It seemed I had been having the same dream for weeks now. I would awaken in my bed, sweaty and damp, panting. The room would be pitch black and I would stick my hand out in the darkness not able to see my hand in front of my face.
In the dream I would always climb from my bed, the covers as heavy as lead weights rolling off of me...and I would go to my front door. Panic would well up inside of me as I knew there was something bad on the other side. That is where the dream would end. Just as I reached for the handle to turn the knob...I would awaken.
So when I awoke in the middle of the night in a cold sweat and in the pitch black..at first...I assumed I was still dreaming. My feet were tangled in the sheets and it was extremely dark in my room,...unusual considering I always go to bed with a light on.
I climbed out of bed and tried to steady myself as my eyes adjusted to the total darkness. I would go to the kitchen for a drink and not go near that front door. I walked into the kitchen and flipped the switch and nothing happened. Ok this was really getting weird. I felt my way thru the kitchen...until I reached the living room light switch. I gave it a flip and again nothing happened. I let out a little curse. There was that same front door knob...and here I was standing right in front of it.
I sighed and placed my hand on the knob. I would just open it quick like and shut it again...for my own peace of mind.
I turned it slowly. I didn't really want to open it....almost as much as I didn't want to be a coward.
I slowly opened the door.
The night air was cold and damp. I took a deep breath to calm my rapid heart. A cloud of fog swelled around the front stairs, and something propelled my feet forward. My nightgown swayed in the breeze as I climbed down to the last step on my front porch. I looked over toward the wooded area near the side of my house. I could barely make out the treetops above the fog. The night was so dark.
As if on their own free will my feet pressed onward...something was driving me toward the woods. I just couldn't seem to stop myself. I reached the latched gate, and watched my fingers unlatch it. I headed into the woods.
I was unable to see, and my mind was frozen in terror. Unfortunately my feet kept going forward. I walked in silence for awhile unsure of where I was headed. Finally I came to a break in the woods...and there amongst the trees was a little old house. It was more of a shack really. I could see that there was a little graveyard off to the side.
No part of me wanted to go on but my feet couldn't seem to stop. I walked thru tall scratchy weeds into the little cemetary. I stopped in front of an old tombstone. My eyes had adjusted to the dark enough that I could barely see. I traced the letter on the stone with the tips of my fingers and gasped when I realized it was my name on the tombstone!
This was just to freaky! I quickly ran back thru the woods up my front stairs and into my house. I could hear voices coming from my room.
Scared I walked slowly toward my door. From what I could tell it was a woman and a man, and the woman was very upset.
" I saw her again Howard...she was so real."
The man tried to comfort her.
"You were only dreaming Eleanor....there are no such thing as ghosts."
The woman seemed doubtful as she continued to fret softly to herself.
"I know what I saw Howard."
By now I was really freaked out. Why the heck were two strange people in my bedroom....talking about ghosts. I decided I couldn't take much more. I was going in.
The next thing the man said however stopped me in my tracks.
"your cousin is dead Elly...she has been dead for 6 months now. Your just feeling strange because your living in her house."
I slowly pushed the door open, prepared to yell at the top of my lungs for them to get out....but they didn't even seem to notice the door open. I stood there for a moment feeling a bit strange then I walked over to the woman and waved my hand in front of her face. She didn't even flinch. She did however look vaugely familiar. The man had called her Elly...I had a distant cousin named Elly....didn't I? Suddenly a certain terror struck me. It couldn't be....could it? I yelled ..I screamed...I jumped around the room...and nothing. they couldn't hear me. Could it be true? Was I actually.....dead?
Suddenly the woman let out a shrill scream as she seemed to finally see me...and the man backed away in terror. I stretched my arm out toward them and no words could escape my lips....
The next day the couple, Eleanor and Howard moved from the home in the country convinced that it was haunted. There was not a shadow in sight...but as they pulled away from the house Eleanor could see the figure of a woman in the window...and she was crying.