Marietta, Georgia Ghost

August 5, 1997. I was driving home one night with my wife and baby son in the car. We were going through Marietta trying to get home to Fair Oaks, having only lived in the area for a week or so. I figured out where I should turn, and I made a left and went past six or seven large houses on my side of the road, and on the far side I couldn't see much but trees and then possibly a glimpse of what I then realized must be a cemetery.

As we were coming up to being level with the entrance to the cemetery, I saw a small figure stood in the middle of the road. My instant reaction was to hit the brakes, but I wasn't fast enough and shut my eyes quickly, thinking that I was about to run over someone.

I heard nothing. I was expecting a thump, or a scream, or at least some indication that I had hit something. I stopped to car, awaking my wife, who questioned why I had stopped. I told her that I saw someone, and she said nothing. I got out the car and went to the rough spot where I thought the person was stood. I gave the house next to me a quick glance and saw lights on inside, so I decided it was best to get going again.

I drove in silence, and my wife continued to question me about what happened. I told her that I saw someone quite short stood in the road. She obviously thought I was tired and when we finally got home I fell straight asleep. That night I dreamed.

My dream was almost exactly the same experience I had. My wife wasn't in the car, but my son was. I turned onto the exact same road where I had seen the ghost (I always call it a ghost seems as it can't have been real). I drove exactly where I had been earlier, but this time I saw just a snippet of the person I hit. I think it was a girl, I saw pastel pink clothing with lines in the fabric, and it was quite loose and baggy but not too big. But her face was different. I saw one flash - not even a second - steely grey eyes but they were very round and innocent, and she had a large forehead. I think her hair was blonde but it was very messy and I didn't really see it. Then I saw her again and her eyes looked brown - rounder and fuller. Then I close my eyes (in the dream obviously) and that was it. I got out the car and saw my wife lying in the road - what I saw has stayed with me a long time - she was wearing her work clothes, and quite a long, black coat. Her face was covered with her hair and her eyes were closed. She was smiling, but then she almost dissolved - like an aspirin does in water, from the edges inward. Then I heard a child's voice, and it said something like "I want to be...ROURKE!" Rourke is the only word I can think of that quite fits what he or she said (it sounded like a girl).

I woke up the next morning feeling a lot better for some reason, but I never told my wife about that dream. I guess she forgot about that night too, so I never brought it up again.

I went back to the cemetery the next day and found it almost deserted - just an old man sat under a tree on a small bench, so I moved on. I found nothing of interest in there, so I turned around and went home again after about ten steps. I haven't really thought much about my experience since, but I always think I saw a ghost.