Campfire Tales

We had just gotten back from a Halloween party when John, being the only non-believer in ghosts, asked Karen and me if the stories about the many sightings of ghosts in the old ghost town were true. Of course, we said they were all true, and of course, his response was, "These stories are just a bunch of made-up stuff to keep nosey people from vandalizing the old town."

"Well, if it's not true, then why don't all of us camp out tonight at the ghost town and put these old stories to rest once and for all?" I replied. I told John that I would get my tent and some blankets. Karen volunteered to bring some food and flashlights, and John said he would bring some firewood, beer, and his guitar. I decided we would all ride together in my car. Everyone was excited about telling our friends at school all about our spooky tales when we got back, but little did we know that there would be no tales to tell because we would never be heard from again.

As we were driving down the dusty, country road John was strumming on his guitar as we all sang along joyfully. We were having the time of our lives just being together because we were such great friends. Just up ahead of us was a man in the middle of the road on a horse.

"Slow down!" Karen exclaimed. 

I immediately slammed on my brakes. John doesn't scare easily, but this man on the horse in the middle of this dark, deserted road gave John the willies. The closer we got to the mounted figure the more frightened we all became, but we just kept driving. We blamed it on the beer we were drinking and proceeded to the old ghost town. We just couldn't face all of our friends the next day and say we were too scared to camp out there. We would be the laughingstock of the school, so we continued onward.

As we approached the entrance to the town the car stalled. We were not going to walk back home since it was too far and we didn't want to end up running for our lives from that mysterious man on the horse. So, we gathered our belongings and crossed through the entrance. We turned our flashlights on and looked for a safe place to camp for the night.

"Where did that man on the horse go?" Karen asked as we walked.

"Who knows and who cares," John quickly replied.

All of a sudden the mounted figure appeared and charged full steam ahead in our direction. His eyes were as red as fire. We all froze in our tracks. He rode right through us as if we were the ghosts. It was enough to turn any skeptic into a believer. I told everyone to get our cell phones out and call our parents to come pick us up, but none of our phones would get a signal.

"Well it looks like we're stuck here for the night," John said, "we may as well make the best of it."

"This looks like a good place to pitch a tent--right next to the saloon and bank," I replied. John placed the firewood on the ground and tried to get the fire started while Karen and I got the tent set up. We all gathered around the campfire to keep warm and sang a few songs to try to lighten the mood. Karen decided after a while that we should tell some stories about the old ghost town.

"All right, who wants to tell their story first?" Karen asked excitedly.

John put his guitar down, took another gulp of beer, and said, "Since I'm the biggest skeptic, I'll tell my story first. My father told me this tale when I was a little boy.