Our town is in Louisiana, a little bitty place called Magnolia Springs. I was born here, in the hospital at the center of town. Mom and dad like it here, they say it's real quiet, hardly any crime, no drugs. I have lots of friends, guys I go to school with, but mostly I have to hang around with my family lots. They're okay, I guess, even if Margie, my kid sister, is only seven. But I try to watch out for her, protect her sometimes too.
Anyhow, about the ghost...my mom and dad always said the stories people told around town were not true. I know people like to tell ghost stories, even if no one believes them.
My mom was always saying that the ghost was just a fiction story, but maybe she said that to me and Margie so we wouldn't get scared. I mean, if you got a real ghost in your house, it could scare the daylights out of you!
My dad didn't talk about it much, he just told us that we shouldn't be afraid of the dark, or of anything... that he was there to take care of us. I always felt real good about him being around. My dad is neat, and he can really slam-hit a baseball, you should see it! He taught me how, and I can beat the guys, even won our game at the school with my home-run hit one time.
Anyways, the story around town was that out house had a tragedy in it, some old woman fell down the stairs, hit her head and died. Mom said it was just an accident, but the others said somebody killed her...pushed her down those stairs! Creepy!
It was kinda spooky, when I looked down those steep stairs that led into the basement. I could just imagine that old lady tripping, and going down, hitting her head. Besides, old people are always falling, so I thought it was an accident too.
One time I was in the library, and I heard the lady librarian talking to a girl. She said, "And they say that somebody wanted to rob Lula May. If you ask me, I think she was pushed down those stairs."
I knew they were talking about our house, and I listened. The librarian looked around, but I was hidden behind the stacks of books, and she continued in a whisper, "Lula May was careful, she never would have fallen by accident."
The girl said, "Is it true that her money was never found?"
"That's right! They never did find all the money she had hidden in the house. I think she was robbed, if you want to know what I think." The librarian was still looking around, as if she suspected someone might be listening.
I stayed hidden, moved away before she saw me eavesdropping. Got me a couple books, checked them out. I had found some ghost stories, and later at home in my own room, I read them. It was scary, but I wanted to know more about ghosts.
When Margie saw me reading, she wanted to hear one of the stories, so I read her one about a little girl who haunts a cemetery. She shivered, exclaimed, "Yuck, that's awful! I don't want to hear anymore !" Girls, I thought, were not much fun!
I read this book that sort of told you how to contact ghosts, but I figured my mom wouldn't let me do this stuff. It said you had to watch for them, and try to communicate with the ghost by closing your eyes and waiting, asking it to materialize, whatever that meant.
Boy, there were some really great ghost stories in that book, about old mansions in Louisiana, spooky tales. I finally went downstairs to eat supper with my family, then watched TV a couple hours.
By the time I went to bed, I'd forgotten all about the stories, because I was thinking about how much fun I'd have tomorrow at the park. Summer vacation was always my favorite time, being out of school and having fun.
Something woke me up in the middle of the night, and I sat up in bed, rubbing my eyes. I could hear thunder, and see lightning flashing, knew it was storming outside.
But I was starving for some milk and cookies, and thought maybe dad was in the kitchen. Me and him raided the fridge if we couldn't get to sleep sometimes, so I got up, put on my shoes and headed out of the bedroom. I walked down the hall, but it was really dark, not much light from the small light by the stairs.
The thunder boomed real loud, and I jumped; it didn't scare me though, and I went on downstairs, made my way to the kitchen. But dad wasn't there. I opened the fridge, took out a carton of milk but suddenly felt real strange, a prickly feeling on the back of my neck, the hairs on my arms standing up.
Then I heard this really weird cackle, like laughing, and saw something by the basement door. I put the milk back, and started to leave the kitchen -- but then realized I was being a coward, so I just stood there, watching.
I saw something that looked like fog, a white cloud that floated to the basement door and then seemed to go right through it. I followed, stopping at the door, afraid to open it.
But I did. It was pitch-dark down there, but I looked down anyway, seeing nothing. I flipped on the light switch, and still didn't see anything either. The steep stairway was just empty, nothing there at all.
I hurried back to my room, and had a little trouble going to sleep. Did I really see that fog, or just imagine it?
The next morning, I started to tell mom about it, but she was busy with breakfast, getting ready to take Margie to the doctor for a checkup. I decided not to mention it. Besides, I wasn't for sure I'd seen anything.
Mom dropped me off at the park, and Johnny was waiting by the baseball field, so we got right down to pitching a few balls, practicing. Johnny lived down the block, and he knew about the ghost stories in my house...when we took a break, I told him about what happened last night.
Johnny's eyes got real big, and he said, "Hey, did you really see a ghost?"
"I don't know it if was a ghost or what. It just looked like fog, kinda like a drifting cloud but it moved right through the door!" I watched him gulp his coke, and look at me.
"Did you hear any voices?" Johnny asked, cramming his fist into his baseball glove, over and over like he was nervous or something.
"I don't know, I think I heard laughter, but it was sure strange." I grabbed the baseball, said, "Come on, I bet you can't hit my fast ball!"
We played ball the next hour or so, and then mom came by to pick me up and I told Johnny I'd see him later. Mom said Margie had a stomach virus, and she needed some medicine.
I was not feeling so good myself, but it wasn't a stomach virus -- it was that funny fog I saw that made me sort of sick. I started to tell mom about it, but then I thought she might just laugh about it. Grownups don't believe in ghosts, and I knew she'd give me a lecture...
I tried to forget it, and spent the afternoon watching an old cowboy movie on TV, then played some video games in my room. After we ate dinner, mom and dad told me they wanted me to look for Tiger, our cat. He'd been gone for two days, and I knew Margie would have a fit if he didn't come home soon.
I went out just before dark, and searched all around the neighborhood but couldn't find Tiger. I called and called that darn cat, but he was probably off having a good time somewhere and didn't even hear me.
By bedtime, I was really sleepy and didn't' think about anything as I fell into bed. But again, I woke up in the middle of the night and looked around the room. The moon was bright, sending a strange light through my window and I could see something in the corner, right by my baseball stuff.
I looked closer, and saw it was that funny white cloud, hovering like fog over my baseball bat! I also felt cold, real cold and pulled the covers up to my chin, shaking. I wanted to call out for dad, but couldn't, I was just too scared to make a sound.
Then I heard this whispery croak, "Come with me, sonny boy."
I shook my head, but it said again, "Come with me, and I'll show you the money."
I figured this was the ghost, the ghost of Lula May and she had come back to show me something. I was shaking all over, so very cold, but I got out of bed, and watched the cloud go through my bedroom door. I followed, and it went drifting along the hallway, turned the corner as I trailed along. Then it floated down the stairs, heading for the kitchen. Once in there, the cloud sort of hung around the basement door, then that whispery croak saying, "In here, come on sonny boy."
It was like I was a zombie, because I just couldn't quit following the foggy cloud. I pulled open the basement door, and started to flick on the light, but the voice said, "No light. Come along now..."
But it was so dark I couldn't see the steep stairs, and just stood there, afraid. Finally, the cloud seemed to settle over me, and made a dim light down the stairway so I could see enough to get down the steps, careful not to fall.
Our basement is piled up with old stuff we don't use anymore, and I had to walk around the junk, all the time wondering what the ghost wanted to show me. Just as I got to the back wall, I heard that sharp voice, "See that brick right there?"
I looked at the cement wall, but didn't see any brick. "No, it's just cement."
The cloud moved away from me, and swept over the wall, then became a beam highlighting a small brick set near the floor. I bent down, and the voice declared, "Go on! Pull it out sonny boy!"
I did, and then looked into a small hole, saw an old cigar box and pulled it out. The voice said, "It's there, sonny boy, all my money. I fell down the blasted steps, trying to get the money."
"Are you, uh....Lula May?" I asked, staring.
There was a piercing cackle of laughter, then the cloud seemed to shape itself into a bent, bony old woman with straggly white hair and the voice said, "That's me, sonny. Now, you take that money and do something good for cats with it, hear? And don't you never tell nobody about me being here, or I'll come back and haunt you!"
"I won't," I promised, shivering as the cloud-shaped woman seemed to just melt and slowly fade, disappear before my eyes.
I carefully put the money back, and ran to my room. The next morning, I asked dad if I could clean up the basement and he said sure, that it needed it.
While I was working, I pretended to find the money hidden behind that brick, and ran to tell my parents. They were shocked, and after asking a bunch of questions, told me the money belonged to Lula May's relatives. I was confused, because she'd given it to me to help cats, but I kept quiet.
It turned out okay anyhow, because after mom and dad checked about her relatives, they were all dead. So the money was ours -- my parents insisted it was mine though, because I found it.
Mom asked me what I wanted to do with it. Tiger had come home, and he was curled up in Margie's lap, sort of looking at me strange. I had this weird feeling that he knew what Lula told me. So I said, "I want to give the money to the animal shelter, help all those stray and lost cats."
Tiger kept looking at me, started purring and I knew, I just knew that Lula May was pleased, wherever she was now.
And that's how I came to see a ghost. But you better not tell anyone I told you this story, or Lula May might come around and haunt YOU!
