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Creepy Floaty Faced Thing

 

This is another incident where I am reaching out in trust to my fellow YGS readers for your insight or speculation as to what in actual heck happened. Likewise, it probably is not scary to read, but it was bizarre and frightening when it happened. I have shared one other incident, which happened here. I will set the scene, in case you haven't read it.

When I was 18 I shared a flat in Boise's historic Warm Springs neighborhood with two of my younger brothers. The house we lived in was old for the area, divided into our upstairs apartment and our neighbor's below. We were smack dab between a hospital, the old Idaho State Penitentiary, and the Old Fort Boise cemetary, a few blocks or so from what is left of historic downtown Boise and the tunnels where Asian immigrants were forced to trade. Plenty of history roaming about.

We all loved that house even though it's odd division mean that our "living room" was formerly an upstairs porch, complete with a front door and windows which opened into the main house. The porch had been closed off with more windows all along the 3 outer walls. We rallied some milk crates, a boom box, a hideous pink rescue couch, and a posh, velvety, spinning, 1970's, thrift store rocker/recliner. We tacked up a few yards of gauze as curtains and considered ourselves smartly furnished.

The only way the couch really fit into the narrow room was along a shorter wall, facing the length of the room and three walls of windows. The rocker we put in the middle just even with the door, beneath the front set of windows. It was humble, but homey, in the way only a grubby punk bachelor pad can be.

One warm autumn day, I came home from work to find my brother's girlfriend K waiting for him. She was sitting on the couch, so I plopped in the rocker and chucked off my shoes. It was sunny and hot and we did not say much. Just listening to music and smoking cigs. We did not know each other real well, either, so we were just kind of both awkwardly waiting for the guys to come back.

Lazy and sweaty from biking home... I was shoving the rocker slowly side to side, back and forth, pushing with my stocking feet on the windowsills. Several times as I came around the "back" side I imagined that I saw a grumpy little wrinkly face staring into the sunny upstairs window. As that is impossible, I assumed tricks of contrast or reflection and just kept rocking back around.

Then I had to stop and stare out the window. Floating away from the window and turning to my left was a clear or pale, very skinny, small, wizened figure with the face of a grumpy old person. It had like a ruffle nightcap, like Little House on the Prairie. The figure was very small, maybe two feet. It glided with its arms drawn up stiffly, gnarled fists at at chest level. It sort of clouded and trailed off at the waist. I could not even believe what I was seeing. It stared straight ahead, unhappy, so I turned away with a childish hope that it had not "seen" me. I had goosebumps all over, sitting in the sun.

I sort of mentally chastised my wild imagination and just kept sitting there quietly with K. The last thing I wanted was to make things more awkward. Then out of the blue she's like "did you just now see that banshee behind you in the window?" It had looked sort of like the banshee in Darby O Gill. She had been watching it float outside behind me.

Freaking out, we both described seeing basically the same thing as one another. She was in tears. We went downstairs and sat outside until my brothers came home. K was still very upset, and one of our friends (army medic) treated her for shock. As far as I know, neither of us has "the sight" but she was young and troubled. I did not know then, that that age can be sort of a magnet for weird energy.

Other weird, unrelated things happened at that house. Before and after, my brothers heard footsteps in the empty kitchen on the other end of the house. They did not tell me until years later, or that at our neighbors house one could sometimes hear laughing or a party-the house had been a brothel. I don't think what K and I saw was an actual banshee, but I cannot say if it was a ghost, or what. It was so small. Wouldn't a person ghost be person sized? It did not seem like it was trying to get in or be seen.

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

BettinaMarie (14 stories) (80 posts)
 
1 year ago (2022-09-19)
Fellow Readers-
Progeria is a really awful illness, and I am very sorry for having described who or what I saw as as "inhuman". Now I know that sometimes alive people may look like that under harsh rare effects. Hopefully a cure is near.

When I looked up info suggested by CreamTea's comment my whole brain heaved in weird sympathy- such a way that resolves a lot of uncertainty.

Thanks YGS.
Bettina
BettinaMarie (14 stories) (80 posts)
 
1 year ago (2022-09-19)
CreamTea-
Thank you for your most informative comment. I believe you are exactly right about what/Who we saw. Those unfortunate symptoms do appear almost exactly like what we saw floating by the window. That it wore a hat has always confused me. The way their little spirit arms were bent up to their chest seemed forced, and stiff.

I never tell people this story, but I do not feel deranged now, when I remember what happened. Thank you for that calm.

I appreciate the link, as well. I hope a cure is possible.

Please forgive my slow response. This is a true relief to have a reasonable explanation. I wonder if the poor child has found rest.

With Gratitude- Bettina Marie
CreamTea (9 posts)
+1
2 years ago (2022-01-28)
BettinaMarie,

What you describe sounds similar to a person with progeria - including the "Roman nose" that you refer to in your comment. Progeria kids are tiny and do look a bit otherworldly. They often wear hats or caps because they are bald, and the various diseases that tend to accompany the condition are often painful, which might account for the "unhappy stare". They die young, which is also tragic.
However, it is possible to have a good life with progeria, as Sam Berns (who lived with the condition and passed away at the age of 17) demonstrates in this beautiful inspirational TEDx-talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36m1o-tM05g
BettinaMarie (14 stories) (80 posts)
+2
5 years ago (2019-09-17)
Spockie- thank you for your comment. It made me giggle a bit because K herself could also be described as a lot of trouble and chaos, at that rebellious teenage time in her life. Like all of us, she made some choices that unfortunately and drastically affected others. Up to and including starting fires.
I appreciate your thoughts
Bettina
Spockie (8 stories) (203 posts)
+3
5 years ago (2019-09-17)
I don't think it was a Banshee. From your description, it didn't look like or behave like a Banshee and was much too quiet. I don't think it was a human ghost, either. I think it was a non-human spiritual being which took that form for a time. It probably was wanting to get in but for some reason could not. Be thankful that it couldn't because it would have caused all kinds of trouble and chaos.
silverthane61 (4 stories) (344 posts)
+2
5 years ago (2019-09-17)
BettinaMarie, I come from the MacKenzie Clan of Scotland. Our banshees took the form of old women and would emit a piercing wail or moan before a family member died. The last sighting of a banshee in my immediate family occurred in South Texas in the 1930's. It appeared to my Aunt through her bedroom window the night that her Grandmother died. Sadly, that house has now been torn down. We have had other family deaths since, but no visit from any banshee since the incident in Texas.
BettinaMarie (14 stories) (80 posts)
+1
5 years ago (2019-09-17)
Silverthane61
Please do tell about your family's Banshees. I am sure they look nothing like the Darby O Gill and the Little People movie. It is fascinating to me that real banshees follow bloodlines.
My family are from Ben Lomond and Skye. We have no banshee stories, on this side of the water at least, that I have heard. I have read a lot about Banshees but have never heard a modern,in-person account. If you ever want to share on YGS please do.
This flying thing K and I saw did not look human but it had a hat and a face with a "Roman" nose, bulging eyes and thin lips. It was very small and scrawny, like an old or sick person might look. It was pale enough to see through, with it's arms and shoulders all narrowly scrunched.
The house and neighborhood was attached to a series of hot mineral springs which may have let a few elementals loose, also not far from the Boise River. I had never thought of that possible explanation. Thanks for your ideas.
Bettina
silverthane61 (4 stories) (344 posts)
+3
5 years ago (2019-09-16)
My family has a history of banshees that go all the way back to Scotland. What you described does not resemble what our family recognizes as a banshee. Rather, what I would say is that it describes an elemental. Elementals are also described as the "wee folk" of Britain and have been described as elves, gnomes, fairies and sprites. Then again, who knows what you really saw? I would be thankful that there was someone else there to witness it with me.
BettinaMarie (14 stories) (80 posts)
+4
5 years ago (2019-09-16)
Melba-thanks for your kind comment.
Because of the "Darby O Gill" cinematic version I have been terrified of banshees since I was small. I had terrifying banshee dreams when I was a child but who knows if it was from the movie or actual banshees belonging to my Pict or Celt bloodlines, as Augusta suggests is possible. Which is to say a wee sleep tablet is understandable.

I do not think what we saw was a banshee, it just looked kind of like that movie version. Augusta has a good idea about it's size- but when I saw it my brain would not believe a "Ghost" could be so small. My brothers and I refer to this story as "K's Banshee at our Bannock house" but only because it sounds cooler than creepy floaty face thing.

I may have been more scared when this story happened if I wasn't trying to help K calm down. I wrapped her up in a sweater and gave her water, but when our buddy got there he saw her and went right back out for his kit. She wouldn't talk about it later.

Last I heard she still lives in Idaho. I think the hospital bought and demolished that whole block for parking.

With my regards
Bettina
BettinaMarie (14 stories) (80 posts)
+2
5 years ago (2019-09-16)
AugustaM-thank you for your comment. We were definitely a messy rowdy bunch. The prim and proper idea seems to fit real well with how it felt at the time, kind of like when your nana catches you in the company parlor on her nice sofa.
As I understand the houses and neighborhood had been very very posh in "Old West" times, brothel next door and all. I wish I had historical dates or photos.
Looks like two research projects have hatched for me. You have me curious what cultures have "little" ghoosties.
Regards-Bettina
Melda (10 stories) (1363 posts)
+3
5 years ago (2019-09-16)
Bettina - Well a shared frightening experience will certainly get the conversation flowing during an awkward silence. Unfortunate that K had to be treated for shock. She must really have been terrified 😲

As Augusta says, banshees are not known for their silence. In fact when I hear the word "banshee" the first word that comes to mind is "shrieking". As far as I know they are female and precede the death of a family member.

Quite possibly the shrieks of a banshee would be drowned out by the response of its audience!

Personally, I prefer ordinary ghosts such as humans and animals (if I really have to endure a visitation from anything). Having to try and figure out what has visited me and why, is just too much for me. I need a sense of normality even when my teeth are chattering!

With my luck I'll be dreaming of banshees tonight 😟 Perhaps I'll go the sleeping tablet route.

Regards, Melda
AugustaM (7 stories) (996 posts)
+6
5 years ago (2019-09-16)
From the way you described your ghost, I just get the feeling that she was the type to do things precisely in the way she found proper. Seems to me as though perhaps she found that to be the proper size for a proper ghost. And I think the reason for her appearance was that she found that her home was being used *im*properly;-)

By the by as immigrants bring their beliefs with them, the resemblance to a banshee may have been because that was what, in life, our little lady believed all spirits to be or... Mayhap it actually was one but, to my knowledge, banshees are rarely the silent type.

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