Ghost in the Closet

I grew up in an older house in Michigan.  I lived there for over 20 years, and during that time unexplained "events" occurred.   The things that happened in that house did not happen often, but when they happened, they tended to be "big".    Really big.

One of my earliest memories of this phenomena occurred during one of my older sister's birthday parties.  I was about 4 years old, they were playing hide and seek.  I was too young, and not really part of the party, so my sister and her friends hid, one went to seek them out, and I decided to watch. 

I remember thinking that one of the best places to hide in the house was in our downstairs coat closet.  The closet was about 3 feet deep and 5 feet wide.  Besides being able to hide among the heavy winter coats, there were also enough boxes on the floor to easily conceal one's feet and legs. 

After a short time, everyone was found except for one person.  My sister and her friends were convinced that she was hiding in the basement so they all went downstairs.  I ran to the coat closet and opened the door.  Sure enough, there were feet standing on top of an old 8mm projector case.  I pulled the coats aside and saw a child peering back at me.   He was thin, pale, and seemingly frightened.  He put his finger up to his lips and made a "Shhh" sound.  I heard my sister and friends coming back up the stairs and so I quickly closed the closet door.

My sister found the friend who was indeed hiding in the basement, but I explained to them that there was one more in the coat closet.  They laughed and told me that everyone had been found.   I angrily opened the door and said "He's right HERE!"   Except there was no one there.  I dug through the coats and I recall being very frightened.  Where did that boy go?  There was no other way out of the closet.  To get out, he would have had to open the door and walk past me.  He didn't.

The memory of this event has made me feel uneasy off and on during my entire life.  I still cannot make sense of what happened and who/what it was that I saw.  Little did I know that in future years similar things were going to occur in that house, both to me and to my younger brothers.

As of this writing, my childhood home has been vacant and unsold for nearly 10 years.  While it's technically vacant, I very much doubt that it's truly "empty".