True Ghost Tales

Billiard Table

My grandparents and father lived in Sapulpa, Oklahoma at the time of this story which occurs in the early 1950's. My father attended school in Sapulpa and this story occured in an all but abandoned house across the street from his school. I have no idea if the house is still standing but I can probably find out someday if anyone is interested.

As I said my father was 12 or 13 at this time and a few of his friends and he would often go across the street to this old house on thier lunch break or go there and skip school entirely. The house was vacant and not maintained but it was not completely abandoned in that the owner had not removed all the furnishings and attempted to keep it locked up. Apparently my father and his buddies had discovered a way to unlock the back door.

The house was a bit strange. The current owner (the original owner had died leaving it to a relative) had removed most but not all of the furnishings. There was one or two chairs inside, the back porch, which was screened in, had stacks of boxes with old newspapers, comic books, and magazines in them as well as one box with nothing but harmonicas in it. I know it sounds wierd but yes, nothing but harmonicas, some were old and rusted, some were new and serveral inbetween. Why the old owner had so many and why the new owner left them there is anyone's guess. Needless to say this box of harmonicas and comics was a great find for a group of young boys looking for something to do other than being properly educated. But the really strange part of this house was one room upstairs in the back center of the house. There was a door leading into this room but no windows or other opening for ventilation. Even stranger was what was inside the room. A billiard table.

Perhaps the new owner had not removed this billiard table because it would have to be dismantled to get it out of the door, also it should be noted the table was not in prime condition. There were several tears and scratches in the table. Why the original owner had placed a game table in such an out of the way portion of the house with no windows is anyone's guess. This of course was the REAL FIND for this bunch of young boys. They spent many hours here at this house playing with the harmonicas and with the table. But, strange as it may seem, they played billiards only rarely preferring to sit on the back porch talking and playing with the harmonicas. My father said most of them would always get strange feelings of dread when in the small room. Besides there was no electrical power so even when they did wish to play there they would have to plan ahead and sneak candles from home.

At any rate, despite the dark and the dread they did play there from time to time. One day my father and two other boys skipped school entirely and spent the morning on the back porch chatting and playing as usual. After lunch they headed up to the room to play billiard, two of them had brought candles for the occasion. They played uneventfully for an hour or two and then prepared to leave. As always they racked the balls on the table and left them ready for play for the next time. My father and one of his friends retrieved the candles, the other boy had already gone downstairs, headed out the door with my father's other friend bringing up the rear. Suddenly my father heard the sound of the balls being broken and scattered on the table. My father said he felt his spine chill and started to turn to look behind him but his friend was already pushing him from behind so they both ran downstairs and out the door not even bothering to lock up.

My father said his friend insisted he had not touched the table in any way. My father believed him, first because he saw how scared he had been, he was visibly shaken and second because his friend had been right on his heels as they left the room. There was quite a bit of space between the table the the surrounding walls and he thinks his friend would not have had time to create the disturbance and then cross the distance from the table to my dad without being caught in the act because my father had started to turn as soon as he heard the noise.

My father said neither he nor his friends ever went back to the house, not even to lock it back up.