AN AUTHENTICATED GHOST STORY
THE GHOST WITH THE BRIGHT RED SCAR
by mimi illenberger-mapa
A story caught my interest when I chanced upon my late mother’s (
1918-2013) old scrap book, already frayed and yellowed with time. She
had scribbled a footnote below the clipping and although most of what
she had written was now indecipherable because of age, one thing was
clear: This case had been authenticated by the American Society for
Psychical Research in 1887…
From the clipping, judge for yourself why the veracity of this supernatural encounter was accepted world wide :
The young salesman was thrilled to see his sister, even though she had been dead for nine years.
He was sitting at the table in his hotel in St. Joseph, Missouri, filling out the order forms from his morning’s work. Bright sunlight shone through the window and the young salesman was in a very happy mood. It had been a good day and he was thinking about how pleased his boss would be when the home office received his list of new customers. He lit a fresh cigar and refilled his pen from the ink well. Suddenly he was aware he was no longer alone.
There was someone sitting at the table to his right. Startled, the salesman turned and found himself looking into the kind eyes of his sister, Annie.
“Annie!” the young man cried, leaping up to embrace her. But the moment he called her name, the pretty young woman disappeared.
The salesman stood staring at the empty space where his sister had been. He had seen her clearly and she looked exactly the same as he remembered her. But it was 1876 and Annie had died of cholera in 1867, nine years before.
As he stood in the empty hotel room, puzzled over the experience, the salesman realized that he had noticed one thing that was different about Annie. Her features, her expression, the cut of her hair, even the way she was dressed seemed exactly the same when she was alive. But her pretty face was marred by something he had never seen before. On her cheek, just below her right eye was a bright red scar.
“I know it sounds crazy, Father, but I tell you I saw her ! She was sitting as close to me as you are right now. And I am sure I could go to her trunk in the attic now, Mother, and pick out the very dress she was wearing! It sounds impossible but it’s the absolute truth.”
The young salesman was sitting in the parlour of his parent’s house in St. Louis. He had been so shaken by seeing his sister that he had cut his sales trip and taken the next train home to tell his parents and his brother the story. At first they were all sceptical.
“I think, Son, that your mind must have been playing tricks on you,” the young man’s father had said. “Perhaps there was something about the colors of the room or the kind of day it was outside that made you think vividly of her. Many things can suddenly stir the memory of someone you love.”
The young man’s father smiled and nodded and the salesman could tell he didn’t believe the story. Perhaps, he should have kept the incident to himself. But seeing his beloved sister again after all those years had left him with a feeling of peace and happiness and he wanted to share that feeling with the family that loved her so much. How could he make them understand?
“ I know you don’t believe me but I know she was truly there,” he said. “ And she was just as beautiful as I remember her. The only thing different was the scar.”
The young man’s mother looked up from her sewing. “ The scar?” she said.
“ Oh yes, I forgot to tell you there was a scar on her cheek. It was more like a scratch actually, for it was bright red as if she had just scraped herself with a pin or something.”
Suddenly the young man’s mother cried out in anguish and burst into tears. “Oh my Annie” she wailed and still sobbing, she told her family a secret she had kept from them for nine long years.
“ It happened on the morning of her funeral,” the old woman said through her tears. “Annie was laid out in her casket and I was all alone with her in the room. She looked so beautiful lying there, so still….”
The woman paused for a moment to dry her eyes, then went on. “But her hair…I always thought she looked so pretty when she wore her hair up, and I wanted to see her like that one more time. I just wanted to pin her hair up, but my hand was shaking so badly…when I went to do it, I …scratched her face.”
The woman covered her eyes with her hands and wept. “ I scratched her beautiful face and no one ever knew. I covered the scratch with powder and make up before anyone saw.” But all through the funeral and even after, I thought about it every day for the last nine years. You couldn’t have known about that scratch unless she really did come to you. Oh my Annie.”
The young man put his arms around his mother and she cried for a while into the collar of his jacket as he stroked her gray hair. “It’s all right mother,” he said , looking over her shoulders at his father. “ It’s all right. She was happy Mother…I could see it in her eyes. It’s all right.”
A few weeks later, the young man’s mother died. She had not been well and had she died before the young man told the story of seeing his sister, she would have taken the secret of the scratch on the girl’s face to her grave. No one else in the world could have explained why the young salesman had seen the scar.
But when the old woman told her secret, even her skeptical husband was convinced that her son had indeed seen his sister’s spirit. For one fleeting moment, the young salesman had truly been united with his beautiful sister, Annie: the ghost with the bright red scar.
From the clipping, judge for yourself why the veracity of this supernatural encounter was accepted world wide :
The young salesman was thrilled to see his sister, even though she had been dead for nine years.
He was sitting at the table in his hotel in St. Joseph, Missouri, filling out the order forms from his morning’s work. Bright sunlight shone through the window and the young salesman was in a very happy mood. It had been a good day and he was thinking about how pleased his boss would be when the home office received his list of new customers. He lit a fresh cigar and refilled his pen from the ink well. Suddenly he was aware he was no longer alone.
There was someone sitting at the table to his right. Startled, the salesman turned and found himself looking into the kind eyes of his sister, Annie.
“Annie!” the young man cried, leaping up to embrace her. But the moment he called her name, the pretty young woman disappeared.
The salesman stood staring at the empty space where his sister had been. He had seen her clearly and she looked exactly the same as he remembered her. But it was 1876 and Annie had died of cholera in 1867, nine years before.
As he stood in the empty hotel room, puzzled over the experience, the salesman realized that he had noticed one thing that was different about Annie. Her features, her expression, the cut of her hair, even the way she was dressed seemed exactly the same when she was alive. But her pretty face was marred by something he had never seen before. On her cheek, just below her right eye was a bright red scar.
“I know it sounds crazy, Father, but I tell you I saw her ! She was sitting as close to me as you are right now. And I am sure I could go to her trunk in the attic now, Mother, and pick out the very dress she was wearing! It sounds impossible but it’s the absolute truth.”
The young salesman was sitting in the parlour of his parent’s house in St. Louis. He had been so shaken by seeing his sister that he had cut his sales trip and taken the next train home to tell his parents and his brother the story. At first they were all sceptical.
“I think, Son, that your mind must have been playing tricks on you,” the young man’s father had said. “Perhaps there was something about the colors of the room or the kind of day it was outside that made you think vividly of her. Many things can suddenly stir the memory of someone you love.”
The young man’s father smiled and nodded and the salesman could tell he didn’t believe the story. Perhaps, he should have kept the incident to himself. But seeing his beloved sister again after all those years had left him with a feeling of peace and happiness and he wanted to share that feeling with the family that loved her so much. How could he make them understand?
“ I know you don’t believe me but I know she was truly there,” he said. “ And she was just as beautiful as I remember her. The only thing different was the scar.”
The young man’s mother looked up from her sewing. “ The scar?” she said.
“ Oh yes, I forgot to tell you there was a scar on her cheek. It was more like a scratch actually, for it was bright red as if she had just scraped herself with a pin or something.”
Suddenly the young man’s mother cried out in anguish and burst into tears. “Oh my Annie” she wailed and still sobbing, she told her family a secret she had kept from them for nine long years.
“ It happened on the morning of her funeral,” the old woman said through her tears. “Annie was laid out in her casket and I was all alone with her in the room. She looked so beautiful lying there, so still….”
The woman paused for a moment to dry her eyes, then went on. “But her hair…I always thought she looked so pretty when she wore her hair up, and I wanted to see her like that one more time. I just wanted to pin her hair up, but my hand was shaking so badly…when I went to do it, I …scratched her face.”
The woman covered her eyes with her hands and wept. “ I scratched her beautiful face and no one ever knew. I covered the scratch with powder and make up before anyone saw.” But all through the funeral and even after, I thought about it every day for the last nine years. You couldn’t have known about that scratch unless she really did come to you. Oh my Annie.”
The young man put his arms around his mother and she cried for a while into the collar of his jacket as he stroked her gray hair. “It’s all right mother,” he said , looking over her shoulders at his father. “ It’s all right. She was happy Mother…I could see it in her eyes. It’s all right.”
A few weeks later, the young man’s mother died. She had not been well and had she died before the young man told the story of seeing his sister, she would have taken the secret of the scratch on the girl’s face to her grave. No one else in the world could have explained why the young salesman had seen the scar.
But when the old woman told her secret, even her skeptical husband was convinced that her son had indeed seen his sister’s spirit. For one fleeting moment, the young salesman had truly been united with his beautiful sister, Annie: the ghost with the bright red scar.
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