Context: This story was told to me by my mother after I had asked her to tell her a ghost story for my GE Seminar Class. My mother who we will refer to as LP, had several ghost stories in mind that she wanted to tell but the one she wanted to share most occurred during her early childhood. This experience took place in her childhood home while she was with her mother.

The Story:

“When I was little, five or six years old maybe, my parents were remodeling our house. The den was torn apart and the stair case to the second floor was sealed off with thick sheets of cloudy plastic.

Every evening before bed, my mom and I had a routine. We would walk through the house together, checking every door and window to make sure everything was locked. My mom said it is was just to be safe, but even then I would still get creeped out walking through the house at the dead of night.

One night, like always, we started at the front door. My mom jiggled the handle of the front door twice to make sure it was secure, then leaned froward and peeked through the window. I stood beside her, holding her hand, staring into the darkness outside. Nothing moved.

We went to the laundry room next, making sure the back door was shut tight. Then we turned toward the den.

The plastic drape hung there, separating the finished part of the house from the construction zone. My mother walked up to the plastic drape turned to me and said “Just a quick check.” We stepped inside.

The air felt colder there. The staircase stood at the far end, lead up to the unfinished second floor.

And that is when I saw her.

She walked quietly, almost gliding, across the room and slipped beneath the staircase. She was wearing white shorts. I remember that clearly. Everything else about her felt sort of blurred. Like my eyes couldn’t quite focus.

I tugged on my mom’s hand.

“Who’s that lady?” I asked her.

My mom froze.

“What lady, mija?” she said.

“The one in the white shorts,” I said, pointing toward the stairs. “She just went under there.”

My mom’s grip on my hand tightened. “Show me,” she said.

We walked slowly across the room and reached the stairs, but no one was there.

No sound. No movement. Just the hollow space beneath the steps, dark and empty.

My mom stood there for a moment, staring into the shadows. Then she said “Well, mija I guess she is gone. But next time you see her ask her why she’s here.”

I never saw the woman again”

The Teller’s Thoughts (LP): LP says that while she was very young at the time and didn’t fully understand what was happening or what she was seeing, she definitely believes this experience had a lasting effect on her.

LP believes that what she saw that night was a ghost and even though she never saw that woman again she is confident that what she saw that night wasn’t a trick of her eyes. LP said that while the story does give her chills to tell she is not scared of the ghost woman and believes her to a good spirit.

Her and her mother continued to carry out their daily night checks until the renovations were completed but nothing strange ever happened.

My Thoughts: I think that LP did actually see a ghost because of how vividly she remembers the experience even after so many years. That kind of clarity makes it feel more meaningful than just an ordinary childhood memory. While I recognize that her young age could have influenced her perception, the intensity and lasting impact of the moment makes it harder to dismiss the occurrence as just childhood imagination. It creates the sense that something unusual may have actually happened and that there may have actually been a ghost that walked underneath the stairs that night.