And The Pans Banged On

The story you are about to read takes place in your average neighborhood. You know, friendly neighbors, Jewel Osco nearby, just... average. But what are two adventurous 10- year-olds to do in such a boring neighborhood? I mean, nothing is ordinary to us...

Before this "encounter" occured, we hardly knew each other. Lauren had just moved in from a different town, and had been hanging around one of my friends, Lindsay. Eventually, we met and knew we were bound to become good friends. One night Lauren invited me over. She told me it was her sister Nicole's birthday. We did the usual birthday stuff, and then we turned that visit into a sleep over.

We watched a supposably "creepy" movie about vampires. Well, it wasn't creepy at all, and at the end of the movie, we both discovered our desire for paranormal phenomenon. Through the whole night (and I mean LATE, and this didn't even scare us!!) we talked about anything scary. Devils, witches, then we finally brought up the subject that would change us: Ghosts. At a very late time; I can't remember, we went to sleep.

An hour later, I felt something I really can't describe, but sure enough, it awoke me. I thought it was Lauren, so I mumbled, "What is it, Lauren? Don't tell me you have to go again. You just-" Something interrupted me. I rubbed my eyes, but all of the sudden, I heard someone bang on the door. Uh oh, we're in trouble, I thought. But soon I realized it wasn't a parent telling us to be quiet or anything. I don't know how I knew, I just knew from a conscience sense. I immediately starting to shake Lauren. "Lauren!! LAUREN!!!!! Get up!!!" Lauren rubbed her eyes. But she heard the sound of banging pots and pans also. "Oh no, not again!" she moaned. "What?" I asked. "Well," she said, gritting her teeth. "There was this old ghost at our house, Carl. He's at it again!!" Lauren thrust open the door. A rush of air burst in. Suddenly we were so cold we had to use about 5 blankets to releive ourselves to warmness and much to our luck, we fell asleep. Barely, though. The next few months passed by normally. We tried to forget about our experience. But up to winter, things got bad, and I mean bad. Once we invited a bunch of friends to a seance. Through the evening, some friends got creeped out and left. Lauren and I were left alone at a late time. We asked, "Is anyone there?" And quickly, the board spelled out, CARL. The board actually FLIPPED! I am dead serious. We put that thing away for a while.

As winter turned into spring, we got used to our encounters. We took it normally. We didn't really care about what he did. We assumed he would get bored with us.

Well, no, ignoring never works. One day Lauren and I were making a snack or something but then I suddenly had the urge to use the bathroom. As I left, Lauren looked through the fridge. The loud TV annoyed her, but as she opened the silverware drawer, a commercial interested her. She stopped,and left the drawer open. She went to the TV, and when the ad was over, She walked to the kitchen. She looked at the silverware drawer, and let out a bloodcurdling scream. I ran out of the bathroom, and saw her shivering severley. She moved her hand, and revealed a terrifying message on a notepad, GET OUT. And we knew no one did it, because we were the only ones home. And that message was in red ink, and after searching for hours, we could not find any red pencils/pens.

Don't get me wrong, we've experienced SO SO SO much more, but it's so hard to put such horrific experiences into words. We hope you get the point: We've been through it too. I have one more encounter to share.

Not long ago, at a sleep over, I asked Lauren about our experience. I said, "What happened in your old town?" She laughed. "More than you can imagine!" She said. She told me about attic ghosts, Ouija Board experiences, etc. "Did you know what would happen to us?" Lauren yawned. "Maura, we HAVE to go to bed. It's 3 A.M!" she said. She instantly fell asleep. But no, I just couldn't. But hours later, as I drifted off to a peaceful sleep, I heard a distant sound of pots and pans banging, and then, a cackling laugh.