The Girl In The Pantry

I have always been interested in the paranormal but I never really believed in it until about a year ago.

One night a few years ago I was woken up suddenly in the middle of the night by a loud crash coming from the kitchen. It sounded like a bunch of pots in the cupboard had fallen and had slid across the floor. I waited, a little freaked out and got out of bed to investigate. Now I was only 8 or 9 so that was pretty brave of me, because usually when I heard a freaky noise I would just lay there petrified for an hour or so before I fell asleep again.

I tiptoed across my room careful not to look in the mirror (I have a fear of mirrors at night) and flicked on the light. I turned out into the hallway and turned on that light too, I did the same with the living room and the kitchen, so I could see everything. My eyes darted around the room nervously as I entered the kitchen and I opened the cupboard where we keep our pots. Oddly enough, everything seemed to be in it's place. I then crawled up onto the counter and check the upper cupboards. Nothing was out of place. I told myself my mind was playing tricks on me and went back to sleep.

Nothing else weird happened for a few years, other than hearing creaking floorboards at night, and a voice of a muttering girl ringing in my ears. I figured it was just me, mumbling in my sleep, but it wasn't my voice at all.

Very recently I was woken up in the middle of the night for no reason, eyes wide. I sighed and tried to go back to sleep, but just then I heard--screaming. A woman screaming. It sounded muffled as if she had her hands over her mouth and was coming from the laundry room downstairs. Then, I'm pretty sure I pretended to hear this, a man's manic laughter. I chuckled softly and went back to sleep, thinking that would be funny and completely forgetting the woman's terrified shouts.

A few nights later I woken up, once again, for no reason. I listened intently then heard a very loud woman's voice, the same voice as last time, shout, "BOO!" Again it was coming from downstairs, but this time from my parent's bedroom, which is directly underneath mine. I heard it once again and got out of bed. I opened my bedroom door and turned on the hall light. I walked down the hall determinedly and flicked on the entry way light. I crept down the stairs and opened the door leading into the basement. I didn't turn on the next light, but walked over to my parents room and knocked on the door. I opened it quietly and waited at the end of the bed for one of them to wake up. Both did and my dad whispered groggily, "What?"

I explained to them the voice I had just heard and asked my mom if it was her. She answered, "Huh? No, just *yawn* go back to bed..." I shrugged and went back up to my room. I was scared, but too tired to think about it further, and I fell asleep quickly.

During the last few days, I have been really into ghosts and have been investigating around the house trying to figure out more about these voices and happenings. Last year we had our basement finished, we built a laundry room a family room, put in a fireplace, and made our storage area under the stairs into a small pantry. At times, I have been really freaked out about going in there to get some soup or rice, feeling a chill down my spine as soon as I enter. Other times though, I'm not scared at all.

Yesterday I decided that there is a ghost in our house, living in our pantry. It was just me, my little brother Spencer, and my cousin "Eliza," I'll call her, at home that afternoon and I told the other two that we should go in the pantry and figure out if we felt any ghostly thing in there. Eliza was scared out of her mind and absolutely refused to step foot downstairs. Spencer and I however were excited to go down there. We went together, Eliza waiting a few steps down from the entryway. I walked inside with Spencer and shut the door. Immediately I felt a slight chill run down my spine.

Spencer hissed in a terrified voice, "Open the door!"

"No," I whispered back. "Shh."

Soon my breathing became much heavier and faster. A face started to appear in front of me. Again Spencer begged, "Open the door." And again I refused. The face began to grow a little more clearer and I realized it looked alot like me, the same upside-down egg shaped head, the same wide eyes, the same nose...

I turned and opened the door. Spencer stumbled out and sprinted up the stairs, screeching in terror, with Eliza. I laughed, shut the pantry door and followed them up, shrieking in a fake little girl voice and flailing my arms everywhere.

Once upstairs I asked Spencer if he had seen a girl's face.

"Yeah," he answered. "As soon as you shut the door there was a flash and I saw it. She looked exactly like you."

I was relieved at hearing I was the only one who had seen it. "Did she have blonde hair?"

"No, brown. She didn't have bangs either."

"Really?" I asked. "Neither did the girl I saw! Her hair was about this long." I gestured to about four inches past shoulder length.

Spencer's eyes widened. "Loreena," he said. "We really do have a ghost."