Great to have you here Anne - over to you!
I love Halloween. It’s about as
uncomplicated a holiday as they come. Nothing but fun – no visiting relatives
or annoying major-production meals to offset the pleasure of candy. October has
lovely weather and costumes are always a good time. And scary is always
enjoyable… Within reason.
In my Halloween story, Like Magic, I have a
fellow who spends the freakiest Halloween night of his life when he falls under
the spell of a lovelorn witch – or does he? He never does figure it out, and I
like it that way. I have never been perfectly certain how I feel about the
paranormal. My logical side says it’s unlikely, but I’ve been around the block
enough times to know nothing is certain, and one should never say never.
I was 19 when I worked at a dining hall in the
old east coast university where I took my bachelors degree. The dining hall was
old, stone and impressive, covered in ivy and looking stately. It even had a
tragic past – in the 1920s, a fire gutted it, killing four students and the
housekeeper, who were all said to haunt their various lifetime quarters still.
The housekeeper had lived in a bedsit in the basement, beside the maintenance
area and right next to the boiler. When the boiler exploded that fateful night,
she had not the slightest chance of escape. Yet, it being the 1920s, when they
rebuilt and fixed a bronze plaque to the refurbished building commemorating the
loss, her name was not included in the memorial.
As a result, many reported that the restless
spirit of the woman was not a happy one, and she’d had been known to harass
students and employees.
When my supervisor, Nicole, went down to
the basement, she was always nervous. She said it felt cold, and she heard
noises. Once, a lightbulb exploded when she was halfway down the dark, steep
stairs. The forgotten lady, it seems, did not care for Nicole. Eventually,
Nicole took to sending Dishwasher Kevin down there at the end of shift to lock
up and shut down the lights. I guess no one really much minded if an angry
ghost got Dishwasher Kevin.
Anyway, one night I was filling in as headwaiter
to a conference banquet while Nicole was off. It never occurred to me to make
Dishwasher Kevin go down to turn off the lights and lock up before he left,
which I regretted later.
After I had signed everybody out, and was
alone doing my lock up, all of the bravado I had once had as an empowered,
educated young woman who didn’t believe in ghosts flew out the window as I
contemplated going down those steps. A part of me wanted to pretend I had
forgotten to lock up down there, but I knew it would be my skin if something
happened because I had turned chicken, and I needed the job. Besides, headwaiting
paid better than serving, and if I ever wanted the chance to fill in for Nicole
again, I had better get my butt down there.
So, I went.
Down the steps, singing a little song to
keep from shaking, and to the back door. I locked up, and turned off the lights
as I went. Then to the employee locker room, without incident. By that point, I
was starting to feel pretty silly about having been afraid, and was thinking
Nicole was an idiot. I didn’t feel any chill, and nothing was happening. Pfft! I
knew it all along! There’s no such thing as ghosts!
I was so confident, I decided to stop and
pee before finishing my rounds and making the trek home. I got in the stall,
did my business, and then… dropped the frigging toilet paper! I watched
helplessly as it bounced and then rolled out under the door. One of those
moments where you stop and sigh, sagging a second or two before you decide what
to do about your situation.
Then… In bounced the toilet paper, back in
under the door!
Now, this was not a slanted floor. In fact,
the drain under the sinks should have made the paper roll completely away from
my stall. And there was nothing for that thing to bump into that would make it
bounce back to me. Except…
I recall how hard my heart was pounding. I
wanted to scream or hide or cry, and the hairs on my arms stood on end. Either
the room got cold as ice, or I imagined it did, I don’t know which.
To be on the safe side, I called out,
“Thank you!” in the most cheerful voice I could. I received no reply, expected
no reply, really wanted no reply. But, if some spirit out there had done me a
good turn, it seemed only polite. And prudent, considering the exploded light
bulb.
Nothing else happened as I rushed away from
the bathroom and ran up those steps to the safety of the dining hall kitchen.
Nothing ever happened to me again down in the basement of that dining hall in
my subsequent shifts, but I never again felt sure there wasn’t something down
there.
There is a type of certainty we enjoy when
we are young, when we can “know” what is what. As you age, you lose that luxury
as things happen to make you question everything. After that night, I never was
certain about the paranormal again. Now, I know enough to know there’s a lot of
stuff out there I don’t know, I guess you could say.
So, that’s my ghost story. It isn’t
thrilling, or very flattering to me since I was sitting on the can at the time,
but I don’t think I’ll ever forget that night.
Happy Halloween, everybody! And, remember –
always be polite to the non-living. Except for zombies. Those suckers, you
better just shoot in the head.
~*~
Anne Holly is a Canadian writer of romance
and erotic-romance. Please visit her at her website, or find her on GoodReads, Facebook
and Twitter. To check out her
holiday books, visit http://annehollyholiday.webs.com/
Brilliant post girls. Creepy story, Anne, gave me goosebumps! x
ReplyDelete