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The New Old Apartment

 

Old architecture has always captivated me with its beauty and history, so it seemed like a fantastic idea to move into the historic West Central district of Fort Wayne. In 2007, I found the perfect newly renovated, one-bedroom apartment in a building that was just over 100 years old. The refinished hardwood floors and glass doorknobs were a dream come true, and I was looking forward to having a year without roommates.

I came to know many of the people who lived on the street, and enjoyed the fact that there weren't any children living nearby to cause a ruckus. When winter came, the first snow fall was very heavy. I was perfectly happy to curl up in my warm bed and enjoy a peaceful night of sleep after a long day.

In the middle of the night, sometime between 2 and 3 AM, I was awoken by the joyful sounds of children laughing. It was extremely loud and sounded as though it was coming from right outside my first floor window. I was irritated at the disruption and stumbled to the window to yell at the kids and tell them it could wait until morning. When I pulled back the curtain, the sound stopped immediately, and all I saw was several inches of freshly fallen, undisturbed snow. There were no footprints, tire tracks or animal prints as far as I could see. There was also nothing but eerie silence as I looked out.

Weeks later, I decided to clean every inch of the apartment. I washed every window and mirror and surface until there was not a single visible dust mote. After the thorough cleaning, I turned on the shower to let it warm up the room. The tiny bathroom got nice and steamy, and I paused to look at the fogged over mirror and admire just how well and streak-free the Windex left my mirror. After the shower, I walked over to the sink and immediately noticed a very fresh and very tiny child's hand print in the middle of my perfectly clean mirror. I was not a believer at the time and definitely had a little freak out moment. I tried to replicate the hand print, I touched the mirror to observe the condensation patterns, and I tried to rationalize it in every possible way. It was definitely a fresh mark on my freshly cleaned mirror in the shape of a child's hand.

At this point I figured it had to be a child and it had to be some kind of trickster. The rest of my time in that apartment was filled with more strange events. I watched a plate fly off the table and crash several feet away. I also watched a picture adjust itself on the wall in a manner that was just not physically possible. The picture had that straight line of serrated metal on the back for hooks and I was too lazy to get a chair to stand on the when I put it on the nail it was extremely crooked and unbalanced. As I reached back up to try to knock it down, it shifted itself up, against gravity, and corrected itself.

When my lease was up, I ended up moving into an old house that had its own inhabitants. At least the ghosts in the apartment were sometimes helpful.

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Comments about this paranormal experience

The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, Rydia, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

Argette (guest)
+1
12 years ago (2012-10-14)
I agree that it's sometimes difficult to know what to include in a post, especially if there are a lot of different details.

I think it's important to keep to a decent length. I love reading the posts here, but I often wish posters would cut to the chase. On the other hand, some accounts merit longer posts.

At any rate, the additional information is greatly appreciated.
PeachyPumpkins000 (16 posts)
 
12 years ago (2012-10-14)
Interesting story! Good narration and a nice easy reading. I think that the child spirits in your house were bothering you because you didn't like children? Or you didn't like them fooling around and "causing a ruckus" as you said in your story. I very much agree, haha. It's nice to hear that they didn't harm you in any way and that you thought they were helpful at times. I don't think child ghosts cause much harm anyway, at least, from what I've heard they don't...I could be wrong. 😊
-Thanks for sharing
Rydia (1 stories) (2 posts)
+1
12 years ago (2012-10-14)
Thanks for the feedback, Jav. This was my first post so I just wanted to include details of the strangest experiences in the apartment. I didn't even think of putting additional details until other posters asked questions. It is very helpful to know what kinds of information to include in addition to the direct events themselves.
Javelina (4 stories) (3749 posts)
 
12 years ago (2012-10-13)
A well told account. And judging by the responses below, people are satisfied with your claims. I was as well until I read your comment below. Writing as well as you do, I was surprised at the things you had left out of your original narrative. Normally when I see the O/P add this much on after the story has posted, without explaining why. It gives me pause as to the authenticity of the piece. So I read through the original one more time. Then the added post below mine here. I am still scratching my head over why the secret room, the disbelieving neighbors, and the fact that the current resident is experiencing strange events as well, would all be left out.
Oh well, not all things can be so cut and dry, can they?

Thank you for sharing.

Jav 😕
Rydia (1 stories) (2 posts)
 
12 years ago (2012-10-12)
Thanks! I am grateful that the ghostly encounters were playful children and nothing too terrifying! However, in the movies, ghostly children are the scariest!

The laughing and the plates flying happened multiple times. I found out that the building was built around 1902, and all the surrounding homes were just as old or older. The other residents who I spoke to thought I was crazy when I shared my experiences, but the girl who currently lives there tells me she's had some bizarre experiences herself! When I was still living there, they were renovating a basement apartment under mine, so I went to investigate (the door was open)! I found a hidden room boarded up in the back of a closet and the walls were covered in symbols. It creeped me out so I got out as fast as possible!
Scythe (1 stories) (8 posts)
 
12 years ago (2012-10-12)
Weird! I have heard a similar story. Apparently, in St Ormond Street Hospital in London, you can here children laughing in the night. My mum who is a radiographer stayed across the road from the hospital and woke in the middle of the night to here a 'playground' noise. She thought nothing of it until recently when she heard a nurse talking about it. St Ormond Street is a children hospital.
sds (14 stories) (1436 posts)
 
12 years ago (2012-10-12)
Hello Rydia, nice narration and thanks for sharing. You told about children laughing around 2-3 am, picture adjusting itself, plates flying and hand print of a child in the bathroom mirror. Well, did these events occur again or were it for only one time? Also, did you investigate about the history of the house or place and did you ask your neighbours if they have felt anything like what you have encountered? Now that you have moved and that there is no problem or irritation at present, it would have been a horrible time for you during your stay in the house. If you had investigated about the house, please share with us. Initially, I thought it was residual, about the laughter but later changed my opinion. If you have any further information, please let us know.

Regards and respects to you.

SDS
Argette (guest)
 
12 years ago (2012-10-11)
Very well told story. I have always believed that a series of small incidents is scarier than something big, like an apparition. Playful child ghosts, it sounds like in this case.

Thank you for sharing this, Rydia.

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