Spooky Lore: The Ghost of Mason's Lake

Mason's Lake Book Two: Echoes of Mason's Lake

A Sneak Peek into the Mason side of the family and a ghost story that surrounds the characters. See how this ghost influences and drives their search into the Mason wilderness that surrounds them.

Mason's Lake Book Two: Echoes of Mason's Lake - The Ghost of Mason's Lake

The area around the lake was dark tonight as Jake sat on a bench behind the family villa. Earlier that day, his cousin Dena had handed him an ancient Bible from one of his paternal grandmothers that had been passed down through the family. On the inside of the front cover, Jake saw her name:

Gloria Rae Alden-Mason.

On the opposing page, there was a list of family members, written in the order of their births, and Jake quickly gazed down the line. He noticed that only his direct line of ancestors were listed on it, with the husband first, followed by m. for married and the wife's name. He took his finger and touched each name as he followed them down the line.

John Alden m. Minnie ?

Harry Alden m. Martha Hunt

Eli Mason m. Gloria Alden

Henry Mason m. Andrea Cartwright

Christopher Mason

He noticed that it stopped with his father's name, and no wife was attached to him. "Gloria must have passed before my father met my mother," Jake said quietly to himself, as both he and his mother, Madison Jackson Mason, weren't listed with the others. He surveyed the names once again, and saw that Gloria was his great-grandmother. This was the first time he ever heard of her name, and he was instantly intrigued by her for some odd reason. Maybe because his was her Bible, he wondered. But he suspected there was more to it than that. Her name seemed to pull at his strings and make him want to discover who she was.

Looking closer at the Bible, he saw papers tucked inside a few of the pages. They were old and worn and haphazardly stuck out of the book's edges. He grabbed the first page that was folded neatly and tucked inside the front pages of the Bible. On it, he discovered the same script that held the names of his ancestors. "Possibly Gloria's handwriting?" he thought to himself. Jake looked at the heading: The Ghost of Mason's Lake, by Gloria Alden-Mason.

Sitting straighter in his seat, Jake blew out a long breath. Was this a story that she'd written? A Journal? Or was it something else? He knew he had to read on in order to discover what he could about this ghost.

June 27. Tonight I took a long walk after dinner, trying to clear my head of my daily duties around the house. Some days there is much to do, and at times it runs me ragged. I asked Eli if he'd like to take a stroll along the lake, but he was tired from his long day of farming, so I went out alone.

The evening was warm, being late June, but there was a nice evening breeze. It was a perfect night for a walk. It was getting darker as I slowly moved along the west side of the lake, but because I enjoy the peace of the place and my walk along the water, I didn't mind. I ambled along for a good ten minutes when my mind was suddenly interrupted from its rumination. There was movement across the other side of the lake. I peered up and stopped.

And there she was. The ghostly woman who wandered nightly up and down the lake, apparently looking for something there. I hadn't a clue what she sought; there was nothing there that I could see, but she continued her slow movement along the other side of the lake.

This wasn't the first that I've seen her. I'd seen her several times before, but nothing ever came of it, because nothing ever changed with her. She did the same thing every time I saw her, night after night. And it was always during the evening just as the light of the earth rang low along the lake.

I watched her movement for a few moments, silently strolling up and back, searching above the water. She appeared persistent, moving back and forth, periodically stopping, searching for something. When she looked my way, it didn't seem she even knew I was there, quite possibly because I am not the person she sought. But I find it unnerving that this ghost strolls up and down our lake most nights, searching yet never finding that thing she seeks to find! I wish she would see me here and could carry on a conversation with me. Then I'd find out who she is...and why she paces the other side of our lake.

I watched her a few minutes longer, strolling to and fro, then I turned back to the villa. After all, watching her longer wouldn't change a thing for her or for me, as ghosts typically do what they do, and sometimes it is always the same thing, night after night. It is like she cannot get away from there or her search for whatever it is she seeks.

I wonder what Eli would think if he knew that I could see this ghost. Or that I have grown up with people who encountered ghosts on a daily basis. He'd probably think me crazy; send me to the asylum the next town over!

Jake finished the entry and sat very still. He was shocked at what he'd discovered about his Mason ancestor. He had thought this ability to connect with spirits came from his mother's side of the family. Reading his great-grandmother's journal gave him a surprising bit of information about his paternal side of the family, and it absolutely astonished him!

They could see ghosts, too. Just like the Jackson side of his family, the Mason side held a bit of the supernatural, too. Having both sides of his family able to connect to the spiritual realms beyond this one, made him stop and really think. Could that be what made his abilities stronger the exact moment he stepped on Mason land? He wondered. It was a possibility. He also wondered about the ghost.

Was Gloria's ghost and his ghost, one and the same? Jake needed to find out.