The Old Lady’s Ghost

They said that the gracious old lady still lived next door in the house long abandoned and forgotten. From what Katie had heard the old lady had been grandma to all the neighborhood children. Then one day as it happens in life the angels came and she was taken away. No one came to the house and it was simply locked up and left to decay. Katie, who was only eight along with her friends began hearing stories about the old lady still living in the house.

They could not understand how it could be possible but they did believe in ghosts and they were curious. One day Katie and two of her friends decided to investigate. They snuck out of their houses and met with flashlights by the front porch. The steps creaked as they walked up to the porch and even though they were scared curiosity kept them going.

Around toward the back of the house was the door to the kitchen which they had heard was always left open. Once inside the three girls lit up their flashlights and solemnly stood in the kitchen looking about. On the kitchen table, it seemed were perfectly good chocolate chip cookies and three glasses of milk. They looked wide-eyed at one another and then heard a shuffling kind of sound.

Before anything else could happen Katie’s two friends went dashing out the door. But Katie who had once seen her own grandmother after she had passed on stood waiting in anticipation. A sort of glow was coming from the hallway and the open kitchen door. Then an old lady appeared smiling. She looked at Katie and gestured for her to sit down at the kitchen table. Katie did as she was told and soon was enjoying the most delicious chocolate chip cookies she had ever eaten and the cold milk tasted so good.

The old lady stood watching her and then she asked, “Do you know who I am?” Katie told her the story she knew about the old lady who had lived in this house and said that she believed this spirit was that lady. The old lady then smiled and said, “You have a special talent, Katie.” “You can be in contact with spirits and that is a special gift indeed”. It was long after midnight when the old lady finished her story about how she was happy to be able to stay in her own house.

It had done much for her spirit to feel free before she knew the house was not going to be torn down or sold. She told Katie there was a special world beyond the clouds where spirits lived. However, some could return and revisit the places where they once lived. It was possible for them to look as they had looked in life but if they needed to they could also frighten people away.

She told Katie to always keep challenging her gift and to let it make her life richer. Katie promised to return as soon as she could but not to sneak around in the night. The old lady smiled graciously, patted her on the head, and then just simply disappeared. Katie went home with her head spinning about all the things the old lady had said and she was eager to get back to see her again. When she woke up in her own bed Katie wondered if it had all been a dream but then she saw that she had the little gold cross the old lady had given her around her neck and she smiled with joy.