Nationality: African-American
Primary Language: English
Other language(s): N/A
Age: 74
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Brentwood
Performance Date: 11/23/23

Tags: Coming of Age, Night, Town Legend, Test of Bravery, Odd

Text : “One time, when I was about 17/18 years  old–which has been many years ago since I’m 74 years old now–some friends and i decided to go on this dark road, since we had heard stories about an odd shining light appearing, and we didn’t really believe it, so we decided to go down there one time. Down this long dark road and when we got there we said ‘turn your lights out!” So we turned our lights out, and before you knew it, here comes this bright shining light coming down the road out of nowhere. I couldn’t believe it! We got so scared, and turned that car around so fast, and high tailed it out of there. It was out in the country, so I know it wasn’t a motorcycle or anything. Who knows what it was? It wasn’t an owl with big eyes, but it sure was scary!”

Context : I heard this story from my Grandma B, at a family gathering in Rohnert Park (a city in the Bay Area) as well. She told me that this story occurred when she lived in Independence, Kansas, a long time ago. We are a Christian family, so it’s not often that we talk about ghosts. But if anyone in my family were to, it would be her as she often veers her thoughts towards things like reincarnation, vampires, and other supernatural concepts. So I’d never heard her speak about this experience before, and it took her a good while to remember after I asked her.

My thoughts : I definitely think my grandma’s age is an important factor to remember, because, I must admit, many things often get twisted in her recollections. But that aside, you can definitely see that “coming-of-age” “test-of -bravery” theme in her experience that’s common with many, especially in historic, small towns. She didn’t go into much detail on what kind of road exactly they were on and whether or not the figure was coming from the other side or ahead which I found interesting, because it sounds a lot like what you’d see if another vehicle, motorcycle, or bike were heading your way. Or maybe even a reflector on a pole or medium on or around the road. But she was very confident that wasn’t the case.