Ghost Stories

We were breathing hard as we rounded the corner of my house. I couldn't see where my feet were, but I could hear where my brother was, and he was close behind us. My friend was laughing hoarsely through her panting breaths.

"I'll go around and scare him," she said. "You gotta distract him."

I waved her on; I needed to rest, so I stood on the dividing line between yards. I could hear my brother shuffling around in the front yard still, and wondered how he could think we were hiding when we'd been shadows in the dim light of the streetlight just moments before...

A hand touched my elbow and I jumped.

It was my friend. I could barely make out her features, but her eyes were wide and rolling wildly.

"Come here," she said.

"Why?" I asked, my legs too leaden to move.

"Come here," she said again, and moved to the other side of the yard.

With a relenting sigh, I trailed her. She made it to the end of the yard first and turned around.

"There's a hand on your shoulder," she said softly when I reached her.

I snorted. "Seriously? Stop making up shit."

She looked really scared.

"You're just seeing things," I said, more gently.

"No," she said, shaking her head tightly.

I sighed and called for my brother. He found his way to us and I tried to tell him what was going on, but he seemed to think we were still playing the game. With a cackle, he bolted to the house to try to get in first; the back door was locked, so he went around the front.

I took my friend by the hand and led her around and up the driveway. I glanced over at my neighbor's yard as she took the little concrete path ahead of me.

A man stood there, wearing faded jeans and a white t-shirt, almost glowing in what little light there was. I blinked, trying to figure out who he could be -- and he was gone.

I tapped my friend on the shoulder. "There was a man there, just now..."

She didn't wait for further explanation, instead dragging me into the house. We bolted up the stairs, past my brother, and slammed my bedroom door.

I could almost taste her fear, and my heart was pounding like crazy. She peeked through the blinds, once, and her whole body shuddered.

"I can't walk home," she said.

"Call your dad," I told her.

She did. And when she hung up, something moved right outside my window.

"I hope to God that was a tree branch," she said, in a tiny voice.

We never did find out who the man was. But to this day, if we play outside after dark, we turn on the porch light and the patio lights.