The Visitor (1)

It was about twenty years ago, I was second steward on a BP tanker. Where we were, I'm not sure now, I just know we were at sea.

Well in the catering business at sea we would have between one and three off in the afternoons. We would normally have a couple of hours sleep, because we would work about fourteen hours a day. Now you've got the picture I'll start my story.

It was one of these afternoons that it happened. I woke up from my sleep, and was just lying on my side staring at the bulk head [wall], I thought well its time to get up, so I turned over to get out of my bunk. I saw this old man stark naked stand there like he was washing, I must have stared at him for a about thirty or fourty seconds and I said "who are you!?", he turned around to face me, spread his arms out and disappeared into the wall. So I jumped out of my bunk and ran into the next cabin to see if he was there, but he wasn't.

So I went back to my cabin and sat on my bunk and thought about it, I was alright up until then, then I started to get frightened.

That evening I was not looking forward to going back. It took a couple of days to get myself right again.

He never did reappear.