Grandpa's Home Place

This is a story that was passed on to me, not a direct experience that I had.

My grandfather was the youngest of 9 children. He was born in 1913. When he was only a few months old, his brother who was 20 or so, left to join the army.

This is a family from rural Southwest Virginia and so they had a fairly small house. There was 3 bedrooms that were used and one that was not.

This is the story about the one that was not used.

When my great uncle left for his 3 year stint in the army, my grandfather had still been sleeping in the room with his parents. Keep in mind that with 5 boys and 4 girls, sleeping in two rooms was kind of cramped. When my great uncle returned from the army, my grandfather was almost 4 years old. He was now sleeping in the "boys room". Due to this fact, my great uncle only had one choice on where to sleep. The extra room where no one would sleep.

All of the girls slept in two double beds in one room and the boys in two doubles and one single in the boys room, while their parents had the smallest room big enough for only one double bed.

The first night after he returned, my great uncle stayed out all night catching up on the "dirt" that had happened since he'd left. The next night he had no choice, he had to sleep in there. He stayed up late with everyone trying to keep from going to sleep telling them stories of the army and basic training. Well, after a couple of hours of this, they all got tired and went to bed. My grandfather remembers very well hearing his brother get settled in the next room and then a few minutes later hearing, "Give me back my covers." You see, in this room, something would always pull off your covers if the bed was in a certain spot. The only catch was that you couldn't move the bed around the room, that thing would move it back to its original position. After a few more minutes of silence, again they heard, "I said give me back my covers, I ain't bothering you." This went on for about a half an hour and then they heard him get up, disgusted, and come into the boys room to sleep the rest of the night on the floor.

The next morning, he informed them that he'd be leaving and going down the road to stay with a friend until he found a job and could get a place of his own.

I don't know the name of this great uncle because being that he was 20 years older than my grandfather, he was long since dead before I was ever born. However, I can state with certainty that my grandfather is a God fearing soul and would never tell me anything that he didn't honestly believe had happened.

This all took place in a house that has long since been torn down in Rich Valley, VA.