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The Murtaugh Ghost

It was a typical southern Idaho summer in 1970—hot and dusty. A couple of my friends and I had gone to Murtaugh to work for a farmer named Cosby. We were young, strong and energetic. The farmer gave us a place to stay; it was an old broken-down trailer to live in. Actually, it wasn’t such a bad deal; we worked for a decent salary and we got our housing for free. As is typical of guys our age, we were pretty wild and partied in the evenings. We imbibed and did other reprehensible things that teens did “in their teens” and at that time.   One boring evening, our conversation ended up on the topic of ghosts and the supernatural. Nothing scared me, not the creaking trailer, not the wind seeping through the cracks of our dwelling, not even the stories I was listening to that night. No, nothing scared me because I knew that my friends were just trying to scare me and I knew that their stories were surely taken from a page in horror fiction and not convincing.  No, I didn’t scare easily even though the night was windy, intimidating, and eerie. Finally, I said “Enough of your ghost stories!” I was tired of hearing inventions and concoctions. Then, I made a bold statement. I said that if there be ghosts in Murtaugh, let them show themselves to me. I would welcome them that evening! I dared them! But nothing happened, just the gusty wind.  Fatigued and exhausted from the day’s work, we finally stopped telling tales and went to bed. I was confident that I had exorcised any malevolent beings in Murtaugh. But late into my slumber, I found out to the contrary. I was awakened by a strange feeling that somebody was standing over me. I was hesitant to open my eyes but finally gathered enough courage to do so.  There was enough light from a small lamp that we kept on all evening to give me enough illumination to see a dark figure standing next to my bed. He approached and I froze. I couldn’t move. I was completely incapacitated except for my eyes that kept in constant motion. But I couldn’t even scream out for help! And the figure got closer and closer, larger and larger. Finally, when he was within “touching” distance, he disappeared as miraculously as he had appeared. It was not a figment of my imagination and I knew it.  The next morning, I told my friends about the incident, but they didn’t believe me—and I am not so sure if they believe me even today. But I swear that I was awake and conscious of what was happening even though my body was magically paralyzed as if something or somebody didn’t want me to move.   After that evening, I never “dared” any ghosts to prove their existence to me. I had learned that the supernatural is a ghastly phenomenon not to toy with.   But what gives me grief even today is that my dark companion never quite left me. He grew “attached” to me and followed me virtually to the ends of the earth. In 1971, I joined the Navy and my companion continued to haunt me; I have been haunted by him ever since.   Indeed, this is a case where a ghost is not attached to a place where there was a scandal, an outrage, a murder, if you will. On the contrary, this ghost follows me everywhere I go; I have, in fact, become his dwelling place. But I do not fear him as I once did. On the contrary, he doesn’t petrify me anymore and I can move and talk enough to tell him to leave me in peace. Perhaps he is finally paying attention and is also tiring of me; his visits are rare nowadays. Perhaps I am no longer of any interest to him—after all, it has been about a year since his last visit. Finally—although I pity the poor “devil”—it is just possible that he has found a new partner in Murtaugh!  Amando Alvarez Submit Your Ghost Story By emailing us at Idaho_ghosts@yahoo.com or posting to our message board!