One early Sunday morning, I was working chapel duty. It was at the largest chapel on the base I was stationed at, and I happened to also be the NCOIC of the building. That meant I had the door keys and knew every last hiding place and nook and cranny. It was around five in the morning, well before the Catholic mass start time. It was snowy outside and very windy and I was the only person there.

I started turning lights on one at a time, from the side door to my office and long hallway leading to the sanctuary. As I turned the nobs of the very high ceiling lights on one by one, the room was gradually bathed in light. Early winter mornings had an air of creepiness to them in the building. I've never been a fan of the dark though. Satisfied that every light was on, I went back to my office to grab the coffee supplies from my locked closet. 

Duty mornings were mundane but they had a strict routine we had to follow. I wanted to get the alter set up before the cranky priest showed up, so I abandoned the coffee setup and made my way back into the sanctuary. I walked to the stage area but before I got on the first step I heard a voice. 

"Ma'am..." a voice softly said. 

Startled, I turned quickly around and saw a woman with dark long hair, bundled up in winter gear, staring at me from the last row of pews. She was standing in the aisle and had a wet trail behind her from the snow on her boots. 

"Can I help you?" I asked, concerned. 

"Do you have any tissue?" She asked, sniffing. 

She had been crying. I told her to wait a second and I jogged to my office. Retrieving a Kleenex box, I jogged back into the sanctuary. The woman was no where to be found. I looked everywhere for her. All around the building I looked. Most of the rooms were closed and doors locked so it didn't take very long. 

She was gone. 

I finally checked the doors that the wet footprints had come from, thinking I might have absently unlocked them without remembering. They were locked. I never figured out how she'd gotten in and I never saw her again. 

Was she a ghost? 

😁👻

Happy Halloween and thanks for reading!

This story is an original work from the author, K E Jennings. If you see this on any other site besides Wattpad, it was stolen without the authors permission.