The Last Ghost Story

On a dark windy night on my Grandmother's farm my first cousins Jimmy, Kathy and I decided to tell ghost stories to each other. Grandmother English gave us a candle, candle holder and some matches and told us to be careful.

"Ah Grandma, we know how to use matches."

Said Jimmy the oldest of the three of us.

"I'm not concerned about the three of you setting fire to my house but I must warn you to tell only stories and not to call forth the dead. My sister your Aunt Betty is a Median and has made her living many years conducting seances. I don't want evil spirits in my house because you three thought it would be fun to try your Great Aunt's profession."

My cousins and I looked at each other smiling, knowing Grandmother was just setting up a good night of telling ghost stories. None of us believed in ghosts but it was fun trying to scare each other. Grandma let us use the west bedroom of her farm house. The farm house was in the middle of a 160 acre mix of corn fields, cattle pasture and woodlands.

It was dark in the west bedroom. The single candle cast a strange glow on the antiques of the room. Jimmy told a story of a haunted gun, that ended in a bang of a cap gun he had hidden in the room. Kathy told a story about a skeleton horse and made hoof sounds with shoes as the spectral horse got closer and closer.

My cousins were better in school than I was but I was a better story teller. I didn't need props.

"I call the demons of the night to come forth or to forever to be cast into the pit of Hell!"

I paused for effect and then we heard a noise outside the window.

Kathy got up and began to walk towards the window.

I was lucky. Whatever the noise outside was I would use it for my story. Maybe it was a big moth or a even a bat.

"Come forth Demon or do you fear three mortal children?"

"Quit it Bobby!"

Kathy said as she took another step toward the window. We heard four loud thumps and Kathy turned towards her brother.

"Turn on the lights Jimmy."

Jimmy put his hand on the light switch.

"Don't you dare Jimmy, this is my story."

"What story? Its more like a curse!"

"The story is writing itself in the dark."

"Jimmy!"

Jimmy and I turned to see a large horrible shape in the window. Dark and twisted in form it moved towards the panes of glass. Kathy screamed as a pink slimy thing move up and down like a stomach turned inside out. Jimmy turned the lights on and the cow quit licking the window.

We all laughed. Grandmother walked into the room.

"What is going on in here? You know I don't allow screaming in my house. I never screamed a day in my life no matter how scared I was."

The cow mooed as if to answer my grandmother.

"So you got a cow instead of a demon Bobby. I must have left the south gate opened. I was going to put the new salt block out today when you three were dropped off. I better take that demon cow back where it belongs."

Aunt Betty would have been proud of me. We never told each other ghost stories again.

How could we top that one.