As a child, I lived with my grandmother in rural northeast Georgia in the early 1960’s. One of my favorite pastimes was to explore all the trails I would come across with my dog. Up the hill and through the woods from my grandmother’s house I found an old 2 story house with faded white peeling paint that had been closed up for years. I was told to not go poking around up there, so of course, that’s exactly what I wanted to do.
The path through the woods was overgrown and pretty hard to see. The trees were still and quiet with no bird calls or chattering squirrels as I walked up to the the door. It was locked, of course, so I peeked through a dusty window and discovered that I was able to push it up. After climbing in, I saw the house was fully furnished; the windows all had dusty filmy curtains, the living room was furnished with a sofa, two chairs, end tables, doilies on the tables and sofa back, lamps, bookcase, knickknacks and had a small ornate organ near the front door. There were even a few pictures on the walls. Dust lay thickly on everything. There was a dark narrow staircase in the living room that went upstairs. The kitchen was right next to the living room, and there I discovered a long wooden table that had 5 place settings laid, along with silverware, bowls, and glasses that still contained the remains of old dried up food; there were a couple of pans on the old stove and some dirty dishes in the sink. About that time, I started feeling prickles on my arms and felt like someone was watching me. I was way too scared to go up the stairs and hurriedly climbed back out through the window.
Fifty-four years later: During a Skype visit I was having with my older brother, I told him about the experience I had at the old house when I noticed he had a funny look on his face. When I asked him what was wrong he told me HE had done the same exact thing years earlier, except he climbed a tree next to the house and went in through the 2nd story window. He said there were 3 bedrooms that were fully furnished, and the one closet door he opened was full of clothes. He, too, said he began feeling like he was being watched and that the air felt heavy and decided he had better get out. We were amazed at our similar experiences. Although I tried and tried, I was never able to find out what happened to the occupants – my grandmother would never talk about them.
The house was later razed to the ground, and nothing has been built there to this day. I’ve always wondered what in the world would make a family leave their home in such a hurry that they left in the middle of their meal, abandoned all their possessions, apparently never to return.
Something interrupted dinner that suddenly made them value their lives way more than the house.
Submitted by: “nperle”
