Scary Ghost Stories

Granpa Ouija

A few years ago,when I was in college, we were in the midst of a mammothsnowstorm. I went to La Salle University in Philadelphia, and itwas the winter of 1994, one of the most brutal that I can everremember. One night, my roommates and I had some of our friendsover to visit, in the hopes of keeping us all sane. I don't knowwhy we decided to whip out my OUIJA board. I think we wanted tohave a little fun and see if any of us could spook each other. Myroommate Jen and a friend of ours named Mike had the boardbetween them when a presence came on and asked to speak with me.We had about eight people in the room and I felt a shiver as theboard asked to speak with me. Why me? I wondered, but I figuredthat since I wasn't playing with the board I would ask it somequestions. Anyway, the presence identified itself as Stephen.

Everyone in the room laughed at this except me. All of my friendsthought this was a sheer coincidence since my younger brother'sname is Ste! ! phen. I also have an uncle named Stephen. I askedthe presence who he was. The ghost said that it was mygrandfather. My father's father was also named Stephen, but hedied of cancer in 1980 when I was eight. At this point, Jenleaned over and asked me if this was true and I told her that itwas. I asked the ghost a few questions about things to see if Icould stump it.

All of the answers seemed to point to the fact that this wasindeed my grandfather. Finally, I asked the spirit a questionthat only my grandfather and I could possibly know. I asked itwhat my grandfather used to bring me as a special treat when Iwas a little girl. The spirit quickly spelled out the wordbubblegum. I remember sitting back on the sofa, pale. Jen lookedat me and asked, "What does that mean?" I explained toher and the others in the room that when I was little, mygrandfather, who smoked cigars, would bring me a cigar box fullof bubblegum cigars. The two of us used to sit on my front st! !oop and I would pretend to smoke while he would light up. Thewhole thing totally freaked me out, but the ghost didn't seem towant to scare me and after that, it told me that it loved me andit signed off. This episode with the OUIJA board reminded me of adream I had had when I was about 12. My grandfather had been deadabout 4 years, but I remember him coming to me to tell me that hewas okay. I asked him if I could go with him to heaven, and hetold me no. He said that all he wanted was to let me know that hewas okay. My grandfather and I were very close, as you can tell,and even now, 17 years after he died, I can still feel him withme. I think that the dream and the episode with the OUIJA boardare his ways of telling me that he is in a better place.