Real Ghost Stories
The Cabin By Karen White
My family and I (12 of us in all) went upstate one weekend to stay at our
family cabin around 15 winters ago. It's located in the mountains and is
firmly standing in the midst of a forest. There are a few neighbors, as
it's a small cabin community, but most everybody goes up there during the
summer to beat the heat. It's a very beautiful and peaceful place...or,
rather it was. When we arrived at the cabin it was mid-afternoon, so we
had plenty of time to unload the vehicles and get the place set up for
occupancy. By the time we were finished laboring it was nearly time to
start thinking about what was for dinner. As we all sat around the big
kitchen table we were all just talking, relaxing and having a really
pleasant time. After the last of the dishes were done we adjourned to the
living room, where we sat either on the 'ski-lodge type of rounded sofa'
or we sat on the floor...just admiring the fire that was going in the
fireplace...and talking. It had become late and a few of us were starting
to yawn and rub our eyes (including myself) so we decided to go to bed,
which left 3 people still wanting to stay up. A brief description of the
cabin's bedrooms, that are all upstairs: 4 small bedrooms, each equal in
their size; and 2 loft bedrooms, which really aren't bedrooms at all but
just two large open spaces that fit full size beds in their spaces
perfectly. Now, the loft bedrooms are bordered by wooden railings,
meaning...you can look straight down into the living room and have
perfect view of the fireplace and the entrance to the kitchen. My mom and
I chose one of the loft rooms, and me, sleeping on the side that hugs the
wooden railing. My mom started to snore softly no sooner than her head
had hit the pillow...me, on the other...I just laid there listening to my
older cousins talking and laughing quietly. I remember dozing off
watching the flames dance in the fireplace. A while later something woke
me...I'm not even sure if I was awakened or just came awake. I turned
over on my left side and looked down upon the living room and noticed
that the fire was still going but it had died down quite considerably and
that my cousins had finally gone to bed. Just then I saw a shadow come
from the kitchen and I watched it as it passed in front of the fireplace
and then I couldn't see it anymore because it was out of my eyesight. I
flipped onto my back and just laid there...I couldn't even take a breath
because it had startled me so. I remember saying a silent prayer and
hoped that I had just imagined that and also that it didn't come up the
stairs. I waited quietly. All of my muscles were tense and I could feel
my heart throbbing in my chest. But nothing happened. I debated on waking
my mom or not and decided against it because I was afraid that I'd sound
like a teenager that had a way overactive imagination and that everybody
would make fun of me in the morning. I started to relax...a little,
thinking it was my imagine..with maybe a little too much caffeine before
bed. With a sigh of relief, I closed my eyes and rolled over on my left
side again and stayed that way for a few minutes. You know how you get
that "creeped out" feeling, like you're being watched? That's the way I
felt and I was scared to death to open my eyes. I felt all of my muscles
tense up again and I felt a stinging in the lower part of my throat,
which was a scream that I was suppressing. And, that's when I opened my
eyes and was staring into a very large pointy chinned face. The
suppressed scream had found it's way out of my mouth but the only thing I
heard come out was a raspy moan. The face was just floating in front of
mine...there was no body. It had long, scraggly, black hair and huge
expressionless black eyes. There was also red, which looked like bloody
streaks down it's face. I couldn't take my eyes off of this thing and I
still couldn't scream, but I did start to hit my mom with my fist on her
side...and she wouldn't wake up. I just remember thinking to myself that
I was going to die if I couldn't wake her up. Since I couldn't wake her
up I just closed my eyes...ready to be taken. Then, that feeling went
away as quickly as it had begun and I slowly peeked through my eyelids.
Nothing was there. I blinked several times and still, nothing was there.
My mom rolled over and asked if everything was ok. I had this blank
expression on my face and she just looked at me. I could see that she was
getting worried because tears had just started rolling down my cheeks and
she asked again if everything was ok. I was sobbing as I asked her why
she didn't wake up when I was hitting her and she said that she hadn't
felt anything. She sat up in the bed and grabbed her side. She hurriedly
turned on the lamp, that sat next to the bed, and pulled her shirt up and
we both looked at the redness that was left after me hitting her so hard
so many times. I cried even harder now because I knew that I hadn't
imagined any of it. She begged me to tell how what was going on. So, I
told her everything...from the shadow that I saw in the living room to
the face I saw that was floating right before my very eyes. Neither one
of us went back to sleep. We just laid there for the rest of the night.
When daybreak finally came we went downstairs to start a new fire to warm
the cabin. And, within minutes of that happening, cousins, aunts and
uncles started coming into the kitchen where we were seated. From what
they were saying, every last one of them had had the best sleep they had
gotten in ages. At least some of us did. A couple of cousins started
making breakfast and the usual talking started off again. I excused
myself and went into the living room. I opened the curtains to the big
country window and sat down on the sofa looking at the snow that had
fallen during the night but that had now turned to slushie ice. One of my
cousins had come in and sat down beside me. He just looked at me quietly.
I slowly turned my face towards him and opened my mouth to say something
but I really didn't know what to say to him. He had spent so much more
time in the cabin than any of us ever had and anything I would have said
to him would have made me look crazy...and that's how I was feeling. I
took a deep breath, paused, then began to tell him what had happened
during the night. He didn't look shocked, or even disturbed, but he did
look concerned. After I was done rambling on about the incidents...he
took my hand and apologized. He was sorry for not telling anyone else
about his experiences in the cabin. That was the last time, winter or
summer, that I was there. 
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