The Lady

I grew up in a house that was over 100 years old. It had been built from a pre-existing barn, so it was surely older than that. While I was growing up, my babysitters would mention that our house was "creepy", and that they'd heard strange noises late at night before my parents came home. I had accepted that doors opening by themselves and strange, unexplained noises were just things that happened in an old house. My opinion changed as I grew older.

One morning, when I was 16 or 17, I was sitting on my bed looking out the windows of my room, when out of the corner of my eye I saw a woman standing there looking at me. She wore a long dark dress with poofy sleeves and her hair was pulled back in a bun. When I turned to look at her, she was gone. Once I heard a woman whisper my name in my ear. Thinking it was my mom home from work, I turned around, but no one was there. I would also clearly hear footsteps come down the hall, into my room and stop next to me. Unsettling. I also heard what sounded like women laughing downstairs. I was alone in the house. I mentioned this to my Mom, but laughed it off. My self doubt changed one summer night when my friends were over.

I had told my mom and some of my friends about what I was hearing and seeing. My mother actually told me that she believed me and said that I was lucky for experiencing something special. I had grown used to the Lady and would sometimes talk to her when I was alone. It made me feel stupid, but I always felt like she was close, and listening. She felt motherly to me. Comfortingly, it felt like she was watching over us. I remember asking her to help me find a missing soccer ball. I had looked all over my room at least 3 times and was going all through the house when out of desperation, I said "Lady, could you please help me find my ball?". I chuckled under my breath and thought that I must be going insane. But when I went up to my room, there it was sitting in the middle of my bed. I couldn't believe it. I would catch her peeking in my room to check up on me, I guess.

I never told my sister about the Lady. She was 12 at the time, and I didn't want to scare her. It turned out that she had also met the Lady and my sister hadn't shared my feelings. My girlfriend at the time and some other friends were over one night. We had the lights out and were watching a movie called, "The House". It was a cheesy, ghost movie. The movie was about a guy that inherits his grandmother's house. It's haunted she says and tells him to leave. She is standing on a chair with a noose around her neck. She then disappears. She was wearing a long, black dress and her hair is pulled back in a bun. My sister is instantly hysterical. Crying, "The lady, the lady!" I looked at her and immediately it dawned on me. She must have seen the Lady too. It sent a shock through me, because now I couldn't deny the reality of what I was experiencing. Later, I gently asked my sister what she had seen or heard. She told me of seeing a woman in a long, black dress walking across her room and disappearing. She'd even heard the sound of the woman's dress brushing the floor. This was incredible! I wasn't crazy! I had assumed all this time that it was my imagination.

Some of my friends became obsessed with trying to see or hear the Lady. They would come over when my parents were out and we would sit in my room being very quiet trying to hear something. I don't remember anything happening that wasn't explainable as something normal. One night, we made a Ouija board out of an old mirror that I'd found in the basement. We used pieces of paper and a shot glass. The glass started moving around, answering our questions. It gave us a name of "A.J..." for the name of the Lady. It spelled out that she knew me and that she had died from pneumonia in the 1800's. I can't remember all of the details. I should've written everything down. But in the back of my mind, I suspected one my friends was pushing the glass. I let them freak each other out. I knew that the Lady would never harm us in any way. I wish that I had researched the history of the house to see if there had ever been an "A.J..." associated with it.

I graduated from high school and moved out of my childhood home. I felt a sadness and guilt. I wasn't only leaving my parents behind, but also the Lady. I never felt her after I'd left. She is probably still there. My parents have since divorced and moved away. Sometimes, when I come back to my hometown I go by to see the old house. It sat vacant for a long time. I would look in the front-room windows and remember Christmas's and birthday parties. I swear that I felt her staring back at me from the other side of the glass. I hope that the new family living there now has a small child that the Lady can watch over and help them find their toys.