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The Riverside Ghost

 

I live in a small town and a river runs through it.

There is a trail leading along the river from our district to the more central parts and that particular path is not frequently used because it is overgrown, overflows with water frequently and is therefore, constantly muddy.

It is also quite littered as some of the locals tend to party there leaving behind empty bottles.

I sometimes used to walk there anyway because the river itself is nice and I prefer the more isolated tracks.

This happened about 2 years ago when I first ventured there (previously I had not known there even was a path).

At a certain spot (not far from where people get water from the nearby underground spring) - I got a feeling as if I was being followed.

I had a specific sensation that someone was walking behind my back - oblivious, too, to the proper distance between humans to observe to each other's comfort zone.

The presence was pushing into my back - even if I felt no breathing or touching. It was truly like one would feel if someone was, for example, standing too close in the bus or supermarket line (before pandemics, of course).

It followed me a certain distance (not more than 10 meters) and then I felt it no longer.

Mind you, first of all, it is a wildly overgrown spot and I had never walked before so I was more cautious than usual. It is not a security feelings inducing place (with lots of shrubs and impossible to see far ahead) so I was sort of jumpy.

Also, the river is quite wide there and the bank is not upraised - it is quite level with the shoreline and the path and it creates a dizzying sensation that the stream is carrying you along or beating the grounds from beneath your footing.

I am saying this to address the psychological effects of the situation.

As I kept walking, I was also hit with peculiar realizations that is not regular with me.

I had the distinct feeling it was someone who had 'wasted away' - drinking themselves into slow death. It was possibly one of those riverside frequenters although, for some reason, I never believed the individual died there.

It was as if he was still hanging out.

The other perception that I got (and I am really not a medium, I rarely get such impressions) was that nobody noticed.

That person was getting lost and nobody noticed it.

You know how certain groups of society become invisible despite them still being alive. 'Drunks and poors' - they sort of become ghosts before dying.

That was the impression I got.

I was also sad and I wanted to help but, at the same time, I was overwhelmed with that sense of intrusion, not knowing the bounds, pushing itself into my privacy.

I walked there many more times and mostly, I got the same feelings around the same spot and the same sensation of somebody treading behind me.

I did not feel threatened or in any danger.

Oddly, I felt that we were simply... Incompatible.

I have very heightened senses such as a very keen sense of smell.

What other people find tolerable, I can often find unbearable to the point that I have to leave the situation.

So it might be that some of that 'stench of misery' was imprinted into whoever was hanging out there and it was too much for me.

But each time I was met with the presence around the same spot and it left also pretty much in a fixed site.

It could be still there, I haven't checked.

It is, of course, possible that someone actually died there (due to exposure, for example - our autumns and winters are cold). For some reason, I find it hard to believe.

There is a grave-like structure, too, and quite large but I suppose someone buried their pet (a larger dog probably) in that grave. There are private houses atop the hill overlooking the river and people used to bury cats and dogs near their residencies.

But I don't think it was a cat or dog following me because I felt most uncomfortable around the shoulder and neck area and I got the feeling that the individual was slightly taller than me.

So that's the story:)

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

Cherubim (14 stories) (245 posts)
 
3 years ago (2021-08-17)
Seems you are a kinesthetic learner, I am that way too. I "feel" more than I see. So sad to think a person died and no one noticed. 😢 Maybe the person's soul is not at rest and followed you for help. If you go back there try to help send him/her home. Just talk to them like a regular person, tell them they don't have to stay there anymore and go to the light. Thank you for sharing your story.
pratanubanerjee (3 posts)
 
3 years ago (2021-08-01)
Riverside Ghost is an extraordinary story. You are a brilliant writer. Your words have touched my heart. ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤
gingerbug (5 stories) (15 posts)
+2
3 years ago (2021-06-25)
RCRuskin,

I know what you mean. There is so much to deal with on our minds. I think that if we are not careless to the point of endangering one another - it's sort of cute that we make these mistakes.

Also, provides more chance at banter:)
gingerbug (5 stories) (15 posts)
+2
3 years ago (2021-06-25)
Rajine,

I don't know if I actually turned around or looked behind me but I checked if someone was there.

And there wasn't.

That particular stretch was quite straight (until the said spring) and overgrown with very low shrubs that could be seen through.

I felt someone not just standing nearby but following on the path right behind me - and I could overlook the path easily in that spot.
RCRuskin (9 stories) (811 posts)
+2
3 years ago (2021-06-25)
I'm sorry. I seem to have come off as being 'angry' at you, or anyone specifically, which is not what I meant. It is just a thing I observe and don't like that it happens, but then, well, we're bombarded with so much information and too much signage, it does not surprise me that we sometimes miss the sign that says 'pull' so we push on the door. You know what I mean?:)
Rajine (14 stories) (734 posts)
+4
3 years ago (2021-06-25)
Hi gingerbug

Did you not turn around to perhaps see what it could have been? You mentioned that you felt someone right behind you to the point that you can feel it, a normal reaction would be to turn around, in case it might have been a robber.
gingerbug (5 stories) (15 posts)
 
3 years ago (2021-06-25)
RCRuskin,

I will try to keep it short because I have been indicated that I write too long.

Firstly, I cannot tell you what the person knows or does not know about their possible demise because that information does not come to me.

I wanted to share the incident (although I was slightly worried because it does not involve hearing, seeing, touching etc.) - precisely, because I felt that person was not noticed (in life or death) and I wanted for the readers to pay attention to that person's story. Maybe it helps them.

Otherwise, I would not have written such account without any physicality to it.

Secondly, I do not feel I deserve your anger so, please, do not kick your own butt, do not kick my butt and certainly kick no donkeys.

I was referring to two different circumstances.

First is social and psychological circumstance where the person does not die but they become sort of dead to the society which does not want to analyze their situation or get involved.

The second circumstance is actually rooted in religions and spiritual practices. It is when some part of our dies (we become less than we were) before we leave this world.

A popular example is losing one's soul which is a frequent theme in Christianity.

If we assume that soul is made of some spiritual 'matter' that can manifest itself and if we assume that we can lose it - that could serve as an illustration of what I meant.

Although my theory is somewhat different because I believe in several such 'bodies'.
RCRuskin (9 stories) (811 posts)
+7
3 years ago (2021-06-25)
"That person was getting lost and nobody noticed it."

And later you talk about people becoming ghosts before they physically die.

So first off, it makes me so mad that people do this, but I also have done it sometimes and I kick myself in the butt over it.

But to this specific incident, I wonder if the person unknown knows they have died or were they so drunk, under the influence, or whatever, that they don't know? Perhaps they were calling to you, which is why you felt their presence, but gave up when you didn't answer.

Edit: so butt is okay but the other word for donkey gets flagged?

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