October went by just a little too quick and I didn't get everything done that I'd hoped too. I had WAY more people submit ghost stories than what I thought would and for that I want to say thank you, thank you, and thank you. I didn't get the chance to post them all, but I have one more that I really wanted to share. Even though Halloween has come and gone, in some countries today is part of their Day Of The Dead celebration so I've still got time *wink* As they say, Where there's a will there is a way. Today's story is another one from my daughter written about a time when she was staying at my all time favorite place, The Crescent Hotel. I hope you enjoy it and remember you can find Keshia in the following places.
Blog
Facebook
One
year while in college, my best friend and I decided to take a “girl trip” full
of shopping and pampering. On Mom’s recommendation, we went to Eureka Springs,
Arkansas, and stayed at the Crescent Hotel. Of course, I knew about the hotel’s
hauntings, but my friend wasn’t a believer, so I decided to just not put much
emphasis on it. There was plenty for us to do without going ghost hunting.
On our
first night at the hotel, it stormed. If you’ve never been on top of a mountain
(inside, of course) during a lightning storm, you don’t know what you’re
missing. It was incredible. But eventually we got tired of taking pictures of
the storm and went to bed.
I was
in that state between asleep and awake when I felt someone jump into bed with
me after an especially loud clap of thunder. It wasn’t until after I’d rolled
over to make more room that my brain kicked in and I realized that something
wasn’t right about that. My best friend, the only other person in the room, was
softly snoring in her bed, across the room. I slowly reached out toward the
depressed area of my bed and felt a distinct cold spot. Whatever was in my bed
only took up a small area of space, and I didn’t feel threatened, so I rolled
over to go back to sleep.
A few
moments later, another bolt of thunder sounded, and my friend quit snoring. I’d
almost drifted off when she hissed, “Keshia, there’s someone in my bed.” She
sounded, well, panicked. But the little form snuggled next to me was still
there. I have enough of my mother in me to know it was time to do a little ghost
hunting. I rolled out of bed, flipped on the light, and grabbed my camera.
My
friend was sitting up, staring at an empty spot on her bed. “It’s right there.”
She pointed, and when I ran my hand through the area, sure enough, there was a
cold spot. I quickly turned and snapped one picture of my bed before my camera
batteries died. But not to worry, I had extras. Rechargables, that I’d plugged
in before we went to sleep. Or did I?”
I ran
over to where I’d left them, only to find the batteries scattered on the floor,
and the charger, neatly folded up, sitting several feet from the outlet.
Apparently, whatever was with us didn’t want their picture taken. As you can
imagine, I had a lot of explaining to do.
My
friend and I sat up for hours, talking about ghosts, what it was like to live
with them, and what I thought they were. I even talked to our bed-sharing
ghosts, but they weren’t willing to move at all. I finally convinced my friend
to close her eyes and try to get an impression from the ghost lying at her
feet. She told me the first thing that came to her mind was a small child,
afraid of the storm. When I told her that was very similar to what I felt, a
mixture of being calmed and exhausted let her fall asleep.
When we
woke the next morning, the storm had passed, and the cold spots were gone. But
neither one of us could get the incident off our minds. Finally, the evening
rolled around, and the hotel was putting on a ghost tour. We got there early to
talk to the tour guide, wanting to see if anyone else had reported what we had
experienced. I told him everything, leaving out only that my friend and I had
both thought of scared children. The owner of the ghost tour listened to our
tale without comment. After we finished, he said he hadn’t heard anything of
that nature before, but it didn’t surprise him. At one point the hotel had been
a hospital, and our rooms were part of the children’s wing.
