I was never a believer in the supernatural. I never gave it
much thought since I myself had never experienced anything
that could be described as even remotely supernatural. When I heard people talk about something that either they themselves or a friend or relative had experienced, I always scoffed at their stories. Now I perk up my ears and listen to every word, because I am still trying to convince myself that I wasn't
hallucinating, "the night I saw a ghostly bride".
I had only visited my Aunt Helen a few times, so I wasn't
really familiar with the roads that ran across town. I
remember thinking how well maintained the City kept their
roads. Traveling these roads were a pleasure. I was use to
roads speckled on both sides with various size pot holes. I
was looking forward to a family gathering. We were sure to have a good time, and I wasn't disappointed.
I had left Aunt Helen's quite late that evening. The night
was brisk and very clear. It would be a nice drive back to the
city. When I got into the car I wasn't sure if the turnpike
was North or South of the quite suburban street. I looked
around to try and get my bearings, when I spotted the lights
that I assumed came from the large fuel tanks that were on
both sides of the entrance to town. They were like beacons,
pointing the way.
Well I can't go wrong if I just keep the lights in my view,
so that was the direction I would head. I was driving for what
seemed only a few minutes, when I found myself on a dirt road.
I must have turned off the main road, but couldn't see how
that was possible. I was a State Policeman at the time and was
on the road constantly, how could I have just driven off the
main highway within a matter of what seemed like minutes.
"Nothing to do but keep going." I told myself.
The road was dirt and narrow. As if a veil had fallen over
the road, the fog was coming in so fast I had to slow down to
the lowest mileage without stalling out. The visibility was
only about fifty feet. I could smell the marsh that ran along
the side of the road. That seemed to be where this fog was
rolling in from. I could barely make out the sides of the
road. There seemed to be ditches on both sides. Well If I just
keep moving along it's bound to bring me back to a paved road,
I kept telling myself.
Just up ahead I could make out a small one lane wooden
bridge. As I got closer I could hear the ripple of the creek
that ran underneath. As I started across my eyes blinked in
disbelief.
Standing on the side of the road a few
feet from the bridge, stood a woman dressed in a BRIDAL GOWN AND VAIL. I started to roll
down the window as I approached this poor unlucky bride. "They
must have broken down, and her husband went in the other
direction to find help" I reasoned with myself. Rolling to a
stop directly in front of her, I leaned out to ask if I could
be of any assistance. The fog was thick around her, yet a
breeze played around her vail. The vail blew away for an
instant, and I was looking into an ...EMPTY VAIL....No face, just a vale
blown aside and surrounding emptiness. The hairs bristled on
both my neck and arms, as I hurriedly started to roll the
window back up, the much too warm fog started to seep into the
car. I stepped on the gas and in the blink of an eye I was on
a paved main highway. THIS was
something I will have to think and re-think a dozen times in
my mind. Hopefully tomorrow's light will put this whole
experience into a rational explanation.
Though it meant a couple hours drive going back to Aunt
Helens; I decided it was worth the trip back to try and find
the DIRT ROAD. With all the fog
that was surrounding the area it was quite possible for me to
have missed seeing the turnoff, where I must have turned. I
also wanted to see the marshes in the sunlight.
I arrived back into the small town early in the morning. I
drove over the same route that I had traveled over the night
before. Back and forth, up one street and down another and
still NO DIRT ROAD. Aunt Helen
said she would have been surprised if I had found one, as to
her knowledge there are no dirt roads any where in that area.
My experience happened in the early fifties. I never really
sorted it out in my mind. Years later reading a supermarket
tabloid, I read of an identical incident which happened to
another lone driver on a lonely dirt road. It was
nowhere near the dirt road I was on. WAS
SHE SEARCHING FOR THE WAY HOME?
Submitted by: Name Withheld