A co-worker was put in charge of collecting ghost stories to post on our new intranet. Part of our building was built in 1998 and the rest in 2001. There has long been talk that the "old" part of the building was haunted. For about 5 years, my office was in the old part of the building. I never saw or heard anything and I'm not particularly fond of ghost stories. But I felt bad for the chick in charge of this project b/c she hadn't received any stories, so I zipped one off. Certainly not a literary masterpiece, but I cracked myself up at least with the sort of cheesey, retro style of the story. Anyway, here it is:
I was working in my office late one night on the second floor of the clubhouse -- the OLD part of the building, the part that dates all the way back to ’98. Back to a time when people lived by different rules. Some say the putting green was a native burial ground, some say the pond by the 18th hole was used for dunking suspected witches in the witch trials, some say it was the sight of a bloody Civil War battle where countless young men lost their lives battling their own brothers.
At first I did not believe. I was a skeptic. The fact that no one wanted that nice big, comfy office should have been a clue. But I was too arrogant to notice; I thought Lady Luck was looking out for me. Well, someone was watching me… but it wasn’t Lady Luck. I never admitted it until that night, but I always felt it. And at times I would hear things. I would hear a creak, or a scritch, or a hissing. Sometimes the sounds would get to be too much and I would call Engineering to check it out but they never found anything wrong. They told me the creak was just an old building settling; the scritch, they said, was the magnolia tree blowing in the wind against the building; and they told me the hissing was defective speaker in the a/v system.
All that awful wailing and screeching… they told me THAT was the air conditioning unit. I forced myself to buy into all of their excuses. The fact that the Engineers would never stay for more than two minutes and would ALWAYS come in pairs should have clued me in. But no, I still didn’t believe.
There were other strange things as well. The eyes on that painting. You know the one -- the painting of the young lad dressed in blue knickers. If you’ve ever seen it, especially at night -- you know what I’m talking about. Those eyes. No matter where you went, those eyes were always boring into your soul.
Don’t forget about all the things that went missing… I’m not really comfortable going into any detail, but there were things, big things that disappeared from that second floor accounting office.
But I digress… I was working late. It was dark & cold outside. It was common for me to use the stairs outside on the east side of the clubhouse when leaving, especially at night when there were no golfers. Before putting on my coat and grabbing my keys, I went to the exit door to check the iron gate at the bottom of the stairs. It was usually unlocked, but I didn’t want to chance it. I was squinting in the darkness to see, when I felt a sudden push from behind! I nearly went over the railing, but I grabbed on just in time. I was going to have a nasty bump on my forehead the next day though. I wasn’t sure what to think. I was a little creeped out but tried to convince myself I had just slipped on a piece of paper or something.
I tried the door. It was shut tight and locked from the inside. I was contemplating what to do next. I was wishing I had just brought my coat and keys with me -- I could have just gone straight to my car. All those stories I’d heard about what went on here years and years ago were stirring in my mind.
I would have to use the house phone in the clubhouse lobby and wait for FLS to come unlock my office. Why was there no light in the stairwell anyway?? I shivered in the cold and started to make my way down the stairs in the dark when I heard the metal gate clang shut a half a floor below me. I started to panic. I called out, “Hello??!!” No answer. I was practically running down the stairs when I felt that same push from behind again. I heard what sounded like fingernails on a chalkboard; I saw a flash of amber-colored light, then blackness.
I awoke some time later. Looking at my watch, I realized an hour had gone by. “Wow,” I thought, “this side of the clubhouse is really deserted in the winter after dark.” No one noticed me lying there on the ground at the foot of the stairs for over an hour. I was a still feeling a bit woozy as I pulled myself up on the handrail. I wanted to get the heck out of there. As I was making a beeline for my car, I reached into my coat pocket to make sure my car keys were there.
Uh, hold on… I didn’t have my coat and my keys when I got locked out of the building.
I have no idea what happened that night, but I can tell you that I stay out of the clubhouse at night.
At first I did not believe. I was a skeptic. The fact that no one wanted that nice big, comfy office should have been a clue. But I was too arrogant to notice; I thought Lady Luck was looking out for me. Well, someone was watching me… but it wasn’t Lady Luck. I never admitted it until that night, but I always felt it. And at times I would hear things. I would hear a creak, or a scritch, or a hissing. Sometimes the sounds would get to be too much and I would call Engineering to check it out but they never found anything wrong. They told me the creak was just an old building settling; the scritch, they said, was the magnolia tree blowing in the wind against the building; and they told me the hissing was defective speaker in the a/v system.
All that awful wailing and screeching… they told me THAT was the air conditioning unit. I forced myself to buy into all of their excuses. The fact that the Engineers would never stay for more than two minutes and would ALWAYS come in pairs should have clued me in. But no, I still didn’t believe.
There were other strange things as well. The eyes on that painting. You know the one -- the painting of the young lad dressed in blue knickers. If you’ve ever seen it, especially at night -- you know what I’m talking about. Those eyes. No matter where you went, those eyes were always boring into your soul.
Don’t forget about all the things that went missing… I’m not really comfortable going into any detail, but there were things, big things that disappeared from that second floor accounting office.
But I digress… I was working late. It was dark & cold outside. It was common for me to use the stairs outside on the east side of the clubhouse when leaving, especially at night when there were no golfers. Before putting on my coat and grabbing my keys, I went to the exit door to check the iron gate at the bottom of the stairs. It was usually unlocked, but I didn’t want to chance it. I was squinting in the darkness to see, when I felt a sudden push from behind! I nearly went over the railing, but I grabbed on just in time. I was going to have a nasty bump on my forehead the next day though. I wasn’t sure what to think. I was a little creeped out but tried to convince myself I had just slipped on a piece of paper or something.
I tried the door. It was shut tight and locked from the inside. I was contemplating what to do next. I was wishing I had just brought my coat and keys with me -- I could have just gone straight to my car. All those stories I’d heard about what went on here years and years ago were stirring in my mind.
I would have to use the house phone in the clubhouse lobby and wait for FLS to come unlock my office. Why was there no light in the stairwell anyway?? I shivered in the cold and started to make my way down the stairs in the dark when I heard the metal gate clang shut a half a floor below me. I started to panic. I called out, “Hello??!!” No answer. I was practically running down the stairs when I felt that same push from behind again. I heard what sounded like fingernails on a chalkboard; I saw a flash of amber-colored light, then blackness.
I awoke some time later. Looking at my watch, I realized an hour had gone by. “Wow,” I thought, “this side of the clubhouse is really deserted in the winter after dark.” No one noticed me lying there on the ground at the foot of the stairs for over an hour. I was a still feeling a bit woozy as I pulled myself up on the handrail. I wanted to get the heck out of there. As I was making a beeline for my car, I reached into my coat pocket to make sure my car keys were there.
Uh, hold on… I didn’t have my coat and my keys when I got locked out of the building.
I have no idea what happened that night, but I can tell you that I stay out of the clubhouse at night.
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