Ghostly Bodies

From: David King (dking@arkansasusa.com)
Story type: Ghost
Location: Arlington Texas
Source: Form Submission

"Ghost" of the Lady in White

Many years have passed since my youth. Ghostly encounters were always an interesting subject of concern in my family. My Father worked for a towing company and had to deal with the sight of death on occasions. He always had some strange tales to share about experiances he encountered late at night in the yard. The yard was referred to as the storage space for the twisted remains of metal sitting in a temporary resting spot until they were sold for scrap to be recycled. My father worked there for a few years and then we moved 1000 miles away. I was 6 year old when we moved. I found out later the reason for the move was some of the strange hauntings my father encountered.

It would talk about the events bordering on fascination and fear. I would only guess that he would share the stories in an effort to understand some of the sights and sounds he encountered in the yard. My Mother told me years later that before we moved, my Father had grabbed a gun and ran around the house shouting at the unseen visitors that had followed him home. He would shout at them, "Leave my children alone and go on back to where you belong." I was never able to put the events together before. I am only able to do so now as I look back and recall some of them in my mind.

I had an "imaginary" friend back then and would share some of the conversations with my family. I always wondered why they would turn white with fright when I talked about him as if he was real. It got to the point that I was forbidden to talk about such things. "He is not real and you are making all this up....Stop talking like it is real." When we moved away....I lost sight of my "imaginary" friend and soon forgot all about him.

When I was 10 years old, we moved to an old house in the country. It was next to an old hotel which serviced a stage coach line at one time in history. A mile up the road was an old cemetery. The setting of this house rekindled ghostly stories of the past as new ones surfaced. I guess my Father settled down to believe in the existence of "ghosts." It was pretty much an accepted fact by all of us, in the family, the house was haunted. It was all the strange noises which where heard that gave foundation to this belief. My Mother and Father heard noises and I would overhear them talking about it to friends. The debate was always about looking for an explanation for the strange sounds. "The wind was blowing, the house was settling, the dogs or cats made them...... etc...etc...etc." I had never heard anything. I really didn't think I wanted to.

We had some old friends come from our home town for a visit. They settled into the living room the first night of their 3 day stay. They woke up late the next morning. I was outside when my Father called me to the kitchen table while the friends were having breakfast. My father asked me, "What time did you and the other children get to sleep last night." I told him that we all went to sleep at bedtime," which was 10 o' clock. He then asked me, "I want you to tell the truth and know you will not get in trouble for your answer....but I want the truth from you, okay?" I was surprised at his question because I never had my father ask me such a serious guestion and put so much emphasis on my honesty. He then asked, "Did you, or any of the other kids get up and run through the house playing?" I told him, "No, we were asleep in bed until we got up this morning."

Seems that our guest had been kept up most of the nigh by sounds. Sounds they thought was us kids running though the house and bumping into walls and knocking things over. Talking, laughing, and running wild. My Father was excited that him and my Mother were no longer the only ones to have heard the sounds. The conversation went on that late morning about ghosts and the existence and their presence in the house. They too took the view there must be a logical explanation for the sounds. Must have been some animals that got into the house some how....etc, etc, etc. They never did admit what they heard were sounds from ghosts or even the possiblity of it. They did cut their visit short and leave that afternoon. They gave some exuse why they were never to spend another night in the house.

I had never heard noises up to that point and a part of me believed that my Dad was making up the stories. I was a child and dealing with the existence of a Santa Claus and the reality of that just seemed to be in the same line of theory for me. It was just something parents do sometimes to get you to go to sleep on time. It was just a common fact for us children at the time. "There was a boogie man roaming the house at night and if you got out of bed....he might get you." That is why my Dad's guestion really surprised me. Nothing in the world could have forced us children out of our beds and pass our door once it was closed for the night. The friends leaving gave more credit to the stories I overheard my Mom and Dad telling their friends. It even gave me the understanding that even adults were afraid of the boogie man. I was more determined that I didn't want to see or hear this thing which roamed our house at night.

Then something happened that I have always remembered through out my life. I have never fully understood it, but it has always been a part of my memory. It was brief, but left an impression that I still carry today. No one had ever seen anything up to that point....it had only been sounds heard. Then I saw something and I couldn't explain the feeling it gave me.

I woke up one night from a sound sleep. I don't know what time it was, but I felt like I heard someone calling my name to wake up. I saw that it was still dark and had my head turned toward the wall. I was wondering why I was being asked to wake up. I heard someone call my name to look toward the end of my bed away from the wall. I turned and saw a lady dressed in white sitting on the foot of the bed. When I saw her.....I was overcome with the most loving feeling. My mind was racing to explain who this women was sitting on my bed. When I felt the love....I associated it with my Mother and jumped up leaped toward her to embrace in a hug. I went flying off the bed and landed on the floor. I was shocked because she had disappeared into thin air. I sit on the floor and looked around for her, but she was gone. I then started recalling what had just happened. It wasn't my Mother, but had looked a little like her. I had assumed it was my Mother because I could not imagine any other person sitting on

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