Better do this before I forget or time is of the essence.....
"Julienne Crescent".
Around the age of 13 and 14 these "ghost stories" use to circulate around my high school about this "ghostly man" being seen up in the new subdivision of my hometown.
A very old Maori man with tattoos on his face.
That particular area had been cleared over some months (still under development) and new homes built on top of it, so when the stories started up I didn't think anything of it because it didn't affect my life one little bit and it seemed like it was just made up.
However, the stories never stopped, and there was a consistency with what was being told.
Fast forward two years on.....
I remember some girls talking about it in class, so listened to what they they were saying.
It seemed this ghostly man was only ever seen around one house up in that area and that he often walked around the garden and either banged on the windows and doors...or both.
One man saw him when he was coming up the drive way one night (drinks with mates) and took off out of fright.
Another person inside the house went to answer the door when someone knocked at it only to find no one there and then when he went back to the kitchen - guess who was staring at him through the window?
And most stories were along those same lines.
I said to them: "You will never get me up there! " (Hell No).
As it so happened some months later I landed a babysitting job, nowhere near there, and although I didn't need the money it was a great way to show my father I could be independent and to GET ME OUT into the world even if it was across the other side of town.
Anyways, about 3-4 months into my "babysitting stint" I got a phone call one night and was asked if I could help someone out with two children that was new to town and needed a babysitter as they wanted a night out for dinner. YES! The address was up in the new sub division, but I didn't even think about it.
This was in my last year of high school.
The house was right on the corner of the street and a two story building. Lovely front garden and a garage. I liked it from the first time I saw it as it just gave such a good vibe. The couple were neat and so were the kids and I became their regular babysitter for some time. I had so much fun in that place and discovered a whole range of classical music and artists and was introduced to very fine tastes in cuisine.
In my country at 16 years old (back then) a lot finish school at that age, but if one wants to go on to University (or other), one more year has to be completed. That was me. So, none of the kids that had told those stories in my classes from the age of 13 were around in my last year.
Not sure how it happened, but at some point I did get to catch up with some of those girls and was telling them about going to the USA soon and my babysitting jobs etc etc etc. Life was really good. I had stopped working then as my trip was just around the corner.
As it happened it did come up - who I was babysitting for and where.
Some of them went really quiet and the reason they were that way inclined was because the house I had been babysitting in all that time - was the friggin haunted house!!!!
I never knew which house it was and even if I had been told I would not have known where because it was an area under development when I was 13 and I had never been in it. Not until that babysitting job.
I was soooooooo unamused.
But you know what? That old man with the tattoos on his face never once bothered me or the kids. Kids pick up on things like spirits and they were absolutely fine.
However, when I was talking to the very first person I babysat for who got me that job and told her about it all, she told me she had seen him and not just the once! She would not go into the house or visit them after a time. But she never told anyone as she didn't want to be labelled crazy.
As for them, when I was in the USA they moved, but I was told it was because he had been promoted elsewhere.
They had bought that house but were not the first owners, but would have lived in it less that 2 years. And it would have been the same for the person before them too.
That I do find interesting thinking on it now......