Running House Water: A Short Story

I’ve always believed in ghosts and spirits. Perhaps it was because it amused me, or perhaps it was because I’ve been stuffed with ghost stories ever since I was old enough to comprehend them. I’ve been around a lot of people who grew up in remote areas of the world. You know, the place where electricity doesn’t exist, and running house water is just a myth. Well, anyway, I’ve heard many ghost stories from them, mostly drawn from their actual encounters and experiences. These stories were pass on to me on many different occasions. Like say… around a campfire, a mid-night drive across towns, or just under the dim candlelight of my friends’ basements.

One of my friends’ stories was about his dad. You see, back in

When asked why they passed out, the two men turned pale and told the people that they saw a boy’s rotting body next to Mr. Shoe. He stood as though he was carrying something on his shoulder. There were worms and maggots digging on his flesh. He was about in his teens. His face was yellow and deformed. Blood was running out of his ears and a hole on his chest. When shown a picture of Mr. Shoe’s friend, the two men jumped and started acting very strangely. They swore the ghost that they’ve seen looked just like the boy in the picture.

The town received running water that summer. My friend’s dad no longer had to travel far to get water. As for the footsteps, it never bothered him again. Mr. Shoe told us that he visited his friend’s grave before he moved away to the city. The grave was located on an open grassy area at the family’s farm. Upon burning incense for his deceased friend, he heard laughter coming from the top of a tree. The branches grew over the grave and the friendly laughter came from the branch overhead the

While passing the wooden table in the living room, my aunt saw my grandfather’s ghost sipping on a cup of tea. His ghost did not have any feet, and he was grayish clear. He had his legs crossed just the way he used to and he was staring out the window, his face seemed to be thinking hard. Startled but respectful, my aunt remembered how much grandpa hated to be disturbed, so she walked outside to find out that the chicken fence was closed. She went back inside the house, when passing by grandpa’s ghost; my aunt thanked him for closing the fence for her. Grandpa