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The Little Girl At The School House

 

This account takes place in my hometown on the Tennessee/Kentucky border in February of 1991. I was a Junior in high school, and had a part-time job cleaning a small private elementary school and the adjacent gym on the weekends. The school building itself was a converted two story farmhouse, and the gym was a large metal building. The schoolyard has several large oak trees, one of them well over 100 years old.

One very cold Sunday night, at around 9:30,I,my girlfriend at the time, her sister and step sister, were riding around looking for something to do, and we decided to stop by the gym I just mentioned and play some basketball, just basically shoot around. As we pulled up to the gym, no other cars were there, and the only light was coming from a street light in the school yard. The gym sits on a built-up area and just downhill from it was a group of oak trees, one of which had an old fashioned rope and plank swing hanging from a branch.

As we made our way to the door I was fishing for my keys and I happened to glance in the direction of that swing. I did a double take when I realized there was a girl who looked to be around 8-10 sitting on the swing. She had on a long light colored dress, had long dark hair, but I couldn't make out her face because she was back-lit by the street light."That door is open already"she said to us.Thanks,I said, and we went on in. I assumed that even though there was no car outside, she must be there with someone who had already gone in the gym.

We found the place totally dark and unoccupied, and after a few minutes got bored with basketball and decided to leave. As we were walking to the car, I glanced down toward the swing, more curious this time and she was still there just as she had been a short while ago. We made it out to the end of the long driveway before I decided to go back and ask her if she was lost. As we made our way back over to the school, we could all plainly see her as she was now running around and seemingly playing in the light of the street lamp. As we closed to within maybe 100 feet of her, she simply wasn't there anymore, and neither were 4 freaked out teenagers who booked it out of there as fast as a 1985 Chevy Celebrity station wagon would take us!

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

Aros (6 stories) (57 posts)
+1
3 years ago (2021-03-11)
Thanks for sharing! Wow that would be quite the sighting for sure. I always wonder if these types of sightings if the spirit is aware they have died and no longer in physical form? I have heard from many a medium that it's not uncommon for a spirit to not know they have died. It would be sad to think of a little girl's spirit by herself on a swing in the dark. My prayer is all spirits find a way to move into the Light and return HOME.
Kest (12 stories) (55 posts)
+1
4 years ago (2020-08-30)
I think this is fascinating. You only saw her the one time? Is this a place you could visit again? Even more interesting is that others saw her too.
mystique20 (1 stories) (15 posts)
+3
4 years ago (2020-08-13)
Hey Rick,
A really interesting experience. Thank you, for sharing.
Child apparitions just seem spookier to me.

Blessed be
matrix899 (1 stories) (66 posts)
+2
4 years ago (2020-08-12)
Rick, thank you for responding; your response adds yet another interesting detail to this experience: "She said it in rather a proper way, unlike the way a young child would put it now."

Understanding the world of ghosts is still elusive and may remain so for quite some time. I will certainly remember this one.
MrsRamsay (guest)
+3
4 years ago (2020-08-08)
Rick, whenever I've had strange experiences, it's like there is something fuzzy around the edges that prevents me from fully realizing it's maybe not of this world. But when I think back on things later, and connect the dots, I realize how strange some of them have been. I had a friend once tell me that in Christianity there are a number of Bible verses that warn against trying to see beyond the veil or into the other realm. I couldn't quote them, but have wondered if maybe that's part of why we are so often late to the party when it comes to the realization that we've witnessed something strange. No coat, freezing night, out there alone, sure, why not?:) Until you're like, wait a minute!
rickthomas (1 stories) (4 posts)
+3
4 years ago (2020-08-06)
Matrix899,I agree, it was an odd combination of details, but I guess each experience is kind of its own thing. She was about 30 feet away when she spoke. She said it in rather a proper way, unlike the way a young child would put it now.
rickthomas (1 stories) (4 posts)
+3
4 years ago (2020-08-06)
MrsRamsay,no,she was not wearing a coat. She had on a white, or very light colored dress that reached to her ankles. I realize my description of her is very cliche'd,but she was just as I described her. Looking back on it now, I can't help but wonder why we got as far as the end of the driveway before deciding to find out what was up with her. We were just dumb teenagers, I guess!
MrsRamsay (guest)
+3
4 years ago (2020-08-05)
Hi Rickthomas. Very curious to know what the little girl was wearing, if you remember. You said it was very cold. Just find myself wondering if ghosts wear coats!?

If you don't think she was, that leads me to this: were you and your friends cognizant that something was a little bit "off"? If she was there on a cold, late, dark Sunday night WITH a coat, I suppose it would be natural to think her dad was in the gym. Not so sure what I would've thought if she had no coat. My experience, which is very limited (and I've never seen an apparition) is that when supernatural things occur, we think back on them later and realize we knew something was "off" but at the time it seemed normal... Or for some reason, it's all just a little bit fuzzy. Thanks for sharing this interesting story!
matrix899 (1 stories) (66 posts)
+5
4 years ago (2020-07-31)
Thank you for posting this story, I find the details to be very interesting, she remained visible for a long time it seems, and she spoke to you; and you could all see her... Until she disappeared. This seems to be an unusual combination of details.

The details leave you scratching your head; I guess some ghosts can seem very much like the living.

Approximately how far away was she from you when she spoke?

Thanks again for posting.
rickthomas (1 stories) (4 posts)
+3
4 years ago (2020-07-30)
The rope swing was put there during the time I attended grades 1-8 there.That's one thing I forgot to mention. This swing sat almost 4 feet off the ground, and this was a very young girl we saw. I would have been hard pressed to get up in that swing!
rickthomas (1 stories) (4 posts)
+4
4 years ago (2020-07-30)
The school house itself was a farmhouse to begin with and it was built around 1900 or so. There was a family named Adkins who lived in the house and had relatives living all through the nearby hollow. There was a website dealing with hauntings around my hometown of Jellico several years ago and I read an account on it about a little girl named Elizabeth Adkins who lived in the hollow I mentioned and died around the age of 9.She was reported to be seen around that area. Whether that was her I saw or not, I don't know, but the description given on that website matched what we saw. I know several people who absolutely refuse to be in that gym alone because of strange noises and feeling like someone is standing near them when no one is there.
robmkivseries70 (1 stories) (35 posts)
+5
4 years ago (2020-07-30)
Neat story, I'd be interested in any history of the rope swing and if it was connected, property wise, to an older, near by school property.
Best,
Rob
lady-glow (16 stories) (3149 posts)
+3
4 years ago (2020-07-30)
It seems like someone had a set of ghostly keys to open the gym.

Hello rickthomas.

Welcome to YGS.
Do you know the history of the building before it was turned into a school?
Perhaps an inhabitant from a bygone era is still lingering around the place that used to be their home.

It doesn't seem like the girl meant to harm you and your friends, but I imagine how creepy it must have been to see her vanish before your eyes.

Do you know if anyone else has reported seeing her wandering on the school grounds?

Thanks for sharing this interesting experience.

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