The memory lingers in my cluttered mind like a grey cloud hangs over a polluted city. January 24, 2010, my logic disappeared and my spiritual side, I did not have before, popped out and seeped through my pores, entering my narrow-minded brain. January 24, 2010 is the day I believed in ghosts. That day, I didn’t just believe , I saw.



Rain poured down and the wind blew hard. All day I sat in my room listening to music and watching old television shows from the 70’s off a website I discovered. After getting bored listening to the bad jokes and watching the fuzzy quality, I decided to take a nap. I shut my eyes and snuggled under the covers. This nap was stressful. Every time I shut my eyes, I would think of school, grades, friends, and what I was going to get my mother for her birthday. Finally, I found a way to clear my mind and get to sleep.



I remember vividly what I dreamt on that gloomy afternoon. In the dream, I saw my dad’s side of the family sitting at a small dining table in the middle of a large plot of land. My grandfather sat next to my father patting his head while my grandmother put beans on his plate. Later on in the dream, my dad's family started to eat a meal. None of the family members spoke a word. My grandmother brought out a pie in the shape of a square. While she was cutting a slice for everyone, my grandfather whispered something in my dad’s ear. My father began to cry. After that, the dream dragged on into nonsense.


I awoke slowly to the sound of music playing. At first, I wondered where it was coming from, but then I realized it was coming from my laptop. I had no idea why the music was playing. I thought maybe I had pressed the play button by accident while I was tossing and turning in my sleep. Suddenly, I felt a chill down my spine and a rush of cold air. In that second I thought maybe, just maybe, it was a ghost. But as usual my logic took over, and I knew I was being crazy. But, in the back of my mind, somehow, I knew it was a ghost.



I rushed down the stairs not wanting to be cooped up alone in my room after the mysterious incident. My mom was talking on the phone with our neighbor. I sat silently on the couch waiting for her to finish her conversation. As soon as she was done talking on the phone, I quickly stood up and was ready to tell her the creepy happening in my room. "I’m leaving, I’ll be next door. Call me if you need me,” she said right as I opened my mouth to speak. She closed the door behind her and I waved goodbye. My heart pounded.



It was just my dog, Sally, me and a possible ghost. To make myself feel better, I started talking to Sally as if she were a person.


"Everything is fine,” I kept repeating trying to reassure myself. "I’m not nervous,” I said trying to act brave for my dog who was wagging her stout tail. "You’re right, Sally, maybe watching TV will make me feel better.”



I went upstairs and turned on the television to channel 45, the Disney channel. I wanted to watch something happy that would make me laugh and maybe get my mind off the possible ghost. Lucky for me that next show on was a halloween special. "In the middle of January,” I thought. "You have got to be kidding.” I called my dog upstairs to keep me company. Sally kept going downstairs but, luckily, I had brought some Doritos upstairs. So every time she stood up to leave my side, I looked at her, shook the bag of Doritos, and gave her one.



The halloween episode started. It was about 5 friends going camping, and each friend had a scary story about GHOSTS to tell. As soon as I started to think about the ghost, I felt a chill and then a rush of cold air just like I did before. Then suddenly, the channels started randomly changing. Sally stood up and started to growl and bark, she ran downstairs, and I followed her. She turned the corner, and I slowly turned the corner too. My dog stood in the middle of the living room floor with her tail down. Her head was pointed toward the ground. At this time, I knew something was wrong.



I rushed outside with my phone and dog. But, being outside did not help my paranoia. It was pitch black. I couldn’t see a foot in front of me. It wouldn’t matter anyway since no one was outside but me. I felt more alone than ever. Quickly, I texted my mom telling her that I was scared and that our house was haunted. She texted back a minute later. "LOL”- she texted trying to sound young and cool.


I went back inside and turned on the TV once again. I gazed back in my room where this whole ghost thing started and saw the strangest thing. It was an illuminating figure of a person. I heard a knock and at first, I thought it was the ghost. But then I heard my mom screaming, "Let me in!” Racing downstairs, I jumped down the last three steps, got to the door, and let her in. My mom said she had some bad news for me. She also said that maybe it was the reason this whole paranormal thing was happening. I stood waiting. "Alright, so what’s the bad news?” I asked.



"Well... I don’t exactly know how to tell you this. It is very sad news. Your father and I found out a few days ago, but we have been waiting for the right time to tell you.” She paused, and I prepared myself to take in the bad news. "Your grandfather passed away.”



I took a deep breath. Tears started streaming down my face. I walked slowly to my room and closing the door, climbed under my bed covers and thought, "Why would this happen?” Then I realized something that made me stop crying.



I realized that my grandfather was the ghost that I was scared of. Though my grandfather was technically gone, spiritually he was still here watching over my family and me. "I love you,” I whispered to my grandfather. Then suddenly, I felt a warm sensation on my arm. I knew it was my grandfather comforting me. That was the day I believed in ghosts, and realized that ghosts are not necessarily evil, scary things.