Midnight Schoolboy

From: 
Story type: Ghost
Location: near Conroe, TX
Source: Form Submission

This event occurred many years ago when I was visiting family. If I remember correctly it was for a wedding.

All of the adults in the family were staying at my aunt's home in Conroe, which is a town north of Houston. But all us kids, the cousins, about ten in all, because of lack of space, were to stay at our grandfather's ranch house a few miles away in the country.

So it got to be dark and we were all out in front of the place drinking beer. So we're all drinking and my older cousin, who I'm not crazy about, comes up with the idea of leading everyone off into the woods to visit an abandoned house about a mile and half away, next to a lake. I elect not to go, and of course I'm odd man out. So they get flashlights and they're preparing to have their stupid little adventure and next thing I know I'm all alone.

There is an enormous elm tree in front of the ranch house. The house itself is nothing special, one floor, three bedrooms, built maybe in the 1970's. Though civilization was minutes away by car, the house was truly isolated and even if you screamed as loud as you could, no one would hear you. So anyway, I'll get to the encounter. I just wanted to set the scene.

At some point I drifted off into sleep. I had waited awhile out front, nursing beers and hoping that my relations would return to keep me company. How long could they wander about in the woods?

When I awoke, for no good reason other than the cold, I felt an intense feeling of being watched. I swiveled my dreary head around but saw nothing. It was an ominously dark night, with a sliver of a moon hidden behind clouds. I looked at my watch. It was deep in the middle of the night and none of them had yet returned. I cursed them all, finished off a stale beer, and went off to bed.

At some point in the night I awoke, with the same feeling of being watched. Usually when I'm drunk I don't stir until early morning, so if you think it's alcohol induced hallucinations, then okay by me.

When I looked towards the closed door, there was a boy of maybe 10 years approaching the foot of the bed. He was deathly pale, with ink black hair greased back and he was wearing a dark colored school uniform with shorts and a little ribbon tie. He was surrounded by a dim white aura and the effect was that I had difficulty focusing on his aspect. It seemed to shimmer. I remember my heart thumping and a sudden cold sweat as we locked eyes. I shut my lids and dared not move a muscle. I tried to talk myself into not being afraid.

Then I heard his footsteps as he came closer. I opened my eyes and he was standing about two feet from me. I had never dealt with an apparition before but I attempted to reach out because he was so peaceful seeming and harmless looking, though greatly sad as well. He also reached out to me and when his hand touched my face I said something like "who are you, are you okay, why don't you go home now and be with your people?".

Then he dissolved but later in the night I awoke again and he was on the other side of the bed just watching me sleep and I mumbled something more to him because I had no fear of his presence. And he assured me that he would be at peace. I heard his words like a faraway voice in my mind, though he himself did nothing but stare at me.

I told everyone about it the next day. Now I don't mean to give you the cheesy follow up about learning of a death on the property, but it was my own aunt who told me of a drowning which had happened in a well on the property over a 100 years before. That pretty much sealed it for me, now I'm a believer. I hope that poor little guy went towards the light or something. That old ranch house is a lonely place to haunt.