Little House in the Clearing

From: SusanHarrington (susan.harrington@millscorp.com)
Story type: Ghost
Location: Ohio
Source: Form Submission

I remember the excitment I felt when I bought my first house in a rural section of Minerva Ohio. It was a beautiful two story house with a porch that ran along the front all the way down the left side. This being my first house and my first time to ever live in Ohio, I was very nerves but delighted to be out of New York City and out of my tiny and dingy appartment. I was looking forward to the slower pace of life and being able to stop and smell the roses...literally.

It was about a week and a half before I got everyhing unpacked and I settled in. I still had another two and a half weeks before I had to start my new job and thought that I would explore my fourteen akers of forest property and see where my property lines ended. I got up early on a Thrusday morning, ate breakfast and grabed two bottel waters out of my fridge and started out through the woods. I was making pretty good time following my property line down the right side. I had been walking about thirty minuets when I heard laughter up ahead. I kept walking and the laughter was getting louder.

As I reached a clearing in the woods, I saw, what looked like a one room cabin. There were two children, a boy and girl around 5 and 7 years old playing what looked like ring around the roses, they were both holding hands and spining in a circle in front of the house and laughing. To the right of the house was a woman who looked like she was in her mid twenties down on her hands and knees working in the garden. They were all dressed in eighteen century clothing. The mother was wearing a long dress as well as the daughter and both had on a bonnet. The little boy was wearing short pants and a white shirt. It looked very peaceful but for some reason I felt uncomfortable with the whole scene.

I didn't say a word I just turned around and walked towards my home. I was confused, not understanding why they were there and why the realtor had failed to tell me that someone was living on my property. I reached the house and called the realtors office and explained what I had seen. She sounded very confussed and explained to me that no one lives on my property but me. She explained that Amish communities are very big in that area and that I may have gone further back on my property and crossed over to my neighbors. It started to make since to me so I apologized and hung up the phone.

With this in mind I decide to introduce myself as the new neighbor. I head back into the woods along the same path I had taken before and come to the same clearing, only this time it was empty, no house, no children, no woman, no garden, no laughing. I stood in the clearing that was now very over grown. I thought that maybe I hadn't gone far enough into the woods and maybe this wasn't the same clearing. I started to walk back into the woods when I saw three very decade headstones. I couldn't read the names or dates on the stones but you could just make out indentions. I walked back into the clearing and saw where it looked like a house use to stand. This caught me very off guard and shook me up, again I went home.

I have now lived in this house for seven years and have never seen or heard them laugh again. I do however go to the grave site with my weed eater and keep the grass mowed and place flowers on the graves.