15 July, 2003
I have always had a fascination with ghosts and the
paranormal but it was only in watching
movies, surfing websites, and hearing experiences from
others. That was about it until
recently when I had my own experience. This was 3 nights
ago.
I have often heard and read stories about Pleasant
Ridge Cemetery (A.K.A. 13 steps), just
outside of Palo, Iowa. To Sum up the bulk of what I've
heard the nickname 13 steps comes from
people saying that there are 13 steps leading up into the
cemetery at night but if you go in
the daytime there are only 12. The bulk of the rest of the
stories involve shadows, strange
sounds, and the occasional alleged "ghost" sightings.
These stories are all alot of hearsay; I'm
not saying they are false, yet I'm not saying they're
true. My only point on this is: I've heard
alot, read alot, but until the other night, I had never
been there so I could not personally
substantiate any information...Until now!
My friend Nic, his girlfriend Tammy and I decided to
pay a visit to 13 Steps on the premise
that I had never been there. When we got there it was
about 11 pm. I admit it, it was after the
10:30PM Cutoff, and nobody was supposed to be up there. We
got out under a bright full moon with
only a couple of clouds in the sky. I found it kind of
strange that the clouds were almost
centered over the cemetery and that the moon was so bright
it was almost like daytime with a few
clouds over the sun.
We walked up the steps into the
cemetery. I counted them quite easily that
night there were 13 no question. After getting into the
cemetery we began to look around at the
different years on the tombstones. The oldest ones that I
found were middle 1850's, so I could
tell this was a very old place. It was actually a very
relaxing serene experience walking around
there that night. It wasn't spooky in the slightest in
fact quite peaceful. That was until the
mosquitoes started biting. We've had quite a problem with
them in Iowa this year, they'll eat you
alive around here, figuratively speaking. Nic then made a
comment that he must be tasting pretty
good to them and he was ready to go back down to the car.
Tammy and I followed him back to the
car where we decided to sit for a little while and enjoy
the breeze along with the peace and
quiet.
A short while later two cars pulled in. We could
tell right away they weren't anybody to
worry about. They parked about 35 or 40 feet away from us
parked in the same way we were. They
were 4 teenagers, two couples, Probably here to find a
makeout spot. They got out of their cars
with flashlights and headed down a path along the side of
the hill that the cemetery is perched
on and proceeded up the side the hill into the cemetery.
They almost seemed to be avoiding
climbing the stairs.
Just as they were getting into the cemetery a truck
pulls up the hill, into the parking lot,
and in front of our car blocking us in. Our hearts sank
when we saw the DNR logo on the side.
This was his territory and he could ticket us or, if he
wanted to be a jerk, have us ran off to
jail. The DNR puts his truck into the park and got out
letting the door hang open so his dome
light can put a little light on us. We were backed into
our parking spot so I had a perfect view
in the passenger seat with Nic in the drivers seat. The
DNR walks upto Nic's window and begins to
play 20 questions: Are we up here drinking doing dope LA
DE DA...So, finally he asks us just what
we were doing up here. Tammy responds that we were looking
for the ghost. "Ghosts, huh?", he asks,
"seen anything?" Just then I watched in amazement as his
trucks automatic shifter on the
steering column goes down into drive and the truck pulls
forward as well as starts turning
toward the other two cars. The DNR ran after his truck
jumps in and puts it back in park, missing
the other two cars by only a few feet. Then he told us to
just go and not let him catch us up
there again after hours. We promptly left, grateful for not
being in any trouble.
Let met clarify some things: Automatic transmissions do
not just fall out of gear, manuals possibly but not an automatic. I know that I saw him put
the truck in park, so the shifter had to come down 3 clicks to get to drive from park. Reverse
would cause the truck to go backwards as well as neutral since he was parked going slightly uphill.
So I know the truck was in park and it ended up in drive.
My only explanation is something paranormal, maybe a
friendly ghost that saw us in trouble that knew we were in the cemetery being respectful. If it
was a ghost I know it didn't mean anyone harm do to the fact that nobody was in either of
the vehicles that it could have collided with. As far as any other explanations go they escape me.
You, whomever is reading this, must
draw your own conclusions. I on the other hand now believe
in ghosts.
And finally I swear to you the reader that what you have
just read is absolutely true and I
have many witnesses to back it up including a DNR.
Henry Asaph Webster II
lonely110874@netscape.net
Feedback welcome just drop me an email!!!
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