Little Boy Lost in Time?

From: Tanja Peterson (fstjp@aurora.alaska.edu)
Story type: Ghost
Location: Hall, Montana
Source: Form Submission

I lived in Montana most of my life. My brother was four years and we didn"t play too much with each other. He had his older friends and I had my younger friends. Everyone lived far away from each other because it is a rural community. I wasn"t too old, perhaps 4 or 5, and my playmates were the kittens and our dog, Dusty around the ranch. I had a lonely childhood but a good one. It started one night when I couldn"t go to sleep.

The house that my family lived in was the oldest house in the county. My great grandfather bought it in the early 1930"s. Our neighbor was born in that house. But no one really recalls who lived there first.

During the nights I used to get very cold and cry myself to sleep. My parents weren"t abusive in anyway, it was just a drafty house. I could have blankets on me but it still didn"t help.

One night I couldn"t get to sleep. I just laid there between twilight and sleep. Suddenly I heard a small voice asking, "Do you wanna play?" I looked over and there was a small boy standing by my bed. He made me feel cold. I said, "Okay." I don"t know how long we played but it helped the nights stay short.

My parents would come up twice each night to check on me and my brother. During the nights you could hear whispering and quiet laughter. It was me and my little friend having a good time. Mom or dad and maybe both during the night would yell upstairs, "Get to bed!" Sometimes I would and most the time I didn"t.

The little boy visited me once during the day. I was outside playing in the back yard and I heard him call down from my brothers room, "[my name] here"s some candy!" I could see candy being thrown but it never reached the ground.

One year when I was 18, I was walking on the fence that encircled our old house(we moved into a new one that dad built) and I felt someone watching me. I turned around and there was a little boy who was 4 or 5 maybe 6 waving at me and there was another entity there. She had her hair in a bun and wearing a a black dress with old lace or knitting from the collar. She smiled at me too. I wasn"t scared but relieved.

A friend of me that there was a lot of immigrants moving in from Europe. (My great grandpa that bought the ranch was pure German and his wife was pure Swedish). There was also a lot of epidemics and so forth. I like to drive through graveyards and look at all the old headstones. It was during one of those times that I found a little boys headstone. His name was Thomas ********, 18-- to 18-- I don"t remember the dates but I do remember that I seemed to call my little friend, Tommy.