"GHOST STORY"
A Medical Department Assignment
by Monica Veasey
Miranda
Montgomery lay awake in her bed at her grandmother's house. She was
going to enter Starfleet Academy on Monday and she was too excited to
sleep on this Friday night.
Her Bajoran grandmother Bethia's
house was one of her favorite places to be. It was small with three
rooms on either side of a small hallway with the kitchen at the back of
the house.
Miranda's room was the first room
on the right as you came in the front door. Her grandmother slept in
the back room on the he left side of the hallway.
It was late, around 2:00 am when
Miranda heard what she thought was her grandmother come out of the
bedroom. She heard footsteps and waited for her grandmother to call
"lights on". Instead, she heard heavy footsteps proceeding across both
rooms and come across the hallway. Miranda knew then that this was not
Grandma Bethia! The footsteps were a man's and they sounded on bare
floor. All floors in the house were covered by carpet, so this
was clearly impossible!
Miranda knew now that what she
heard were the footsteps of a ghost! She quickly pulled the covers up
over her head and lay there listening as the footsteps continued on
into her own room and stop at the foot of her bed. She was so
frightened at the prospect of actually seeing a ghost that she
continued to hide under the covers for what seemed like a very long
time.
After a few minutes, when
she didn't hear anything more, she carefully peeked from under the
covers and saw. . .nothing. Needless to say, it took her several hours
to fall back to sleep.
The next morning at the breakfast
table, she told her grandma what she had heard. "I'm not surprised,
Miranda. it's a wonder you haven't seen or heard anything before now,"
said Bethia with a smile.
"You mean it has happened
before?" asked Miranda, not quite believing it all. Although she had
heard ghost stories all her life, she still had a doubt that they
really existed, having never experienced one before now.
"Many people who stay here have seen and heard our Borhyas," continued Bethia.
"You mean there are more than one?" exclaimed Miranda.
"Yes, child, I believe so. I have felt at least two spirits in this house--sometimes three. They come and go as they please."
"Really? Who else has heard them, Grandma? Have you seen them?" asked a wide-eyed Miranda as she bit into a cinnamon roll.
"Goodness yes!" Bethia chuckled.
"Tell me more, please!" exclaimed an excited Miranda.
"Well, one night while I was
reading in the livingroom, I looked up and saw a man sitting in a
chair. He was an older man with while hair and he was just sitting,
looking out the window."
"Did you know who he was?"
"No, I had never seen him before."
"Did you ask him who he was?"
"No, he just faded away before I could ask him anything."
"Wow! That's great, Grandma!"
exclaimed Miranda who had always loved ghost stories, especially
real ones. "Were you scared?"
"No, why would I be, dear? There
is no evil in this house. If there were, I would fee it--and so would
you, Miranda. You are sensitive to those kinds of things as I am. You
are what is called a 'sensitive'."
"I am?" questioned Miranda.
"Yes, you are," replied Bethia.
"I've known that from the time you were born. I felt it, my child. Your
mother is a sensitive also."
Miranda grew sad at the mention
of her mother. She still couldn't come to terms about her mother
leaving her to return to Bajor to help the Bajorans in the Cardassian
occupation.
"Your mother loves you, Miranda. Never forget that. She never intended to be away for so long."
"Maybe," said Miranda quietly. "Tell me more about the Borhyas, Grandma."
"Well, your grandmother, Amanda
heard many people talking at one time in the livingroom. Thinking that
a crowd had gathered in the street, she stepped outside to see what was
going on. When she did, the noise stopped. When she returned to
the livingroom, the crowd noises began again, then eventually stopped
altogether."
"She never told me about it, "
said Miranda, finishing her juice. She often talked with her father's
mother and was very close to her, but they never talked about Borhyas.
"I'm not surprised. Even with all
the evidence we have that spirits do exist, some people just aren't
comfortable talking about them."
"Will you tell me all you know about ghosts, Grandma?"
Bethia smiled, "Yes, Miranda, I'll tell you all about Borhyas. But call them 'spirits'. They seem to like that word better."
Miranda and Bethia continued to
talk for several hours about spirits. Bajorans, it seemed had always
believe that your spirit survived after death, and there was much for
Bethia to teach Miranda. This was Miranda's entrance into the world of
Metaphysics.
Late that night, Miranda saw her
first Borhyas! She was laying in bed, thinking about all she'd learned
that day when she noticed a dark haired man sitting with his back to
her in the hallway. Miranda never closed her door at night, so it was
easy to see into the hallway. This time, Miranda was not afraid and
continued to look at the figure until it slowly faded away.
This
is based on a true experience which I had many years ago. My
grandmother, sister, brother and several neighbors had all witnessed
strange going-ons at this one house which I used to live in. The people
who lived there before and after I moved, had also had similar
experiences. Later we found out that the owner of the house had been
murdered several years before we moved in. I don't know if what I saw
that night was him or just another spirit who happened to like hanging
around in that old house. I know that many people don't think
that things such as spirits exist, and that's ok. If anyone has had a
ghost experience, I would love to hear about it! Please write to me and
tell me all about it!
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