This is a spine-chilling story of a little girl who witnessed something unforgettable in her neighbor’s home. When Perla, the beloved town sweetheart, lost her husband under mysterious circumstances, strange occurrences began to haunt her house.
The Story
“When I was three, my sister saw something terrifying: she saw our neighbor’s ghost. This story begins at our neighbor’s house. Her name was Perla, and everyone loved her. She was the town’s sweetheart. After school, she always went straight home. The poor old lady had no one to talk to since her husband had died 20 years earlier.
One day, after coming home from church where they had just witnessed the baptism of my oldest sister, Perla was cooking tacos de bistec while her husband Antonio was getting ready to shower. When she finished cooking, she served herself and her husband a plate and waited, as she always did. After six minutes passed, she called for Antonio, who was supposed to be showering, but he did not reply. She could hear the water hitting the floor, so she thought, “I will wait a couple of minutes, and if he does not come out, I will go check on him.”
Seven minutes later, she got worried and went to check on him. Mind you, he had been in the restroom for 13 minutes, plus the time it took her to cook the bistec and make the tacos. She ran up the stairs as fast as she could and saw her husband’s lifeless body. It seemed intact, with no wounds. She was shocked. My mom said she even heard Perla scream. After hearing the scream, my mom asked Perla what was wrong, and Perla hysterically told her that her husband was dead.
Years passed, and one time when my sister was five, my mom wasn’t home, so she went to Perla’s house when the bus dropped her off. The neighbor was nice but somewhat eccentric, but my sister didn’t mind. She always loved Perla’s stories. After five years of visiting her house, my sister went to see Perla again. As usual, she went inside and called for her. Perla responded, “Mija, ¿quieres un tamal? (Would you like a tamale?)” My sister said, “Sí, muchas gracias. (Yes, thank you very much.)” She then heard someone in the shower and shouted into the restroom, “Can I just grab one?” Someone responded from the kitchen, “No está bien, ya te estoy sirviendo. (No, it’s fine, I’m already serving you.)”
She then ran down the stairs and asked, “DID YOU LEAVE THE SHOWER ON???” Perla said, “No? Why?” My sister then said, “I think someone broke in and is taking a shower!” Perla started laughing and said, “Who would….” My sister then told me Perla’s face became ghastly white. She had never seen someone so terrified. My sister heard a knock on the window, looked out, and saw an old man outside. She screamed, and everyone came into the room. They all asked, “What’s wrong? What’s wrong?” My sister then said, “I saw a man outside my window.” My mom grabbed the phone and called the police. She then described our neighbor’s husband to a tee. After that, Perla moved out and died a few years later.” -Anonymous (Pearl’s Neighbor)
