When I was about 12 (mid 1960's), my classmates and I were taken on a field trip to an old Spanish mission. I was the only Catholic child in the group so the kids asked me a lot of questions before we arrived at the mission. Many were very curious to see the inside of a Catholic church. I normally enjoyed visiting various churches, but when we arrived at the mission I found that I didn't feel at all comfortable in the little chapel there. The other children were intrigued by the statuary and so forth. I just wanted to get out of that dark, small place. I found a door that led outside to a small, walled-in garden. The sun was shining on the garden and the scent of the flowers was wonderful. I went into the garden and began to meander along a small path. After awhile I left the path and sat down to rest on a patch of bare earth. I was sitting there, looking at the patterns of light and shade made by the sun's rays passing through the leaves of a tree, when I heard whispering behind me. I looked around but couldn't see anyone. The whispering got louder, and I continued to attempt to discern who was there, but couldn't see anyone. (I assumed some of the other kids were teasing me.) The whispering got even louder and I could detect anger in the voice, but I couldn't understand the words. Then I heard another voice from off to my right. It said: "Speak to her in English. She isn't ignoring you, she just doesn't understand!" I looked to my right and saw a woman laying sideways on the ground and propped up on one elbow. She was smiling at me. She wore an odd looking dress--very ugly, actually. It looked rather like a Franciscan monk's robe. I smiled back at her uncertainly, and she nodded at me and kept smiling. Then a trio of male voices came from beyond that woman. They sounded angry, and they were cross-talking each other so I couldn't make out exactly what was being said. But the gist of it seemed to be that I was a bad person. Suddenly the voice from behind me piped up again, "She is stupid and she has no manners." I was becoming frightened, because I couldn't understand what I had done that was wrong. Then the female voice from behind me suddenly shouted, "Get off!" I jumped to my feet, whirled around, and beheld another woman dressed in the same manner as the woman off to my right. I gaped at her. If she had been sitting behind me the whole time, how come I hadn't been able to see her? I stammered that I was sorry. (I didn't tell her that I didn't know what I was apologizing for.) As my confused mind attempted to understand, I realized that I could see right through her--she was translucent. I glimpsed a flat headstone beneath her body. I then realized that I had been sitting on her grave.I began to apoligize over and over again. She meanwhile was in a much better mood, since I had gotten off of her grave. She smiled at me and said that she now knew that I hadn't done it on purpose. My mind was just then coming to grips with the fact that I was observing and talking to ghosts. I was afraid of walking on someone else's grave so I moved around to the path and looked over to where the other woman and the 3 males were and saw more flat headstones. All of the headstones bore Indian names and the dates written on them were quite old. Suddenly, all of the ghosts disappeared because someone else had entered the garden to fetch me. I felt terribly disappointed. I told the person that I would be along in a minute, and attempted to continue communicating with the ghosts after I was once again alone in the garden. They didn't become visible again, but I could hear the women laughing. My teacher then entered the garden and demanded that I leave at once. She accused me of holding up the bus from leaving and wouldn't let me say anything. I then had to leave with the teacher. Although I have upon occasion encountered other ghosts/spirits since then, that was the only time that I actually saw them in human form. -Lorna Fay