to rely on reason and logic to answer the questions of this world. I believe there is a logical explanation for everything, if you look hard enough. The following is my account of a series of experiences that have brought my philosphy into question and forced me to discount the supernatural a little less, and believe a little more.

I have been teaching history at a rural central Texas high school for the past 4 years. The campus includes 5 buildings: the elementary school, middle school, high school, cafeteria, and gymnasium. With the school being as small as it is, I have the unfortunate burden of teaching all students in both jr. high and high school.

During the early weeks of the school year, a student asked me if I believed in ghosts and proceeded to tell me the school was haunted. I quickly told the class that I do not believe in ghosts and that all "ghosts" can be explained logically.

The weeks passed and the fall semester was nearing the end. I had forgotten the "supernatural" rumors.......until a stormy evening in early December became a night to remember. It was a Tuesday night and the basketball game was over. I was closing down the concession stand and locking up the gym when I heard a strange noise from the girls locker room. I made my way across the hardwood in absolute darkness to investigate the curious noise that captured my attention. I knocked on the door first and waited for a response that didnt come. Suspecting the wind, I entered the locker room and switched the light on. I circled the room and found nothing out of the ordinary. As I passed through the door, I switched the light off and was blinded by the darkness of the cavernous gym. I waited for my eyes to readjust and I again made my way across the hardwood. With keys in hand, I exited the gym and locked the door.

I began walking towards my truck and an uncomfortable feeling came over me. It was not a frightful feeling, but more of a "I know I have forgotten something" feeling. I turned around and through the multi-paned windows lining the top of the gym I saw a strange light dancing high above the gym floor. I passed it off as a mere reflection of the incoming thunderstorm on the windows. I started the engine and laughed silently because the kids really believe the school is haunted.

The following Tuesday night was routine. After the basketball game was finished, I closed down the concession stand and secured the gym. There were no curious locker room noises or thunderstorm reflections this time. I had to finish typing up tests because semester exams were scheduled to begin the following day. I grabbed my keys and entered the high school building. I walked cautiously down the dark hallway passing each of the three classrooms before reaching my door. I booted my computer and began typing test questions. Several hours had passed, I was on my last set of questions, and I could barely keep my eyes open. I printed my work, locked the door and again walked cautiously down the dark hallway towards the front doors. I had only taken 3 to 4 steps from my door when I heard a loud "pssssst" come from the girls restroom. I stopped dead in my tracks, wondering what the noise might have been. A few seconds later, the sound came again, only softer. With the peculiar events of the previous week suddenly surging in memory I sprinted for the front door and directly for my vehicle.

Once outside, breathing heavily, and feeling rather ridiculous, I grabbed a flashlight from my toolbox and decided to investigate. Once again inside the building, I slowly approached the girls restroom. Poised like an armed policeman ready to make a bust, I clicked the flashlight on and kicked the door open -- only to have it rebound off a stall partition and knock me to the ground. I jumped up, flipped the wall switch, and searched the restroom and found everything in order. Laughing hysterically at my one-man slapstick comedy routine with no audience (or was there?), I went home.

The remainder of the school year passed uneventful. I thought often of my strange experiences and found it curiously coincidental that both had involved the girls restroom. The new school year began and the "ghostly encounters" had faded from my memory.

It was a Thursday night in September and I was sitting at my desk finishing the 1st cycle grade reports. I had the radio playing at a moderate volume hoping to ease the tediousness as I worked. As I was entering grades into the system, I heard a faint thump in the adjacent classroom. Assuming a poster had fallen from the wall as they did in my own classroom frequently (scotch tape doesnt stick to brick well I have learned) I continued my work. No more than 30 seconds had passed when I heard three hard bumps echo through the wall that separated my room from the next....I thought I was alone in the building, had someone else arrived? I immediately sprang from my chair and headed for the parking lot.....no investigation this time, I was GOING HOME.

I climbed in my truck, but it wouldn't start (as big a cliche as this sounds). This minor malfunction occured from time to time....so I knew what to do already. I released the hood latch and began cleaning the corrosion from the terminals, constatnly looking over my shoulder. It took an eternity to complete this task in the dark, and it seemed an even longer drive home.

I did not/do not have an explanation for this terrifying experience. I realized later that I had attended the varsity girl's volleyball match......COINCIDENCE?

I avoided the school building after dark for many months.....except for a Sunday evening last October. I was relaxing with some friends after watching Sunday football and remembered I needed some paperwork from my desk. The had started to dip, so I wanted to get in and out quick. I unlocked the front entrance and headed for my classroom. Almost immediately upon stepping into the hallway I heard the door to the girls restroom squeek. I peered around the corner and it was slightly open....perhaps an inch. The door quickly closed then slowly squeeked open halfway. I whipped my body around and exited the building, ignoring the paperwork I intended to retrieve.

All of my experiences have occured in the gym and the high school buildings. I have heard stories from different people similar to mine, although not necessarily in the same buildings. Could this be legitimate? Could this be my imagination? I will not claim there is a ghost on campus, nor will I say there is not. All I will say is I do not enter the building after dusk. When I work late, I leave as soon as the sun begins to dip.

If, after reading this, you would like to contact me with questions,comments,or similar experiences, I encourage you to do so. Thanks,
Billyfred jmh19762000@yahoo.com