Ghost Story #21

This is the story I shared during “Weirdsville USA”.

At 21, I was watching the house of a friend’s mother, in Lafayette, CA., above Berkeley. 

30min drive into work at the I-Beam on Haight. Driving up, was a nice decompression. 

Over the Bay Bridge, off the freeway, onto a dark winding 2 lane road, passing deer, skunk, raccoon. Up a hill & finally into a long gravel driveway. 2 houses above, 2 houses below. Not a single light along the way. A 25yd walk to the oddly configured ‘tudor’ style home. 3 owners had each built an addition to the original two room hunting lodge, so there were now 2 front doors (no keys) 1st door opened to a hallway with 2 bedrooms, bathroom, master suite & a phone nook.The hall lead to a dining room & opened into a main room, but instead of sofas, etc… it had a huge dining table (these were original SCA / Renn Faire folks) & off of that, a large eat in kitchen with back door. 

These 2 rooms were once the lodge. Also off the main room was a small 2-story add on of tv den & office above. Above the bdrms was another add on, a huge sewing room / play room. (remember that last bit of info for tomorrow’s story) One eve, I’m laying in the den, watching tv, no other light source. I feel that someone watching me. Is it the ancient collie dog that looks like an ottoman? 

I look over my shoulder to see instead a man,  leaning in the doorway. He had reddish hair, a beard, pink cheeks, a bit Glen Campbell, in a black & red flannel shirt, arms crossed. Casual. 

We locked eyes, his widened as he pushed off the doorjamb, turned to go & disappeared. 

Though I was surprised & rattled, I’d never been so relieved to see a ghost. 

Had he been a living man, I’d have just freaked out.

When I told the owner of the house, she was excited he was finally seen, she’d only heard him over the last 20 years, but never seen him. She’d lived with him so long, she forgot to mention him to me. Of course I took her up on her offer to actually move in. Though I never saw him like that again,
the next 2 years ‘Glen’ made living there even more interesting.