Seeing A Ghost For The First Time

I remember this very vividly because until this day it sends chills down my spine. You see, my childhood home was very haunted but I didn't become aware of this until I turned 9 and in the 3rd grade.

In order to explain what happened clearly, I have to let you know how the house was set up and what happened prior before I saw *him*. My childhood home was a two family house, my family lived on the first floor and the landlord lived on the second floor. It was like two separate apartments in one house sort of thing.

The landlord was an older man and he was very nice to my family, truly the best landlord ever and he was originally from Spain. Why I mention this you may ask? Well because when I saw *him*, I was completely alone at home. Our landlord was in Spain, my father didn't get out until 7:30pm from work, and my mom stepped out to the store. Initially, this didn't worry me at all because my mother left my brother in charge since he was 18 years old.

So there I am in my room, playing my GameCube system, (Sonic Heroes to be exact), just being a regular kid. Then my brother comes into my room and asks me if I'm okay with being alone at home because he wanted to go to his friend's house. I was in fact comfortable being alone at home because I knew not to answer the door if someone came knocking and if anything happens, to lock myself in the room, hide under the bed and call 911. So I told him "yeah sure", and he was gone. This was my error. Well my brother's error if we're being technical since he was left in charge.

As I'm sitting there moments after my brother left, I begin to hear the doorknob to my room start shaking. My brother closed the door before he exited, so I assumed it was him and he hadn't in fact left yet. The doorknob continued to twist and make the noise it does when someone is about to turn it and come inside, so I became irritated and shouted "Just come in! What is it?". I paused the game and looked to the door. It did not open, my brother didn't answer, and I was irritated thinking my brother was trying to bother me. So I get up, swing my door open, and to my surprise I find no one there. That's when I kind of got scared, but to prevent the fear getting to me, I began to think rationally. Maybe it was just a truck driving by that shook the door a bit, maybe it was my imagination? So I shrug it off and go back to my video game, but I was scared if it happened again so I decide to save the level I was on and turn the system off.

To distract my mind I decided it was best if I left my room and finish my homework that I started while in class. Yes I was one of those kids. So I walk into my living room to fetch my backpack I left on the couch earlier when I got home. While I'm in there looking through my bag and pulling out my folder and notebook, I hear what it sounded like two people arguing. I stop what I'm doing and instantly become intrigued. I listen and it sounded like it was coming from upstairs, two distinct voices, a man and a woman, but I couldn't quite make out what they're saying. Then I go from being intrigued to instantly terrified because it dawned on me, THE LANDLORD WAS IN SPAIN! So who the hell was arguing upstairs?! When I realized this, the voices stopped, and no I am not a schizophrenic, and no, no one else lived in the building besides my family and the landlord. I thought I should call 911, so I go over to the house phone which was on the other end of the living room, and let me tell you, what happens next truly changed me and shook me to my core. The kitchen is right next to my living room, and next to the kitchen was my brother's room. From the doorway of the living room you can see the kitchen, and where I was standing I could see straight through. I heard footsteps coming from my brother's room and I froze, phone in my hand. What happened next must've been just a couple of seconds but it felt like minutes, because when I looked up to the doorway, I SEE AN OLDER MAN JUST WALK ACROSS, COMING FROM MY BROTHER'S ROOM, PASSING THE DOORWAY AND MY LINE OF VISION, AND JUST WALKED ACROSS! I literally began to cry in fear and I run out the front door to my front yard. I didn't know what to do, but I know I saw a "man" clear as day. This "man" had on a plaid shirt, old face, and sort of bald with white hair. I don't recall the bottom half of him but he walked across as if he were taking a stroll in the park. This happened in about 2 seconds, maybe 3? But I was so scared it felt like I stood there for minutes before my fight or flight instincts kicked in, and I took off.

So there I was now, outside in my front yard, standing by the gate because I know I'm not allowed to leave by myself, AND I was crying. I didn't know what to do and I was praying someone from my family would come home. Then I saw this stranger walk by and he looked at me giving me a "what the hell?" sort of face as he walked by. I mean I was 9 years old, it was like around 6pm at night, and I'm crying by the gate like a weirdo. I didn't blame him for looking at me strange.

After calming myself down a bit I remember my mom saying that it's the living we should be afraid of, not the dead. That's when I knew I saw a ghost. Everything made sense, but honestly what could a ghost do to me? So after crying and gathering my inner guts together, I walk back inside my house, cautiously. I close the front door and I pick up the phone from the ground. Should I call 911? What am I going to say? That I saw a ghost? What can the cops do about that? But thankfully, my prayer was answered and before I knew it, my mother came through the front door. As soon as we locked eyes I began bawling once again.

My mother, terrified, dropped her grocery bags and asked me what was wrong. I tried speaking through those weird crying gasps I used to do as a kid, and told my mom everything that happened. She walked me to the kitchen, and of course, nothing was there. She sat me on the counter and grabbed a paper towel wetting it to wipe away my tears and boogers that came dripping down. My mother being the religious woman that she is, decided she was going to bless the house and my brother's room specifically since I told her the old man I saw came from his room.

My brother then walks in 15 minutes after and boy did he hear it. My mom scolded him so bad for leaving me alone at home, but he was more concerned with me because I was still crying sitting on the kitchen counter. My mom explained to him what happened and he was shocked. He didn't know what to say. Gladly, they both believed me, and it wasn't until later on I found out why.

Months after when that incident occurred, my mother then tells me that who I saw was the old landlord who previously owned the house before the Spanish one. She knew it was him because apparently our current landlord has seen him around a few times before and told my parents about it. The reason why he appears is because he used to do some black magic or was intrigued with the black arts sort of stuff. Then he passed away, haunting our house which I guess he never really left really after dying.

Luckily, I never saw him after that night, but ever since that night I became fascinated with ghosts and the supernatural. I love horror movies now and nothing has ever scared me like when I saw that ghost. Nothing compares to that fear I felt that night and hopefully I'll never feel that terror again.