This is a continuation of my post: A Flash In The Graveyard, where I describe my first venture into a haunted cemetery. That experience left me determined to find answers. Answers to what? I'm not really sure I knew. I just knew I had to return to that place. Less than two weeks later, I did.
The Phantom Foghorn
The cemetery is located on a small island in western New York. Adjacent to it is a large hotel that has changed ownership over the years. It was a Holiday Inn at the time of this story. An inlet of water separates the two. The inlet is a big hangout for ducks.
Only having been there at night, I can't really attest to the layout of the cemetery. I remember a lot of trees and bushes. It felt more like being in a forest than a graveyard. It was a clear, mid-October night between the hours of 11 pm and 3 am. The temperature was in the 40's f.
"How big is this place?" the new guy, Tim, nervously asked. We had already trekked deeper into the cemetery than last time. Our goal was to find Tanya's grave. We only knew it was in the back, in the older part. Of course, none of us knew the layout or size of the cemetery. And, due it's wooded aspect, the darkness was hard to penetrate even with flashlights.
There we stood. Four of us. Three from the previous excursion. The fourth heard about our experience and wanted to come along. Fine. He was there for the same reason we were, to make contact with the spirit of this dead girl. "I have no idea," answered Jeremy.
This was clearly not the response Tim was hoping for. "How much farther are we going?" That was a good question. I fully intended on going all the way to the back. But each step became harder and harder. Not necessarily because of fear. Yes we were all afraid. But there was an energy around us that seemed to get thicker with every step. It eventually became like I was walking through water...
SPLASH
Before any of us could answer, the silence was broken by the sound of a loud splash coming from our right. Coming from the inlet! It sounded like a person jumping in the water! That sound was followed by the sound of dozens of ducks quacking frantically. As the sound of quacking died down, the four of us just stood there with incredulous looks on our faces.
Mark finally broke the silence, "What the fuck was that?"
"Tanya?" I replied. Everyone laughed uneasily. "I'd be playing with the ducks, too," I continued, "if I were her."
Jeremy called out, "Tonya? If you're here can you give us a sign?"
Listening, all you could hear was the water that surrounded the cemetery. A couple of seconds later I heard a foghorn go off in the distance. I heard it but I don't think anything of it.
Again, Mark broke the silence, "Do you guys hear anything?"
"Not really," Tim responded. Sounding not quite sure.
We debated whether or not to continue going deeper into the cemetery. To find Tanya's grave. And we decided that was still the best option at this point. We didn't get far before we heard it again.
SPLASH
The same exact sound. Like someone jumping in the water right in the inlet. And, again, the sound of dozens of ducks quacking excitedly. This time we went over there to investigate. Once the quacking died down, of course. We saw ducks. They were just hanging out. We didn't see anything that would cause that splashing sound. There were nothing but ducks floating in the inlet. There wasn't anything or anybody near the shore either.
"There has to be something here," I declared, "This doesn't make any sense." We started to walk back into the cemetery. "Tonya? If you're here, can you give us a sign?" Once again this was greeted by the sound of water. And, once again, I heard a foghorn go off a couple of seconds later. This time I paid more attention to it. In fact, when I looked at Jeremy, he was looking at me. We've always had a weird connection. "Have you noticed that, when we ask for a sign, a foghorn goes off?" I said it to the group. But I was still looking at Jeremy.
"Yes," Jeremy nodded. "I noticed that too." Mark and Tim concurred. Between this and the splashing, it felt like we were being teased.
I pressed on, "Tanya? If you're here, can you give us a clearer sign?" We all listened. What I heard a couple seconds later was as clear as can be. Once again the foghorn went off. Except this time, it did a double tap. Honk. Honk.
We were so excited. After the double tap, we didn't hear anything unusual for the rest of the night. No horns, no splashes, and no crazed ducks. We were in that cemetery for about three hours. As you can imagine I've thought about that experience a lot. Can I say, for a fact, we made contact with a spirit? No. But, we saw no explanation for the splashing sound or the foghorn. Also, what were the odds that someone was on a boat at 2:00 in the morning, in 40 degree weather, honking a horn right after we asked for a sign?
As usual, though, whenever I seek out the unknown, I end up with more questions than answers. I hope you enjoyed reading this. 👻
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