Paranormal Story Archives
November 2002 –
Page 22
The
Listener
by Mary
This experience happened to me while I was in another state. I moved to the opposite coast, and moved in to my sister's apartment with her, her husband and two teenage sons. The plan was that I would stay with my sister and her family for a few months until I could save up enough money to move into my own apartment. The first month we were together, things seemed to be going great! I had landed a good job making good money, and watched my bank account grow rather quickly! My sister and I had a lot of fun just hangin' out and going places and doing things together. Then, for reasons I cannot explain, I suddenly lost that good job... was just fired... with no explanation, which is strange because I have NEVER been fired from a job before in my life. Suddenly, it seemed, no one in the household was getting along. The boys were fighting, my sister and her husband seemed stressed, and things between my sister and I got to be "quite intense," and that's putting it mildly! By the end of the second month, the tension and stress level in the house had gotten to the point where, out of respect for my sister and her family, and because I was feeling guilty, blaming myself and my "arrival" into the household for the "stress" on everyone, I decided that one less person in the household might help relieve the tension. So, that night, I locked myself in my room, and without saying a word to anyone about my plans, I began packing up what "few personal belongings" I came with, and decided to go back home.
My intention was to be gone early the next morning, while it was still dark outside, before the family woke up. I told myself it was okay at this point not to tell my sister about my plans... because, after all, we were not on speaking terms now anyways, and I figured that she would know soon enough what happened to me, because I stayed up real late the night before, preparing a long multi-page letter to her that I was planning on dropping in the mail when I left. The next morning, well before dawn, I arose, grabbed my bag and tiptoed quietly out of the house. I walked across the highway with my travel bag flung over my shoulder, stuffed as full as I could get it and still be able to zip it, and plopped myself down on the bench outside the door of a 24-hour grocery store (where I was to be picked up by a friend).
The bench was way off to one side of the store. As I was sitting there in the dark watching cars and people come and go, suddenly, as if out of no where, an "old man" appeared and approached me. My eyes were constantly "scanning" the parking lot every second, and I never saw him, or anyone come near me, but suddenly, he was just "there." Because of all the terrible stories I have heard, of course, I was a little bit afraid, not knowing what his intentions were, and I was being very cautious. As he approached, I quickly rehearsed a "plan" in my head just in case he turned out to be some wacko. When this "old man" came up to me, he greeted me with a very warm smile and a friendly "hello." For some strange reason, just the way he looked straight into my eyes when he said hello, all my fear just seemed to fade away. I couldn't explain how I suddenly felt at ease, as though I'd known him all my life, when just a few seconds prior, I felt very uncomfortable and nervous. The only other words he spoke to me was he asked me if "I wanted some company."
As he sat down next to me on the bench, he silently and patiently listened to me for about three hours as I puffed on one cigarette after another and told him my whole story about why I came there, about all the "tension" in the household, and how "disappointed" I was that things didn't work out as well as I'd hoped, and how I was waiting for my ride and was on my way back home. I thought it was strange to say the least, that this "old man" just sat there politely listening silently to me, barely saying a word. An occasional nod of acknowledgement was all I got, but rarely a word out of him. Before I knew it, hours had passed and my friend's van pulled up out front, right directly in front of the bench where I was sitting... where we planned to meet. I got up, politely said good-bye to the "nice old man," thanked him for his company, and told him my ride had arrived and I had to go.
I saw him still seated on the bench as I climbed into the van. I stuck my arm out the window to wave good-bye to him as we pulled away, and then my friend turned to me with a puzzled look on her face and said to me, "Who were you talking to and who are you waving at?" I replied, "I was talking to that nice old gentleman sitting there on that bench. We've been sitting there talking for hours now, waiting for you." Her eyes suddenly got real big as she turned and looked at me rather oddly and said, "There's no one there. I didn't see anyone there with you when I pulled up, and I still don't see anyone!!" We both just kinda looked at each other, said nothing more about it, and just drove away.
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