Weird Tales of the AH

[slyc_willie]

"Truth is stranger than fiction."

Oh, is it, now?

Prove it.

We've all had those moments when something strange has happened, something inexplicable that was either merely observed and ultimately inconsequential, or so strangely affecting that it altered us forever. This is the forum for such things, be they wandering musings and curious anecdotes or serendipitous events that made you think . . . 'wow.'

Inspiration could be found here . . . .

I'll start.

After finally landing at SAT after flying in from Chicago, I took the shuttle to the bus stop, caught a ride to the closest transit center. When my bus arrived, I climbed aboard, taking one of the bench seats toward the front. I took cursory note of what few fellow passengers there were, including a dark-skinned, elderly black woman seated in one of the foremost front-facing seats. She wore a multi-colored shawl over a fairly simple dress, horn-rimmed glasses on her nose.

A few other passengers got on, got off as the bus made it's way. Finally, a stop before mine, the older black lady pulled the cord to signal her stop, got up, and left. To the driver, she said, "I appreciate your hospitality, young man. God bless."

Her words struck me as more than a little out of place in a world ridden with the 'me first' attitude. Here was a gracious, polite, respectful woman. She even patted the driver on the arm before getting off. Made me smile.

Then I looked to where she had been sitting. The month before, the bus company here had paid homage to the Civil Rights movement of the 60s by demarcating one of the first foreward-facing seats of every bus with the legend, "Dedicated to the memory of Rosa Parks."

The seat which the amiable black woman had occupied was emblazoned with those words.

For some reason, the woman's politeness, harkening back to an earlier era, combined with her dress . . . it just seemed right. I had the impression that, if I looked out the window to watch her walk away, 'Rosa Parks' would fade away into the twilight.

Or maybe it was just a matter of coincidence and imagination.

I've probably a couple dozen stories or so along similar vein from my personal life, ranging from the mundane to the near-supernatural. But I'd like to hear about yours.

So, what unusual, stranger-than-fiction events have colored your life?

 

[S-Des]

Sorry, can't share mine (which is a shame because it's a really good one ). Just wanted to say that yours was a great story.

 

[slyc_willie]

Sorry, can't share mine (which is a shame because it's a really good one ). Just wanted to say that yours was a great story.

I'm of a mind to chalk mine up to writer's imagination . . . but it could have happened.

Another:

Years back, I was heading home from work. Late night, buses weren't running, I had to make the half-mile trek to home. As I passed beneath one of the street lights, it sputtered and went out.

Hmm. Interesting.

I kept walking. The next one went out just as I walked under it.

Hmm. Weird.

Then another. And another.

Four lights in a row. Timing? Maybe.

I turned onto my street and the two lights I passed beneath continued glowing. But as soon I put the key inthe lock of my apartment, the security light on my building fizzed out . . . .

Go on, DES, share your story.

 

[SweetWitch]

This might be along the lines of what you're looking for:

My daughter was nearly three, strapped into her little car seat, happily chatting away. We were on our way home in the midst of a late snowstorm that seemed to pop up out of nowhere. It was a real blizzard, complete with white-out conditions and whipping wind.

We were just about 2 miles from home when a weird sort of vortex of wind and snow swirled up in front of us. I slowed the car. The snow appeared to be taking shape, creating a visible form on the highway. I slowed even more. Then I saw the shape of a wolf, its head turned to me and I could see its eyes looking straight at me.

I hit the brakes, slid sideways and came to a stop. The animal stood for a moment then took off running. By the third step, it had dissipated back to swirling snow.

The scene was a little disconcerting, to say the least. It took a moment for me to get my wits about me again and start back toward home. I was still moving slowly when I topped a hill and came upon an accident. Several cars had piled up and the one that had passed me just before the incident was on its top. The driver and one of the passengers were dead.

That car could have been us. We might have been in that pile-up. We might have been killed.

 

[DesertPirate]

I think Molly gets the prize so far
Erie, very erie

 

[mellowgyrl]

When I was in college a friend of mine and I were working on a project for one of our classes. It was getting late and we decided to resume the next morning. Her dorm was across the courtyard from mine. I walked her down to the front door of my dorm and watched her cross the courtyard and enter her dorm. She waved goodbye and I walked to the vending machine for a soda and proceeded upstairs to my room. I passed another girl on the way. We exchanged hellos and I called it a night. The next morning the buzz around the dorm was about how a girl had been abducted from the lobby of my dorm at 1:15am. It was the same girl I had passed coming back to my room. It always worried me that had she not come down that could have very well been me!

 

[Stella_Omega]

There's a story about a four-star hotel in the South of France, and a gothy, drug-addicted maid in that hotel who went crazy one night-- goaded by the Mistral wind-- and terrorized the guests, aided by her Lebanese cook boyfriend and the little red-haired other maid who seemed to be part of their ménage-- only, I've never been able to put it into a coherent whole...

 

[voluptuary_manque]

ROFL
The only weird thing that ever happened to me was once while bicycling across the university campus I rolled down a ramp and then hit the side. As I saw the concrete approaching my face, I heard my judo instructor's voice just behind my right ear say ". . . and don't forget to slap." I hit, slapped and rolled back up on my feet. Best fall I ever took.

 

[neonlyte]

There's a story about a four-star hotel in the South of France, and a gothy, drug-addicted maid in that hotel who went crazy one night-- goaded by the Mistral wind-- and terrorized the guests, aided by her Lebanese cook boyfriend and the little red-haired other maid who seemed to be part of their ménage-- only, I've never been able to put it into a coherent whole...

Maid huh...


Red head?




The SO is usually the source of the 'stranger than fiction tales'... though Raphy would confirm I PM'd him the day after he married Whisper and told him I'd imagined them marrying, they had told no one on Lit, - it's the only time I've ever recorded a 'premonition'... I have them fairly often, most too difficult to believe.

So.. the SO.

October 5th, London, 2003. It's our wedding anniversary, and Portugal's National Day... and her cousin's birthday.. and a good friends birthday.

Anyway... the wife got invited to the National Day celebration lunch at the Portuguese Embassy, I wasn't invited and relegated to chauffeur into London; we were then traveling on to the south of UK to spend the weekend with friends.

We left home late... might have something to do with private Wedding Anniversary celebrations. Driving into London, the wife decided she needed to shave her legs... yes... she'd brought MY shaving cream, a razor, and a towel. Trying to drive while the wife is lathering up next to you, legs spread across the dashboard and lorry drivers honking horns alongside is no mean feat. We arrived unscathed, un-knicked and (on my part) substantially aroused.

After lunch... we set off out of London heading south. The wife was immaculately dressed for a reception... far too smart for meeting with friends. She decided to change clothes. Not wishing a repeat of the pre-lunch distraction, I pulled off the road and into the underground car-park of a superstore. The wife got undressed and... well... one thing led to another... and we were getting on quite fine, if a little cramped when we were lit up by the headlights of the car parked in front of us.

I'm not sure who was more shocked, us or the other driver, though she did have the good grace to laugh.

The missus... I can't take her anywhere. Remind me to tell you the story of when she went skinny dipping in a fountain at Expo 98... with a police car alongside. I'd seriously like to take her to a Lit-together but I'm not sure anyone would be safe.

 

[sr71plt]

"Truth is stranger than fiction."

Oh, is it, now?

Prove it.

We've all had those moments when something strange has happened, something inexplicable that was either merely observed and ultimately inconsequential, or so strangely affecting that it altered us forever. This is the forum for such things, be they wandering musings and curious anecdotes or serendipitous events that made you think . . . 'wow.'

Inspiration could be found here . . . .

I'll start.

After finally landing at SAT after flying in from Chicago, I took the shuttle to the bus stop, caught a ride to the closest transit center. When my bus arrived, I climbed aboard, taking one of the bench seats toward the front. I took cursory note of what few fellow passengers there were, including a dark-skinned, elderly black woman seated in one of the foremost front-facing seats. She wore a multi-colored shawl over a fairly simple dress, horn-rimmed glasses on her nose.

A few other passengers got on, got off as the bus made it's way. Finally, a stop before mine, the older black lady pulled the cord to signal her stop, got up, and left. To the driver, she said, "I appreciate your hospitality, young man. God bless."

Her words struck me as more than a little out of place in a world ridden with the 'me first' attitude. Here was a gracious, polite, respectful woman. She even patted the driver on the arm before getting off. Made me smile.

Then I looked to where she had been sitting. The month before, the bus company here had paid homage to the Civil Rights movement of the 60s by demarcating one of the first foreward-facing seats of every bus with the legend, "Dedicated to the memory of Rosa Parks."

The seat which the amiable black woman had occupied was emblazoned with those words.

For some reason, the woman's politeness, harkening back to an earlier era, combined with her dress . . . it just seemed right. I had the impression that, if I looked out the window to watch her walk away, 'Rosa Parks' would fade away into the twilight.

Or maybe it was just a matter of coincidence and imagination.

I've probably a couple dozen stories or so along similar vein from my personal life, ranging from the mundane to the near-supernatural. But I'd like to hear about yours.

So, what unusual, stranger-than-fiction events have colored your life?

A great "image" story for a short, short story snippet in a mainstream magazine. You might puruse this one.

 

[christabelll]

I have so many of these kinds of experiences I just sort of lose them now....
But heres one -
Three days after my daughter was born by c-section I was having a terrible night mare... In it there were several people I knew and others that only come around in dire circumstance, complete strangers etc...
This terrible tightness sat on my chest and I struggled to walk through the pavillion where everyone was gathered. They kept looking at me with pity and tears. I was at a loss. Then I saw a tiny casket on the stand at the other end of the outdoor pavillion with my newborn daughters picture framed on top of it. One woman, I didnt recognize said, "I dont know how you can be so strong." Again the horrible weight crushed me and I struggled to consciousness tears streaming down my face the ache and desolation of grief still holding me in its grip.

It was oh maybe 6 in the morning when my Doctor and my Daughters Pediatrician came into my room. Just the looks on their faces terrified me.
Then they told me my daughter had a severe heart murmur and was being transfered to pediatric cardiology. They explained that the Patent Ductis Arteriosis hadnt closed and it was causing her tremendous stress.

Needless to say they almost had to put me in the cardiology wing. Her PDA was closed when she was 5 months old with a coil and catheterization. We were lucky. But my dream forshadowed her loss if things had been different. I was really lucky that her pediatrician didnt ignore the slight murmur that became worse and tracked it dillegently.... Her cardiologist was a sweetheart and when she reached 20 lbs fixed her right up... She went from being a rather pale baby to this robust pink faced little charmer!


more tales later my heads screaming

 

[slyc_willie]

I have so many of these kinds of experiences I just sort of lose them now....
But heres one -
Three days after my daughter was born by c-section I was having a terrible night mare... In it there were several people I knew and others that only come around in dire circumstance, complete strangers etc...
This terrible tightness sat on my chest and I struggled to walk through the pavillion where everyone was gathered. They kept looking at me with pity and tears. I was at a loss. Then I saw a tiny casket on the stand at the other end of the outdoor pavillion with my newborn daughters picture framed on top of it. One woman, I didnt recognize said, "I dont know how you can be so strong." Again the horrible weight crushed me and I struggled to consciousness tears streaming down my face the ache and desolation of grief still holding me in its grip.

It was oh maybe 6 in the morning when my Doctor and my Daughters Pediatrician came into my room. Just the looks on their faces terrified me.
Then they told me my daughter had a severe heart murmur and was being transfered to pediatric cardiology. They explained that the Patent Ductis Arteriosis hadnt closed and it was causing her tremendous stress.

Needless to say they almost had to put me in the cardiology wing. Her PDA was closed when she was 5 months old with a coil and catheterization. We were lucky. But my dream forshadowed her loss if things had been different. I was really lucky that her pediatrician didnt ignore the slight murmur that became worse and tracked it dillegently.... Her cardiologist was a sweetheart and when she reached 20 lbs fixed her right up... She went from being a rather pale baby to this robust pink faced little charmer!


more tales later my heads screaming

I like that.

Every mother's nightmare and their sweetest dream, all in one.

 

[slyc_willie]

I great "image" story for a short, short story snippet in a mainstream magazine. You might puruse this one.

Hadn't really considered that possibility, sr. But you never know.

 

[LoquaciousLady]

Most of my genuinely odd stories revolve around weather. For instance, I was 3 days old when a tornado ripped through my home town, destroying the hospital I had just been released from among other buildings. Alone not particularly disturbing but a almost two years later my family moved to Wichita Falls. Three days later, just shy of my second birthday, Terrible Tuesday happened. For the uninformed, that's when an F4 tornado roared through town at rush hour, killing nearly 50 people.

Some years later, as a lass of 13, I was out in the rabbit barns one day feeding when the rabbits when wild. Two of them started screaming and the rest were jumping around in a frenzy. Maybe a minute later the entire barn lifted up off the ground, moved six feet west of where it was, and sat back down again completely intact. It turns out that it was an odd weather phenomenon involved in the formation of tornadoes. The tornado formed, essentially, on top of the structure I was in.

 

[secretme]

Human nature?

So you see those commercials where a girl walks by and she's so gorgeous that all the guys in the surrounding area fall all over themselves, literally, as she walks by oblivious to her affect on the males in her vicinity.

Yeah, unbelievable and funny. Thats why they make the commercials.

So I'm sitting and waiting for class. I'm in the lobby of the building and there are a number of guys standing around. I'm not entirely unattractive or unobservant and there were a couple of them staring, with that maybe-I-could-go-talk-to-her look. I studiously ignored them. That usually puts them off. As one of them starts to walk in my direction, staring directly at me with intent I might add, the doors swing open and an exceedingly attractive woman comes walking through. It was as though time stopped for those guys. Every head looked up and watched as she walked through. And the comedy began. The guy who had been walking toward me virtually wrenched his neck and actually tripped to watch her walk through the next set of doors. Two of the other ones took steps forward to look around the corner as she passed.

I watched it all in disbelief. "I'm sitting in a gum commercial," was my actual thought.

So when the girl was gone time sped up again, the guy got up off the floor, embarrassed as all hell, looked at me almost apologetically and took off urgently for class.
Not that I wanted to be hit on, but WTF!

All in all strange experience. I think I'll be looking at gum commercials differently from now on.

 

[ms.read]

Most of my genuinely odd stories revolve around weather. For instance, I was 3 days old when a tornado ripped through my home town, destroying the hospital I had just been released from among other buildings. Alone not particularly disturbing but a almost two years later my family moved to Wichita Falls. Three days later, just shy of my second birthday, Terrible Tuesday happened. For the uninformed, that's when an F4 tornado roared through town at rush hour, killing nearly 50 people.

Some years later, as a lass of 13, I was out in the rabbit barns one day feeding when the rabbits when wild. Two of them started screaming and the rest were jumping around in a frenzy. Maybe a minute later the entire barn lifted up off the ground, moved six feet west of where it was, and sat back down again completely intact. It turns out that it was an odd weather phenomenon involved in the formation of tornadoes. The tornado formed, essentially, on top of the structure I was in.

Are you sure you didn't just fart? *innocent smile*

 

[Gizzmotick]

I have had many situations where the "truth is stranger than fiction" line applies. Primarily, those situations revolve around dreams.

I have lost count of the number of dreams that I have had come true, in snippets and various situations. Anything from a sudden turn in conversation with my wife to a serious situation at work.

I keep scaring my wife with those tales...

 

[sweetness6280]

In my family, it's considered weird if you don't have these experiences.

A few shorts...

I have identical twin brothers who have had many psychic events. When they were 18, they worked for a manufacturing company in different departments. "Bob" was using a hand grinder on which one handle had been rigged with just some wire. He let go of the good handle and the wire bent, sending the grinder into his leg. It barely missed his femoral artery and left a gash in his thigh about 6 inches long. At the same time, "Bill" was in a completely different building, writhing on the floor clutching his left thigh. His co-workers could not see anything wrong with his leg, and he just kept screaming "Bob".

A few years later, "Bob" was at the movies on a date. His girlfriend later told us that about 30 minutes into the movie, he leaned over to her and said, "We're leaving." She asked why and he told her that she could stay but he was leaving now because "Bill" is in trouble. At that same time across town, "Bill" was paying for gas at a convenience store when a man pulled a gun on him. (Thankfully, he was unharmed.)

In 2004, we had a beautiful rose bush in our backyard. When my mother came for a visit in the spring, she sat beside it and remarked that her grandmother had roses the exact same color. The bush lost its blooms at the end of May that year. My mother died on June 8, and on that morning the bush was covered in fully blooming roses all day. The next day, they were gone.

 

[SeaCat]

I have many but I'll tell you about today.

My wife and I went for a short ride. We wanted to pick up a couple of movies at Blockbuster as well as a couple of things in the Grocery Store. (Nothing large.) We finished up our shopping and hopped on the bike. I fired it up and pulled out of the parking lot only to be stopped at a traffic light. As we sat there a group of four Sport Bikes came up to us.

We exchanged the usual nods and "Nice Bike" routine then the light changed. All of us payed on the gas but my bike stuttered and died so I rolled it to the side of the road. It took me all of two minutes to realise I hadn't turned the gas back on, turn the valve and fire the bike back up. I checked traffic even as we heard sirens up ahead. Finding a clear spot in traffic I pulled out and we headed for home.

Rounding a bend we saw a cruiser pulled across the road with more coming. There had been an accident. As we were waved b we were greeted by a scene from hell. Two bikes were pulled over on the side of the road. One bike was on it's side in the middle of the road with it's rider sitting beside it. The fourth bike though was crumpled under the back end of a Pick Up Truck. The rider was on the other side of the truck being attended to by a cop and an Ambulance crew.

From what I heard on the news tonight the truck had blown through a red light and into the bikes. One rider is in critical condition and the other was treated and released. The driver of the pickup was charged with O.U.I.

If I hadn't forgotten to turn on the gas I would have been with that group.

Cat

 

[Trombonus]

You'll think I'm crazy for saying this, but I've had several moments in my life where I've seen the future.

For once, I'm being totally serious.

For example. When I was in college, I once imagined myself sitting in a round room. The room went dark, and suddenly some strange person walked in, dressed in strange garb that looked like it had been ripped right out of the pages of a historical text. Not long after that I took an Astronomy class. One day as we were getting ready for class to begin, the lights went out, and in walks our teacher dressed as Galileo. She walked along the exact same path, and in the exact same manner as my previous vision.

Need more?

I once saw myself sitting in our Jazz Ensemble class, but it had different people in it. The most memorable of those unknown people was an Alto Saxophone player, who was asking a question. The following year of course we had a new section, and for the longest time I felt some weird connection with our new Alto Saxophone player. Then one day I realized who she was. I had never seen her before she joined band, and my vision came before that time.

Freaked me out.

Of course, none of these visions are of anything even remotely important. Just random moments in time. Plus, I've not had any in quite some time, at least not that I know of.

Weird.

 

[slyc_willie]

In my family, it's considered weird if you don't have these experiences.

A few shorts...

I have identical twin brothers who have had many psychic events.

I've always wondered about the apparent psychic link between twins. I work with a pair of twins, but they've never really had any moments like what you revealed.

From what I heard on the news tonight the truck had blown through a red light and into the bikes. One rider is in critical condition and the other was treated and released. The driver of the pickup was charged with O.U.I.

If I hadn't forgotten to turn on the gas I would have been with that group.

Cat

It's little events like that which have always convinced me that there is something at work around us, sometimes to protect, sometimes not.

You'll think I'm crazy for saying this, but I've had several moments in my life where I've seen the future.

For once, I'm being totally serious.

Weird.

I had a friend, when i was managing for Sears, who firmly believed everyone was psychic. It was all a matetr of sensitivity and belief, he said. Who knows, maybe he's right. Everyone I know has had at least a few moments in their life in which they intuited something they shouldn't have, or known something they couldn't possibly have known.

Fascinating stuff, guys.

 

[shereads]

Another strangely polite elderly woman story:

One day driving home from work, I saw that traffic was backed up because of an accident. I turned onto a side street I hadn't driven before.

Before my car could pick up speed from the turn, two young thugs blocked my way and I had to stop. Two more stepped up behind the car. My windows were all open, since the A/C was broken. All I could think was that this is what the last few moments of life would be like before I was shot in the head or carjacked.

Then an elderly woman in a flowered sundress and straw hat walked up to my window, gave me a quick evaluating look ("Terrified White Chick, Extra-Pale") and said:

"Honey, did we scare you? I'm so sorry! This is a drug street and we thought you might want some drugs."

"Um, nothing for me today. Thank you."

"Okay then. You have a good day, and God bless you!"

The thugs backed away and I drove home.

It's worth noting that of all the sales persons I've dealt with in recent years, only the staff at Nordstrom are as polite as the Drug Lady. Especially when there's no sale.



Edited to add: Are these supposed to be stories about psychic experiences and the supernatural? Sorry...My Drug Lady was no Rosa Parks. But she was awfully nice.

 

[shereads]

Some years later, as a lass of 13, I was out in the rabbit barns one day feeding when the rabbits when wild. Two of them started screaming and the rest were jumping around in a frenzy. Maybe a minute later the entire barn lifted up off the ground, moved six feet west of where it was, and sat back down again completely intact. It turns out that it was an odd weather phenomenon involved in the formation of tornadoes. The tornado formed, essentially, on top of the structure I was in.

Wow. That must have necessitated a change of underwear. For you AND the rabbits.

 

[slyc_willie]

Edited to add: Are these supposed to be stories about psychic experiences and the supernatural? Sorry...My Drug Lady was no Rosa Parks. But she was awfully nice.

Just weird tales. The nature of them is not important.

But I have to say that polite drug dealers have to fall into the 'supernatural category'

 

[Gizzmotick]

If I hadn't forgotten to turn on the gas I would have been with that group.

Cat

I had a similar experience on my bicycle. I was riding along Guadalupe Road in Mesa, Arizona. The road in front of me made a slight dog-leg turn to the left.

At the time, I was quite the accomplished cyclist, having ridden in many competitions (placing 13th in the State in my class). Needless to say, I knew how to secure my cycling equipment to my bike. Anyhow, it was a rather hot afternoon and my keys somehow fell out of a pouch which hung under my seat. I stopped to pick them up. I was about 100 yards from the turn up ahead. Just as I got going again, a truck blasted past me at about twice the speed limit (I'm guessing) and ran off the road at the turn.

The amount of time it took me to get to where the car ran off the road was about the same amount of time I was stopped to get my keys. Not sure if I would have been hit, but it would have been close at least.