A Ghost Story

Every year as the fall winds blew the crispy, dried leaves around and the air began to have the sharp bite to remind us of the winter yet to come, a voice would began to call for Karen. "Ka--ren", the woman's voice would ring out over the land time and time again. A man's voice would join in, but much fainter and not so easy to hear. On the whistling wind the sound of heart-wrenching sobbing could be heard. Who was Karen? Who was endlessly searching for her?

I grew-up on 50 acres in a remote corner of north eastern Oregon. Every fall for about a week my family and I would hear the voices calling and the crying on the wind. We never discovered who Karen actually was, but lived with her presence for many years.
We believe that Karen was a young girl that somehow lost her life on the property that we now called home. We think that her parents came back every year around the time of her death to search for her. Karen herself was seen many, many times by family members and friends. Karen was 8 to 10 years old, had long blonde hair and wore a "Little House on the Prairie" style dress. She seemed to like to be around the family. Sometimes you would catch a glimpse of her out of the corner of your eye, but turn to face her and she would be gone. I saw her the most sitting on the top of the stairs. Our mom was the type of person who seemed to have a connection and strong belief in the spirit dimension. Mom was the first to see Karen and also to hear the crying. In time we all saw and heard these events, except for Dad, I think.
I will never forget the fall evening that some friends were over. The two women decided to go for a walk and, of course, some of us kids trailed along. We were walking through the fields at the back of the property when my mom's friend stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes wide as saucers. "Did you hear that?", she whispered. "I heard them calling for Karen!", she said. She had heard the stories, but had been very skeptical until that moment and actually hearing it for herself.
One evening some neighbors stopped by to visit. In the course of the conversation they mentioned that they had driven by our place earlier in the day and had seen Stacey out riding our horse, Charlie. Stacey is one of my sisters, the only one of us who had long blonde hair. No one had been home that day. We had all been 70 miles away, visiting at our cousins house for the day. The neighbors were adamant about seeing a young girl with long blonde hair, wearing a pink dress, riding the horse.
There are many more "Karen" stories like the ones I have recounted here. Her presence was never scary or threatening, although it was heartbreaking to hear her parents searching in vain for her year after year.

I wanted to share this since it is October, a time for ghost stories, and also to record it for myself. I would love to hear anyone else's real life ghost stories. If you have one to share, please post it on your blog and leave a comment here. I will post a link here to your story.