A Deadly Premonition

by Pat Laye

Ghosts were as common in the mountains of North Carolina as hickory nuts on trees. So when our neighbor, Mrs. Aderholt, came over telling the following no one doubted her sincerity for a moment.

"Last night, I saw a ghost," she said. "I don't know yet what it means, but something is about to happen."

We moved closer to the fireplace drawing warmth against the frosty night and the chill which filled our hearts.

"My husband and I were asleep," she continued. "It must have been about two o'clock when a noise woke me. The window rattled violently, yet there wasn't the slightest breeze. Suddenly a bright round light shot into the room and circled our bed. I woke Horace to see it. We watched it dart and dance around the foot of the bed for a full minute or two. Then it slowly made its way toward the head of the bed and touched each of us on the cheek."

We leaned nearer, listening as Mrs. Aderholt's voice softened, "Horace reached out his hand to touch it, but it darted away.

"It's our boy. Something has happened to him," she said, dabbing at the tears which formed. "I called out his name, 'Grady! Grady!' and then the light shot out the window." She glanced over at us and said, "I'm sure it was a ghost. It came to tell me something."

The following morning Mrs. Aderholt received a telegram. Her son private first-class Grady Aderholt had been killed in military action.