True Ghost Stories: Jim Harold's Campfire 2 Read online

This is an angelic story, but it was also one of scariest situations I’ve encountered in my life.

  A friend ran out of gas but he had to go to work. So, two girls and I decided to go out and fill up the car, and then one of us would drive it back. I chose to drive it back because it was a cute little Toyota pickup truck. By the time we got out there, the sun was going down, but we still had some light. We got the car filled up and did what we needed to do. They drove off, and I was to follow.

  Well, I am not really good on a clutch, and I got myself good and stuck. I was sitting there not knowing what to do and it had become dark. This was 20 years ago, well before cell phones. There was no way for me to get in touch with anybody; I was just sitting there alone in the middle of the desert, hoping a policeman would come by.

  Sure enough, I saw lights coming behind me, and I thought, “Great, a cop has come.” The car with what I hope is my rescuer pulled behind me. Well, it wasn’t a cop; it was a man. He came over to my side – and mind you, I’m 20 years old at the time, sitting in this car in the dark. He squatted down by my window, and he said, “It looks like you’ve got yourself in some trouble here.” I said, “Yeah, I’m stuck. Every time I go to get out, the clutch slips and I don’t know what to do.” He said, “Well, how about if you move over and I’ll help you?” I did. Right as I was moving over to let him in, I didn’t know it, but there was another man getting in the other door on the passenger side.

  The second man had come up while I was talking to the first man, and they both opened the door at the same time and they got in. I was sandwiched between them, thinking this was a really bad idea. I didn’t know what I was going to do, I was completely stuck, I couldn’t get out over either one of them, and I was scared, really scared. I was just sitting there, looking straight ahead. I thought, at the time, I’d done the dumbest thing in my life by letting those two strangers get in the car with me. The man in the passenger seat, grabbed my hand and he said, “Don’t worry, you’re safe. Nothing’s going to happen to you.”

  I just looked at him, and my heart was beating. They didn’t say anything to each other. The man in the driver’s seat started the car. He got the car running really quickly, and put me back on the road. He asked, “Where are you going?” I said, “My friends are waiting for me and I’m going home.” He said, “Make sure you go home.” I said, “That’s where I’m going.” They both got out of the car and walked off. I couldn’t breathe, I was flustered.

  It was awful. I was just dying to get out of there. When he said, “Don’t worry, you’re safe,” it was almost like he wanted to say you’re okay now. It was like the word “now” was implied. I look back and think if I had stayed there something bad would have happened, I’m sure of it.

  After the guys left the car, their lights came on, I looked behind me, waiting for them to go and they never did. When I sat back again to go forward, I thought, “Maybe they’re waiting for me to go.” I was about to pull out onto on the road, I looked again, the lights were gone and they’re gone. They never went by me. Their car was just gone. It disappeared.

  They couldn’t have turned around and gone the other way because of the way the road was laid out. There were four lanes: two lanes going in the direction I was facing, a big culvert in the middle and, on the other side, two lanes going in the opposite direction. They never spun around; I never saw lights sweep away from me; I never saw dust. We were in a very dusty area. I never saw anything. They were just gone.

  They came to help me, and I was in great need. I had no idea what to do. Should I get out of the car and start hitchhiking, a girl by herself in the desert? Should I stick my thumb out? Should I sit there? I just thought, “Well, I’m just going to stay put and hope for a police officer.” That’s really random too. Who’s to say if someone would stop, when they’d stop? Right when I thought I had no choices, they arrived. I believe they were angels.

  -Dennise, United States

  36. A Vision of Mary

  Jim’s Note: This is my wife’s story. I know it is true, I was there!

  I’ll start by giving you a little bit of background. I grew up Catholic. However, I wouldn’t consider our family extremely religious, but spiritual. We definitely prayed, and we would attend church, just not regularly, but my mom, I would always consider very, very spiritual. She’d pray every day, and grew up with Mother Mary being her center of focus. Growing up, she attended Our Lady of Mount Carmel church. So her focus was always Mary. When she got married, she promised Mary a dozen roses to her statue. So Mary was always her focus and she would pray the rosary very regularly.

  She had been sick for several years. In 2001, she took a turn for the worse and was declining. She was hospitalized and we didn’t quite know how long she had left, but it was clear she wasn’t going to make it long term.

  So it was decided that in-home hospice would probably be the best route. It was her second night home from the hospital, on the night this occurred. She had come back home to live out the rest of her life. I was over there quite often, being the only child, so I was helping my dad with her. She was coherent. It wasn’t the kind of an illness that impacted her mentally. She knew what was going on. So I had been there that night, and she had said – the night she died – she said she wanted to go to sleep in her bed. The previous night she had slept in a recliner in the living room. I brought her to bed, and then I thought, “Well, I’m going to hang around a little bit after she falls asleep, just to make sure everything’s okay, she’s okay, and my dad’s okay.” So, I stayed around a little bit, and I heard some noises coming from her room, so I decided to go check on her. She woke up and turned to me and she goes, “What are you still doing here? You need to go home. Just go home. You have a husband, you have a baby, you need to go home.” So I said, “All right.”

  I had every expectation of seeing her the next day. It was hospice, but it wasn’t impending. I mean, we definitely thought we had some time. She had been fine that day, too. I didn’t anticipate anything happening. So I went home, stayed up a little bit, and then decided well, I should get to bed. It was getting late. So I went to bed around midnight or so.

  At about 2:30 am, I woke up and I looked at the clock to see what time it was. I looked over Jim’s shoulder and there is a woman, standing there, as beautiful as you can possibly imagine, and unlike any picture, image, anything you’ve seen. Automatically, I knew that was Mary. She never matched any image, picture, or anything that’s ever been produced. It was really weird, but I was very much at peace. I wasn’t afraid. I think most people would turn and see somebody in their room standing there and freak out completely.

  Jim, as usual, was dead to the world.

  She was just standing there next to his side of the bed. Jim was right in front of me sleeping, and she’s right in back of him, standing there. She just stared at me, smiling, beautiful as beautiful can be, and all lit up. The rest of the room is completely dark. It was as if she had a spotlight on her. She was radiant. I sat up in bed and stared at her for a minute. I rubbed my eyes, thinking I was dreaming. Obviously, that would be the second thought, but no. She was wearing a scarf over her head almost like a veil, and kind of whitish clothes, like a light blue maybe, white. I don’t want to get into that stereotypical image you’ve seen of her, because that’s not at all what I saw.

  I just thought, “Oh, there’s Mary. Oh, how peaceful.” It was just a calming, peaceful thing and I thought, “Wow, that’s kind of weird.” That was just the thought that went through my head. This did not feel like a dream. At first I thought, “Oh my God, there’s somebody standing in my room.” Secondly I thought, “Okay, now you’re dreaming.” Once I figured out – it came to me that it was Mary, then I thought, “Oh, you’re dreaming, obviously.” I rubbed my eyes, but I was touching myself to check that I wasn’t dreaming. She was there. It wasn’t a very long period of time, maybe 30 seconds or so.

  About 30 minutes later the phone rang. It was my father on the phone.


  He said, “She’s gone.” I said, “What do you mean she’s gone?” He said, “She’s gone, she’s gone.” He said my mother had passed about a half hour before he called. I said, “I’m coming right over.” I never put two and two together with Mary at that point, because I was just so stunned that she had died. I couldn’t believe it. Then shortly after, when I got there and saw her and started putting everything together, I realized, “Oh my God. It was her way of saying she was gone, but she was okay. She was in Mary’s hands.”

  There were was another sign from my mom that day as well.

  I was over at their house, my dad and I were making arrangements and getting things together. I was just kind of spending the day there with him when I mentioned how my mom wanted to give flowers to Mary when she got married. They had to be roses. Roses were always my mom’s favorite. The funny part about that is, when she got married it was in January, which was at the time of the Rose Parade, so she couldn’t get any roses for Mary. She had to wait a number of months to give her the roses. So roses were another big symbol with my mother.

  Anyway, I was over at the house that day, and the mail comes. They had a mailbox that is part of the house where the mail drops into the bedroom. I went to get the mail, and there were red rose petals, about four or five of them, in the mailbox with the mail.

  There were no roses anywhere in the yard. There would be no reason. It was just the weirdest sign.

  I’ve taken all of this as a positive sign. My mom was trying to say that she was okay, and that she was thinking of me. That was one of my concerns. When she died, I was just very concerned – I’ve always been interested, is there a heaven, is there an afterlife, and are they okay? I just wanted her to be okay. As she got sick, I looked at myself as her caretaker and I had to watch out for her. So I was always worried, would she be okay when she was gone? I often said, “I need a sign that you’re going to be okay.” I just feel like those were definite signs that she was okay.

  Hopefully, this will give other people some hope, or maybe inspiration or something. I don’t know, but it was a definite change in my life.

  -Dar Harold, Ohio

  37. A Dream of Death

  I was in this dream standing in a church with my spouse. It was dark and we were near the door leading out. I’m with my spouse, and for some reason we’re really sad and I don’t know why. Then someone says, “I can’t believe David is dead. It was so unexpected.” The person walks past us, goes to the church door, the door opens, and I see steps leading down to a hearse. I wake up, roll over, tell my spouse and I immediately write it down, which I do for bizarre dreams like this.

  The next thing I did was to call my best friend David to see if he was OK. He had a little bit of a health issue, and he said, “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. You worry too much.” Regardless, I’m in a worried state for the next few days. Then suddenly, a couple days later, the phone rings and there has been a death. We get word that my daughter’s adopted grandfather had passed, and his name was…David.

  It was quite a shock, but the dream had gone out of my mind. In the next couple days, my spouse and I go to the service. We’re in the church, and after the service, we start to leave and suddenly the dream floods back. I stop and I say, “Hold on. Here it comes.” We’re stopping, and we look and a couple of people walk by, and one of them says, “I can’t believe David is dead. It was so unexpected.” The exact words that I had written down the night of the dream.

  We’re staring at each other wide-eyed, and I say, “Wait a minute. Wait for it. Here comes the hearse.” The person that went by us walked to the church doors, opened them, and there at the foot of the stairs was the hearse.

  It was bizarre to have a dream, both so strange and so accurate.

  -Steph, Massachusetts

  38. The Little Girl Who Saw the Future

  Our Aunt Jewel lives out of state and she always comes to see us. This story revolves around one such visit when I was a child about six or seven years of age. After Aunt Jewel’s stay, she would always drive back home. It’s a long trip from central Montana down to central Wyoming. We often worry about her safety. Keep in mind that she had two dogs traveling with her at the time, it comes into play later in the story.

  I was outside playing with my siblings after she left. It was later in the day, but it was really bright out with a lot of sunshine and warmth. I remember this very clearly. While playing, I had this feeling, a type of concern or worry. I don’t even remember what form it took, if I heard something or saw something or anything.

  From outside through the screen door, I heard the phone ringing. I ran into the house, and I called my dad’s name. I said, “Dad, that’s Grandma on the phone and she’s going to tell you that Aunt Jewel got in a car wreck but she’s fine”. My dad had the phone in his hand by this time, and he answers it. Sure enough, it was my grandmother, and she told him exactly that. My Aunt Jewel had been in a wreck, but she was fine.

  Here is where the two dogs that I mentioned are involved, and this is very weird. One was a Siberian Husky and I think the other was some kind of Setter. They would each ride in the car with her and sat in the same spot every time. They would only ride in those spots. Well, this time, when she was driving back, the Husky got in the other spot and would not let the Setter sit there. Would not. Growled and bit at him and would not let him sit there. Well, when the car wreck happened, the Husky died and the Setter didn’t. My aunt thought maybe the Husky knew that something was going to happen. It was great that Aunt Jewel was fine, but it’s a weird story. I remember this, my dad and my whole family remembers too. So, it really happened!

  -Charity, Montana

  39. I Know this Place

  My story is one of precognition. It goes back quite a few years. My husband was in the military and he was assigned to a city in Germany called Aschaffenburg, where his military unit was. He was an officer, so we had assigned quarters, and I was to follow with the kids just a few weeks behind him. I’d been very anxious about where we were going. Once I knew we were going there, I was accepting of it and I could deal with it. I think in anticipation, I dreamed of what it looked like around our quarters. This was in the early 1980’s, so he didn’t send me any photos and there wasn’t any online access or anything like that available at the time. I would have had no way of knowing what this place looked like other than my dream.

  So, we got there and as we were going up the main drag, which was called Würzburger Strasse, to our quarters it hit me that I had dreamed of this street. It is a very long, slow upward incline. I told my husband, “I’ve been here. I’ve been on this street. I’ve seen this street.” I guess he didn’t believe me, he was like “whatever.” Then I started telling him, “I know what our quarters are going to look like.” I was probably 75% correct. I had incorrectly dreamed there were four buildings, but the complex was actually a horseshoe shape of three buildings and not a quad. The big courtyard that was in front of this horseshoe shape of buildings was exactly as it was in my dream. The colors were as I dreamed, too.

  I began to get really shocked and then I told him, “There’s a German Shepherd in our stairwell.” He said, “No, there’s not.” There were six apartments in our stairwell. We found out there wasn’t currently a German Shepherd but my neighbors told me that there had been a family with a German Shepherd in the stairwell before we arrived there. That was very strange.

  This was before the Internet and something I wouldn’t have seen on TV.

  Now I’m sure my husband told me that we were going to be living in a building and that we basically had what amounted to an apartment, but it was as I had seen it in my dream: The lay of the land, the courtyard, and so forth were all very accurate. My husband is not one to go into great detail so it definitely wasn’t from his sparse description. He said something like, “We’ve got quarters, we’re in a stairwell.” It was very vague.

  I started feeling very strange when we were pulling up that long, slow incline up the main
street that ran in front of our housing area. It was like “I’ve seen this.” It wasn’t déjà vu. I think everybody’s probably had that, but this was different. It was a very unique experience.

  -Ginger, Alabama

  40. A Mother Just Knows

  When my children were small, I believe a dream I had saved their life. I have ordinary dreams, which are great fun, but I also have dreams that come true. At the time of this one, my boys were very tiny; they were two and four. My dream was about this large tree we had in our garden. It was located at the end of our lawn which was quite big. I dreamed it was very windy outside and that the tree fell. The next day, the children went out to play and a wind came up. I said to my husband, “Look, I think the tree’s going to fall. Let’s not let them play outside today. ” He said, “No, this is just a bit of a wind. This wind can’t bring a tree down.”

  I was really frightened, and I was getting very agitated. In fact, my husband was getting a little bit cross with me. He said, “No, there is no way that this wind can bring a tree down.” It was a very big tree. I was getting more and more agitated, and I went into the house and I put the TV on. The program that was coming on was going to be a cartoon program with music, with Woody Woodpecker, so I opened the window and I put the volume of the TV on full. My children heard the music and they came rushing into the house. They were hardly on the couch when there was a great noise, we heard a great ripping, a great crashing sound, and a huge branch about a third of the mass of the tree crashed down onto the lawn where they had been playing only seconds before. Had they continued playing outside they would have been hurt very badly or killed.

  My husband was a bit angry. My spookiness used to get on his nerves a little bit, because he was Catholic. I think he was a bit cross with me for being right.