I Saw a Ghost

I don't know why I had the reaction I did. I'd have to assume it was a complete surprise...shock of the moment that caused my reaction. I do know that my action caused a reaction, and that reaction caused me much more than shock and surprise.

I grew up in a very large house, with my great-grandparents, my grandparents, and of course my own parents. It was a very old house, built almost 230 years ago by an old sea captain. In those days, men like the old sea captain were respected, and often men of wealth.

The old Homestead!

The house had four floors, the main floor, the middle floor, the attic, and the basement/cellar. When you walked into the house on the main floor and stepped into the hallway, you were actually walking through the large chimney, that ran from cellar to roof. It once had a large "bake oven" located in the cellar, where the captains' servants would bake... The hallway ran the length of the house, from the front door to back door. The stairs came down just in front, of the front door.

I was about 13 years old, on a cold winters day, and had just awoken to my alarm. It was a Saturday, and I had gotten up at 6 am to grab a bit of breakfast, and head out into the cold to go to hockey practice.
I descended the old curving staircase, to come to the landing in the hallway, and as I peered down the hallway, there in all his glory stood my great-grandfather. He was smiling and gave me a wave, as he had so many times over the few short years he was alive, during my childhood.

The problem with all of this was that this great man had died 8 years earlier. Yet there he was. Although this encounter was very brief, I could make out all his features, the old cap he wore, the sweater, and the pants, remembered from years ago, yet he had a transparency to him, yes, I could see him, yet could also see through him.

With a scream escaping my lips, I ran back up the stairs and burst into my parents' room. Waking them both. I had been so scared, I actually lost the ability to tell them what had taken place for several minutes. Finally, I told them what I had seen.
Usually, they would have called me crazy, but this old house had many ghosts wondering around its halls. Many unexplained doors opening and closing, and sometimes catching glimpses out of the corner of your eye, of someone you knew, wasn't actually in the room itself.

Of course, their reaction to me was one of anger, for the mere fact I had awoken them both on their day off, but eventually, they calmed me down, and told me it was going to be fine.

My reaction to seeing my Pa, as I called him, shocked even myself. He had always been kind to me, would take me for walks, spoil me with gifts, and take me down to the docks to see the ships. I ran from him like a scared child, and even to this day, wished I had at the very least, tried to have said how much I loved and missed him...

Image from Google maps...

written for this contest: https://steemit.com/contest/@averageoutsider/new-outsider-writing-contest-pick-a-topic-win-sbd-or-sbi-steembasicincome