It was a long time ago. I was maybe 10 years old or so. I had my best friend over to spend the night. Naturally, we had whispered and giggled late into the wee hours of darkness.
The weather was good. We had the big window in my room open and had shoved the end of the bed next to it. The corner street light gave just enough illumination to make out the houses and trees across the street.
Being tired, my friend crawled back up to the head of the bed and went to sleep. I stayed at the foot of the bed, still peering out into the night.
I was wide awake when I first saw her. She was walking towards the corner, where the street light was located. She looked to be tall and slender, her hair pulled into a bun at the nape of her neck.
She was wearing a long sleeved blouse and a skirt, a long skirt. It was a very full long skirt and I could see it billow as she walked. It flowed forward with each of her steps.
I remember thinking, I wondered who she was and why was she dressed like that? Those were old clothes, not what people wore when I was 10 or so.
Although I could see no colors, I could see her perfectly. She was bathed in the street light, a misty grey form.
That's when I noticed it. She wasn't walking. She was gliding, about a foot off the ground.
I screamed loud enough to probably be heard two blocks up the street, after all, the window was wide open. I would have said, loud enough to wake the dead, but it seemed the dead were not asleep. Mother came bursting through the door to see what on earth had happened. I told her what I had seen and she soothed my rattled nerves and assured me I had been asleep and was merely dreaming.
There is a small Episcopal Church up the ally from my house. I can see the steeple from the front porch.
A week or two later I was riding my bike. It was a bright and sunny Summer day. I rode around the block and turned towards the church, intending to turn again, up the alley, to go back home. That's when I saw her.
She came out of the front doors to the church. She was rather tall and slender, an older woman. Her hair was black as coal and pulled into a bun at the nape of her neck. She was dressed completely in black. A long sleeved black blouse and a long full flowing black skirt. It flowed forward with each of her steps.
By this time, I had stopped my bike and watched her. She never acted like she saw me. She walked around the side of the church, through the yard and entered the back door. She looked exactly like the woman I had seen walking, gliding, down the sidewalk.
I had never seen this woman before and I never saw her again. I went home and asked Mother if the Episcopal Church had nuns. She told me she didn't think so and wondered why I was asking. I told her what I had seen, in the bright light of day.
I can still see the look on her face as I left the kitchen.
I don't think it's necessary to stay up and wait for darkness to have a ghostly encounter and I don't particularly like to watch the ghost hunter shows on TV. I once heard psychic medium John Edward say, "Why would you want to watch something that makes you too scared to get up and go pee?" I agree.
I'll bet you have had one yourself. I'd love to hear it.
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