This is one of the hardest things I've had to do in a long time. Just looking at it makes my stomach cramp up and I want to cry. It could, however, be a last bit of PMS. I've been listening to Robbie all day, slowly torturing myself.
Segué:
The first song on Robbie William's most recent album, Intensive Care is titled Ghosts... Last night as I was laying in bed, I was totally freaking myself out thinking about the movie that just came out called something like "An American Haunting". I saw the trailer a couple of days ago, and know a bit about the backstory of the "true" events that inpired the movie. I am very proficient at freaking myself out re: ghosts and spooks and the paranormal, though I currently live in a place that is not inhabited by any of the above. I do, however, believe in such, mostly as I have experienced ghostly sightings myself. Here is one of those stories for you - it is not at all scary, but mostly weird. If you're likely to have a heart attack, please don't read on...
When I was approximately 11, we were living in Granite Bay, a rural town about 30 miles north-east of Sacramento, CA. This is 2 years before the move to Idaho, and I was cleaning the kitchen (my daily job). I tried to get the task over with as quickly as possible, so I could hide myself away in my air-conditioned room to read while ignoring homework. My mom wasn't at home, which was rather strange, because she was almost always there when I returned from school. I was rinsing off some dishes before loading them in the dishwasher when I looked over the counter and saw my cousin Nicole (Who would have been 7 or so). I didn't hear anyone come into the house, so I was a bit surprised, but when I opened my mouth to say something to her, she giggled and ran into my mom's bedroom, just adjacent to the kitchen.
I dried my hands and walked around the counter to follow her. When I got into my mom's room, I didn't see her anywhere, nor did I hear anything that would have led me to her hiding spot. I scoured under the king-size bed, walked around the bathroom (opening all the cupboards), and finally flung clothes around in the large walk-in closet, my annoyance increasing every step. The open walk-in closet had a door leading to the front porch, so I thought she had gotten out that way. I checked the door, but it was locked from the inside. I unlocked it and stepped outside just as my mom came around the corner. I jumped about a mile in the air, then I said, "Hey, is Aunt Carol here with Nicole and Renee?" Mom looked at my funny and said, "No, why?"
"I just saw Nicole. Or at least I thought I did. Maybe I didn't. She at least looked like Nicole..." Mom looked at me strangely again and asked me to tell her what had happened. At that point, when I looked back at what had just happened minutes before, I realized that the little girl I had seen wasn't at all my cousin, though she did look like her. Nicole has a tan complexion, dark hair, and dark eyes, as did the girl I saw. I thought that maybe Nicole had been wearing dress-up clothes for some reason, as the little girl I had seen was wearing a nice dress, if a little old-fashioned. I shrugged it off at the time, but my mom brought it up a little while later... possibly a few months after the original occurance and told me that she had seen the little girl as well.
Anyhow, just writing this is getting me freaked out, and I'm in a totally lit and populated area. Though I don't think I saw that little girl again, it was very strange. The whole situation didn't frighten me at the time... our house wasn't old at all - it was built about 15 years old at that time - and didn't seem the "haunted type". It was about 6 months later, after seeing a second strange thing, that I became obsessed with "ghost catching". The interest didn't last very long (as I was mostly just scaring myself out of my wits), but to this day, I remember the best ways of trying to catch a ghost, which have come in handy during various parts of my life.
Listening to "Let Love Be Your Energy", Sing When You're Winning, Robbie Williams
ohmygod. i know how badly you wanted those tickets and now they're on ebay? I am weeping.
Posted by: styro at June 9, 2006 1:19 PM