Radnor Road House - Boooooo!

This house is in Norfolk, Virginia and we lived in it when I was a little girl of about 6 years old.  I hated this house because it was haunted.  No that was not a typing error, I said it was haunted and I meant it.  This house literally drove me to distraction.  My older sister, parents and cousins will vouch for it. 

I am going to tell you a funny story about me that happened while I lived in this house but you needed to know that this house was haunted before I told you the story so you can see why the story would be so funny and... stupid.

Now I don not want to hear nay laughter from anyone reading this incident.  I have rolled in the floor may times since, but not on the evening that it happened!

While living in our haunted house I had become very frightened to be alone in the dark.  My parents did not believe me about the ghost at first and so they were trying to help me "grow out of my fear of the dark."

One tie I forgot it was my turn to feed our Collie (dog) Tanya.  Her pen was just behind the garage with a doggie door that allowed her to come into the garage for inclimate weather and to eat.  Since it was my turn to feed her and I had forgotten I was sent to the garage to do the job, needless to say it was dark.  Now, a few days earlier I had gotten a "glow in the dark" chick about one inch in size from a Cracker Jack box as a prize.  I had used black thread to make a necklace for my chick prize to hang around my neck.

My father, ever the teacher, told me I could not turn the light on as I went out to the garage to retrieve and fill the dogs' food bowl.  I, ever the obedient child, did exactly as I was told and did not turn on the light.  As I bent over to pick up the bowl, my chick necklace come into view... GLOWING!  I had forgotten I had the necklace on and that the string was black.  There it was in front of me like an eerily glowing eyeball.  I began to swat at it so vigorously I nearly strangled myself in the process, all the while screaming the genuine scream of terror.  Once I realized what it was I was swatting I started to cry, laugh and tremble all at the same time.  I finished my chore as quickly as possible and went back into the house a total nervous wreck.  I tell you one thing I learned:  I never forgot to feed the dog in the daylight again! 

I am laughing even now as I type this just remembering that poor frightened little girl that was sure she was going to die from a glowing Cracker Jack prize on a piece of black sewing thread.  (swiping tears of laughter).