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ARCHIVIST'S NOTE: This file has been reformatted and spellchecked. In some cases, content may have been edited slightly to improve readability. However, the original author [listed in the From: line of the header] retains copyright over this story. Please be advised that you must obtain permission from the ORIGINAL author if you wish to reproduce this file in any form, electronically or otherwise. ----------------------------------------------------------------------From: bonnie.graas@sigmabbs.com (BONNIE GRAAS)
About two year ago, I had an encounter that left me (always the skeptic) with less skepticism than I ever dreamed possible.
My husband and I were visiting my Mother-in-law at her ranch in Mariposa.
We were sleeping in twin beds in the same back bedroom that we have always stayed when we visit her.
However, one night I had the overwhelming feeling (even as I write this I can feel the goosebumps rise on my flesh) that someone was watching. I sat up in bed and at the foot of the bed in an antique rocker was sitting an elderly gentleman. I could see him quite clearly. He was solid and his eyes were looking directly into mine.
We stared at each other for some time, not moving or speaking. My first thought was that as my Mother-in-law lived in such a remote area that some elderly person had simply wandered in.
Then I spoke to him, "Who are you?" I asked. "And why are you watching me?" He never spoke back but only continued to stare directly into my eyes.
However, I heard my husband stir as if he had sat up in bed. I said to my husband while holding the man's gaze, "John, do you see that?" When my husband did not answer, I instinctively shifted my eyes for a second to see that he had not sat up, but simply rolled over in his sleep.
When I looked back at the rocker, the man was gone!
There was no way that man could have gotten all the way to the bedroom door in that instant that I averted my eyes, nor escaped out any window.
I sat up for some time thinking about it, and it was some hours, a late nite episode of Taxi reruns in the living room and a trip to the kitchen for a glass of water, before I was able to go back to sleep.
When I awoke the next morning I would have dismissed it as a dream, if not for the fact that the empty water glass was there beside my bed and I had left the TV on in the living room, still tuned in to Nick-at-Nite.
I talked with my husband about it, as the details were still fresh in my mind (indeed, they are as fresh today as they were then). But I was a bit embarrassed to mention it to my Mother-in-law, (well, you can imagine why!)
It was not until this year, that my husband brought the subject up while we were, again, visiting my Mother-in-law. And at her insistance, I described the man in great detail.
She got a strange look on her face and went to the shelf where she pulled down an old photo album. She asked me to look through it. After a few pages, I found a picture of the old man I saw in the rocker that night.
She identified it as her deceased husband's uncle. He had lived in that house since he was a child, and that room had been his. His prized possession was that antique rocker and as he advanced in years, he spent most of his declining years in his favorite rocker.
Her thoughts are that he was simply interested to see who was occupying his room or wished to once again take pleasure in his beloved rocker.
As for me, I am not sure what I saw. But I know that I am not the staunch skeptic that I was before.
We have stayed in that room many times since then and will stay there again. I have never seen him again, but to this day, not a night goes by when I am in that room that I don't look over at the rocker to see if it is giving pleasure to one tired, elderly man.
Believe or don't believe - at least you have a choice. I don't. I was there and though I am not sure what it was, I know for a fact that I saw it!
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