Ghost Stories & Paranormal Encounters

It was already dark when we pulled up outside my grandparents house, a large, Victorian building, with long windows and thick, white walls. Granny welcomed us in warmly and we sat down at the table in her small kitchen, situated right at the back of the house. I must describe the room to you. The roof reaches about 5 metres above the floor, very high, with various cupboards planted within the walls. There is no door leading in, a short bending corridor reaches the room. I was sat with my back to this corridor. A wide, sash window, looking out over the dark garden, is to the left of the door leading out to the garden and towards the music room and the laundry room.

We had been sat down for approximately half an hour, chatting about life when Granny casually mentioned that she had had a weird dream or vision just the other night. She told her story as I write it now:

“I was lying in bed, just two nights ago, when I was woken up by a movement somewhere within the room. I looked up and across the room where I saw nothing, and then, looking up towards the brass headstead, I saw a little girl, not much younger than six years old, sitting down at the head of the bed. She wore a long, coarse looking nightdress, Victorian style and a pair of soft, baggy cotton socks. In her hands, lay a button-eyed, faun coloured bear and, what looked like it could have been an old broom handle. You could imagine my surprise, but assuming that I knew this child, I sat up to talk to her.

“I thought that she might have been one of my grandchildren, but on second consultation, I bragged the thought, that neither you” (talking to me) “or any of your sisters were staying in this house at the time. Slightly shaken, but trying to stay calm I began to talk to this apparition. ‘Hello lovey,’ I said to her, I talked to her like she was my grandchild, ‘Come on darling, what is the matter, do you want Granny?’ The silence was more spine tingling than the girl, she stared at me blankly so I carried on. ‘Come on lovey, let Granny take you to your room, which room are you staying in?’ Again… Silence.

“Alarmed at this but still shattered, I went back under the covers and on doing so said ‘come on darling, come and lay down with me, you must be freezing’ Once again, she didn’t budge. It was then that I thought, Do I really want this baby in my room?

“Nodding off once more, I felt two sharp prods in my arm, and rolling over saw the girl with the broom handle. I sat up fully this time and stared at her, ‘Don’t do that to Granny darling, it’s dangerous, you could poke her eyes out’. The girl began to swing the bear around on the end of the stick. I told her not to hurt poor teddy, she ignored this so I got out of bed.’ Come on, let me tuck you…’ She had gone, not disappeared not ran; just …gone.”

There was silence in the kitchen, after that, the hairs on the back of my neck prickled, knowing that just behind was that corridor, leading to the rest of the house. Me and Dad glanced at each other, should we remind Granny that the night before she had had this dream, we had been in her room and opened the trapdoor leading into the attic that not been opened for over 100 years. Should we tell her?

Written by Ellie Myer-Sarasevsky, Copyright 2009