we were young and more imaginative then the scariest horror comics writer..we were in that "excited but i won't pee my pant" age and had already manage to keep our heads when the ghosts had fluttered in the air on Harvard Street in La Mesa...we had of course gone to the corner house first to do our trick and get our treat of the fabulous popcorn balls offered there every year

my sis saw them first...way to high to be walking on the street..just floating mid air...kinda floating toward the tree we were hiding behind

the moon and the street lights lit them up like the true specters we thought they were

until they landed in our tree and it was chilling screams...did we do that???...only to realize they were kites some insane older kids had crafted to scare the livin' sh~t out of some 9 and 7 year olds

but even after the ghostly scam had been uncover we thought it was~~ahem~~prudent NOT to go up Harvard to the corner

i mean that was where the Chow dog lived...and he was scarier then any REAL ghosts

what an ominous face he had... always snarling when he saw strangers and his tongue was BLACK!!!

now the house on Sunset Cliffs Blvd...that was a different kind ghost story...a real one

my uncle from India had bought it...a big old Spanish Mansion..two story it's front windows staring out at the ocean

we didn't go over and visit my Aunt and Uncle often when they lived there...when we did we always stayed the nite...usually we helped my Mom and Aunt to clean the house which was as u can see huge!!!

Aunt Maisie couldn't seem to keep a live in house keeper

My mom was insistent we were in bed and asleep before eight every nite we stayed...tucked in and buttoned up both in one bed in a upstairs bedroom...always with the doors of each and every bedroom on that floor locked with a key

of course there was that "under the covers" 1/2 hour of giggling and flashlight scary play...it was strange really...the house was scary because it was old...but nothing had ever happened to make us feel that way

but when i went into the 2nd story circular room it was often cold...and the sun shone into it all afternoon...it was a wonderful room...had the most sweeping view of the cliffs and ocean...but i found i could never stay there long and my sis wouldn't even come in...she'd just hang at the doorway...say nothing and hang her head as it vigorously nodded back and forth with a succinct NO

it wasn't on Halloween or any other such portentous occasion that the hair all over our bodies stood straight up on end..it started out fairly innocuously with someone downstairs playing the Grand piano...we often were slightly arouse by the music downstairs....and it never occurred to us no one in our immediate family could play and Aunt Maisie didn't have a cat

then whispering my Mom and my Aunt came slowly into our bedroom as the music played...they had entered thru the door that was inside the bedroom...they walked thru the room and went thru the door into the next bedroom ...each bedroom had a door between each room and a door to the corridor and the corridor doors were individually locked every nite

we were wide awake and in a flash up trailing along quietly behind them...they seemed to be looking at the corridor doorknobs...and as we turned our attention to them we saw them turning and someone seemed to be pushing against them

we choked on our voices and couldn't scream...we couldn't move either!!!

they found us dumbfounded huddled together on their way back thru the bedrooms

i don't remember what either of them said...and we all slept together that nite...and in the morning on our way home my Mom said..."they didn't want to hurt you"

and my Mom never took us there to stay over nite again