Alone

By: Ralph Ward

Why do so many strange things happen to one person when, to so many, nothing out of the ordinary ever happens? As the years pass, you see so much going on around you; the way you live, the people that you have done so much with, you now very rarely see. The places where you have spent so much time in the past, now just a memory. People change, places change, everything changes. My freedom, with the small business that we once had, is almost forgotten. It's now early to work, late getting home, work, work, work. It had been two years since we purchased the business, a hard two years, no time for anything or anybody.

We purchased an existing business from a man in his early 50's with a drinking problem. The drinking, along with a gambling problem, had cost him his wife and a lot of his livelihood. Several of our payments to him were lost on a single bet. Still, he had a bunch of fine kids that loved him. If only he could leave the liquor alone. He tried hard, going to different institutions and clinics to do so. He would stay sober for a little while before something or someone would get him going again.

He still owned the building. I only purchased the business. I tried calling him one evening to discuss some leaks in the roof. No answer. I tried again the next morning. A man answered the phone saying that he was unable to come to the phone. A little while later, I heard the breaking news on the radio.

"Local business man found dead in swimming pool."

When I heard the name, I couldn't believe it. It was none other than the man from whom I had purchased the business.

There was no foul play. His alcohol level was high and proved to be a contributing factor in his death. Life goes on. People would come into the store and say things like, "I wondered who took over this business." I was asked questions that I had no way of knowing the answer to. I suppose people thought I should have known more about the previous owner's death than I did.

About six months later, I was working late shuffling papers on my desk. I thought I heard something, but kept working. I heard it again. I sat there being as quiet as I could. I swore I heard someone or something walking through the store. My heart was in my throat as I stood and walked to the door of the office. I kept the store dark except for a single eight foot florescent light on the north side of the store and two on the south side, both close to the front of the store. My office was next to the back door.

I saw nothing at first. Again I thought I could hear footsteps. Coming from the north side, right under the light, was the previous owner. He was walking at a normal pace while looking in my direction, but kept walking straight ahead. I almost started to ask what he was doing in the store, but he did have a key to the building. Use to have more like it.

It took a full five seconds for me to realize what I was seeing. I turned, out the back door I went locking it behind me, and jumped in my truck, taking off as fast as I could go. A few seconds later, I thought that it couldn't be. I returned to the store, pulling into the front parking lot, and just sat there straining my eyes to see any kind of movement inside the store. None. I locked my truck doors to keep out any intruder in case that is what it turned out to be. Picking up the nerve, I tried the front door. Still locked. I then pulled around to the back to try that door. Locked. I could see the padlock on the overhead door and it was locked. I went home.

After telling my wife of the night's experience, I couldn't sleep. I had thought about calling the police, telling them I had seen someone inside the store. They would have to be the ones to go in and do a search. Didn't.

The next morning, not looking forward to it, I went in. Slowly I walked around the entire store, but did not see anything out of place. The small change in the cash register was untouched. Now, to do some soul searching. What did I see? Had I been just pushing it too hard? Did I fall asleep and dream the whole thing? It was too real to have been a dream. Or was it? I finally decided that it was my mind playing tricks on me. After that, I always tried to get out before dark which was hard to do in the winter with the time change as it was dark before we closed.

I said nothing until one day in conversation with one of his children. That was only after she told about someone in one of the apartments that were above the store, telling someone in their family that they had seen their dad walking around their apartment. Later, a person living in another one of the apartments told them of a similar encounter with their dad, but a little more frightening. He had shaken their bed while they slept. Other occasions, their bed would shake without them seeing anything.

I couldn't hold it in any longer, telling her of my own experience with her dad. She had taken the other stories with a grain of salt, but she must have taken mine seriously. In a few days, one of the other sisters called and asked if a group from her church could come over and pray. I told them they could. They did, all walking around reciting prayers and placing their hands on the walls around the store. They also went upstairs to the apartments to do the same. It must have worked. Haven't seen the old boy since.