You are here: Real Ghost Stories :: Apparitions / Voices / Touches :: Out In The Cold

Real Ghost Stories

Out In The Cold

 

This literally just happened right about 5:30 PM or so, tonight.

It may be the first week of March, but here Mother Nature has not gotten the memo and our temps haven't reached above freezing. Right now it's 28 F which, compared to what it has been, is down right balmy.

I was walking over to the store, about four blocks away, when I saw a young boy out in the snow. He couldn't have been more than five or six, but what struck me is he had on no coat, just a thin T-shirt and pajama pants. He didn't appear to be playing, just standing there. Of course I could not just keep going.

I took a few steps in his direction. "Hi," I said softly, not wanting to scare him. He stared at me with dark eyes large, as if unsure of what he was seeing. "Do you live around here?" I came closer, he cocked his head as if not understanding me. From his coloration, I thought he was Hispanic, so I tried that, "Hola. Soy Val. Como su nombre?" (Hi. I'm Val. What's your name?) Nothing. That's when I noticed he was also barefooted.

I began to unzip my coat, with the intention of wrapping this poor kid in it and carrying him to the store where he could get warm, while we waited for the cops. Let whomever was suppose to be caring for him explain it all to them! Oh, I was having some very not nice thoughts about them, who ever 'they' were. But, first I wanted to get the boy out of the cold.

About midway down my zipper jammed, and I glanced down at it. By now, I was only a few inches from him, and I had been nattering away in Spanglish hoping to illicit some response. I tugged it free and shrugging my coat off, went to wrap it about him, only he was gone! Just gone!

I spun in a circle, but he was nowhere to be seen. Slowly, I pulled back on my coat. Already, I was chilled from the wind. Except for my own, there were no fresh prints in the snow, just old churned up spots from dogs and the like, filled with an icy crust. Still, I began to walk about the yard looking for the boy until I was satisfied he was nowhere to be found.

Thinking about it, he hadn't looked cold, and all I had felt from him was total surprise at seeing me. So, now I wonder... Do you suppose that somewhere a small boy is trying to convince his Mama that he saw a spirit?

Other hauntings by valkricry

Hauntings with similar titles

Find ghost hunters and paranormal investigators from Illinois

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, valkricry, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
+1
9 years ago (2015-05-05)
You're welcome, Sam. It was easy to see that you put a lot of work into it.:)
Sam222 (8 stories) (461 posts)
 
9 years ago (2015-05-05)
Thanks for checking that thing I made on faces out valkricy. 😊
valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
+1
9 years ago (2015-04-02)
Wini- tell you true, I have found more 'reasons' to walk that same route in hopes (?) of seeing him again. Although I have seen other children running about (we're finally warming up) none of them are him. I try to go the same time of day, but of course I can't control the temperature. 😆 However from some of the stories I have heard about 'Pobrecito', I gather the weather doesn't hold much meaning for him.
WiniPu4 (207 posts)
+1
9 years ago (2015-03-30)
Hi, Val:

It's good to know that others have seen him, and believe him to be a ghost. Maybe he was injured in an accident and wandered around dazed before he passed. People often carry children around in PJs in cars, whether bringing them home from a sitter, or making a quick trip to the store & having to bring the sleeping child with. If he passed at the hospital which is now closed, he may be reaching out for comfort. It is quite sad that he seems to be trapped between worlds. Perhaps you could try to help him cross over to be where he should be? With the new information, I think maybe there might be a reason you saw him after all.
valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
+1
9 years ago (2015-03-18)
Sam, you're right - it's possible this small boy was the victim of some accident. Unfortunately, it isn't too uncommon around here. I thought his pajamas might be a clue for a time frame, but they haven't really changed in design for about the past 50 years or so. I don't recall the t-shirt having any design on it (like batman or something) but I remember the pants had yellow ducks on a dark blue background.
I've been making inquiries about 'Pobrecito', which apparently is circulated only among the Hispanics here, and not many of them seem to know anything either.
Sam222 (8 stories) (461 posts)
 
9 years ago (2015-03-17)
Valkricy, oh I bet there are few children who've been out and about and then go home and tell their mama "there was a ghost boy out there"
I'm just wondering why he was there, perhaps he was struck by a vehicle, while waiting for someone or something, and maybe there he waits to this day.
Maybe you could do a bit of Reasearch and find out if a little boy did die there.
valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
+1
9 years ago (2015-03-13)
I guess this qualifies as an 'update' to this, and I think we may have a 'maybe/could be' answer as to what I saw.
I told a co-worker, who also lives in the area that I had seen the darndest thing, a small boy in pajamas out in the snow, when she stopped me, with a question - was this near the Old Copley Hospital? It was. Maybe 2 or 3 blocks from where I saw the boy sits the defunct building that closed sometime in the 80's. I asked her what that had to do with anything.
According to her I should have 'no worries'as I had only seen a ghost called she called 'Pobrecito' (poor little one). Apparently, no one recalls his real name, or even much of his story, but she says others have seen him in and around the hospital's vicinity. Ok, since the hospital was built in like 1890 or so, I'll buy it probably does have a few ghosts, and the lot it sits on was probably a lot bigger at some point. But what was he doing in that yard where I saw him?
Agnet201195 (1 stories) (26 posts)
 
9 years ago (2015-03-11)
Well no problem Val, I was just wondering what you actually saw and was trying to frame what it actually was... But I am sorry, I failed... Because I am having doubts about it...
notjustme (19 stories) (852 posts)
 
9 years ago (2015-03-11)
Very interesting account. Also I like the astral projection idea that some posters have suggested. Now I wonder how many entities we seen have astral projected, and how many were actually passed spirits. That includes other demonic looking things too. Maybe they too have come from elsewhere...
valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
 
9 years ago (2015-03-11)
Agnet, thanks for reading and commenting. I'll probably be wondering what exactly I saw for the rest of my life.
Agnet201195 (1 stories) (26 posts)
 
9 years ago (2015-03-11)
Well this story is more confusing... Was that really an astral projection or something else? 😲 Oh well whatever it is! I love that story! It's very touching!
Miracles51031 (39 stories) (4999 posts) mod
+2
9 years ago (2015-03-11)
GoldPhoenix - if you saw a child out in the snow, dressed as val described and there was no one who was obviously with him, you wouldn't try and find out who he belonged to, or help him? 😕 🤔
valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
+2
9 years ago (2015-03-11)
Yes, Gold - wouldn't you? Especially if your mindset is that this is a child in need of help? Not sure how much 'investigation' one needs to do to be able to tell old from new tracks in the snow, or a child's foot print from a dog's. For me, the difference is obvious. Since we'd had weeks of negative degrees (Yes, Illinois turns into a freezer most winters) 28F actually felt kind of warm, and mind you, I was dressed for the weather. Add to that, I didn't 'make circles', I spun in a circle - meaning I turned in all directions to see where the heck he went. I wasn't going to let the poor thing wander off like that. In my book, IF this had been truly a child, to NOT look for him would have been tantamount to having stuck him out there myself. How could anyone NOT 'take the time' to look for him?
GoldPhoenix (24 posts)
-2
9 years ago (2015-03-11)
So you took the time to be a detective out in such a cold temperature and investigated for footprints and make circles in the area where you "saw" the kid?
valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
 
9 years ago (2015-03-11)
HitchcockMadness,
Child spirits are truly the most wistful of apparitions. I think they tug at our heart strings more than any other simply because they are so young. No matter the age, we can only hope that when someone leaves this life, they do so knowing that they were loved and mattered to someone.
However at the time, I believed I was dealing with a child in trouble. In no manner was he dressed for the cold we were having! I didn't hear or see anyone looking for him. Now that I've had a chance to process it further, I do find it odd that the traffic in that area (though sparse due to the time of day) seemed unaware of his presence. We were very near a four way stop, and I would think he'd have been noticed by someone if he'd been there any length of time. Ugh - just giving rise to even more questions in my own head 😕!
valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
 
9 years ago (2015-03-11)
selkay and Wini,
Thanks for reading and commenting. In my heart I really do hope what I saw was not a child ghost, but an astral projection. However then we are left with the question of Wini's on whether I saw him for a reason, or if it was just one of those things.
HitchcockMadness (1 stories) (8 posts)
 
9 years ago (2015-03-11)
Poor little guy. God knows what he went through before he passed on. Val, I hope at least for a few seconds you made him feel that someone cares.
I just hope he didn't meet a end to horrible to mention.

Child spirits make me the most sad. It always leaves you wondering why they passed so young.

HitchcockMadness.
selkay (6 stories) (40 posts)
 
9 years ago (2015-03-11)
Interesting story, I wonder whether it's an astral projection of a child in his bedroom somewhere probably miles away from where you saw him.
WiniPu4 (207 posts)
 
9 years ago (2015-03-10)
Hi, Val:

There's no way to know. I do believe that we can project ourselves (OBE) and appear solid, especially when we are asleep. Children are closer to the other side of life and he may have had a spontaneous OBE & thought you were the ghost. Or, maybe he and/or you experienced a timeslip. He might have been in another time or place, viewing what he thought was a ghost or angel. Maybe he was too young to know how to process it. In my past, I studied the sciences and have developed a strong interest in time anomalies. Quite often, both parties think they are seeing a ghost. In one story I read, the person telling the story had a young man & a small part of his surroundings appear in the storyteller's bedroom. I wonder if the little boy saw your environment? So many possibilities... I wonder who he was. Were you somehow supposed to see him for some reason, or was it just a mere coincidence? Great story!
Warm regards from FL,
Lynev

😁
Miracles51031 (39 stories) (4999 posts) mod
 
9 years ago (2015-03-10)
val - I can believe that. I had a dream the other night very similar to this experience, except he didn't disappear LOL and it had me gasping awake.

I echo your thoughts, questions. I guess those are things that, hopefully, will be answered once we're on the other side 😊
valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
 
9 years ago (2015-03-10)
Miracles,
I'm truly uncertain of what to make of that child. Although he appeared very solid, I don't believe he was flesh and blood as we think of it. I know kids can be lightening fast, but I would have seen him either dart away or the evidence in the snow.
What I can't shake was the look on his face. It wasn't fear, but more like he just could not believe he was seeing me.
It fills my head with so many questions: When a ghost sees us, do they think WE'RE the ghost? If this was an astral projection of a child (one have an OBE) would he perceive me as a spirit? Or was this wee one, simply very surprised that I could see him? Guess I'll never know for sure. But it was definitely a WTH moment for me.
Miracles51031 (39 stories) (4999 posts) mod
 
9 years ago (2015-03-10)
val - if this was truly a small boy out in the cold, my heart would be breaking for him 😭

I'm confused, though. Do you think he was a spirit? Or a living child?

To publish a comment or vote, you need to be logged in (use the login form at the top of the page). If you don't have an account, sign up, it's free!

Search this site: