About three years ago, I was hunkered down in the Math Office late one evening, around midnight (why I was there that late is not important).  Nobody else had been in the school building for hours. Just me and the occasional spider that crept across the wall. Or so I believed. I was sitting at my old desk, where Mr. Hinders currently resides. It faces the west wall of the office, my back was turned to the big glass window of the Math office that showcases the middle hallway. 

Working away, I had gotten used to the eerie quiet of the school at night. Periodically, the HVAC system would click on for a few minutes, only to make the quiet seem even more startling when it clicked off again. That rhythm though had become comfortable over time, to where I no longer noticed the sharp changes. I was enthralled with the work in front of me, assuming my surroundings were steadfast. My big mistake. 

A sudden loud noise in the office jolted me from my seat. The startling sound resembled that of a handful of rocks that had been thrown at the window behind me. I was standing now and my eyes locked on the window. But there was nothing to see. I went out into the hallway expecting to see something near the outside of the window. Nothing. I look around on the floor. No gravel. I peer down the hallways. No one. For the next 60 seconds, I did my best to rationalize the noise. Did something fall? Could it have been the HVAC? But none of it made sense. Finally, I concluded that I was not alone. So I quickly packed up my bag and headed out to my car.

That was my first encounter with a SLUH ghost. Even today, when I'm around the school late at night, I remember that shattering sound and when I do, the room gets a little colder. Our ghosts are friendly, right? Perhaps this being was just giving me a gentle nudge to go home and get some sleep. A ghoul for others. 

art | Charlie Bieg