I hear of a rumor that the pine woods at Guilford are haunted. I hear that they\u2019re a portal to another dimension, another world. I post this on my Twitter, and one of my classmates reaches out, tells me that they\u2019ve heard spirits in the woods. Another says they brought a dowsing rod into the woods, spoke to the creatures in another dimension. There are a lot of dead dogs in the woods, they say. The dogs can protect you from the negative spirits. Don\u2019t go to the pine woods alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next day, I go to the pine woods alone, ask my roommate Theo to join me when he gets out of his class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I find a stick that I can use as a makeshift dowsing rod. I feel silly, but ask, \u201cIs anyone else here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m not sure how exactly to use a dowsing rod. You’re supposed to use two sticks, and the ghost can move them. However, all I have are twigs, and I hold them out, wait for an answer. The sticks shake a little with my hands, but don’t seem to be nodding or moving on their own. The wind asks me to move them slightly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I drop the stick. If there\u2019s a ghost, I leave it to them to appear and let me know they want to haunt me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While I\u2019m waiting for Theo, I look for pinecones. It feels as though it should be easier than it is to find them, but most of them are chipped or broken. I want a complete, full, whole pinecone. Instead, I find twigs and needles, twigs and needles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I dig through the needles, see how deep they go. It turns into dirt about two inches down. My hands smell like pine, and I put my hands below the needles. I worry a spider or beetle will crawl out, climb up my arms, think I\u2019m a tree to make a web on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m still sitting on the ground when I hear Theo\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSee any ghosts yet?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think they\u2019re waiting for you.\u201d I brush the pine needles back over the small indent where I\u2019d placed my hand. My nails have dirt underneath their beds, and I rub my palms together, heating the dirt into the creases on my hands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Theo and I lay on the pine needles, looking to the sky. I listen for sounds, but the only clear ones I hear are my own small movements on the needles. A warbler sings its song up above, dissolving in the wind. I hear my own breathing. Theo clears his throat. I close my eyes, try to feel the land.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I hear of a rumor that the pine woods at Guilford are haunted. I hear that they\u2019re a portal to another dimension, another world. I post this on my Twitter, and one of my classmates reaches out, tells me that they\u2019ve heard spirits in the woods. Another says they brought a dowsing rod into the … Continue reading “Hauntings”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[44],"class_list":["post-1219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-kathleen-herbst"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ds.guilford.edu\/classes\/english\/228-2019s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ds.guilford.edu\/classes\/english\/228-2019s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ds.guilford.edu\/classes\/english\/228-2019s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ds.guilford.edu\/classes\/english\/228-2019s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ds.guilford.edu\/classes\/english\/228-2019s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1219"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ds.guilford.edu\/classes\/english\/228-2019s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1501,"href":"https:\/\/ds.guilford.edu\/classes\/english\/228-2019s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1219\/revisions\/1501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ds.guilford.edu\/classes\/english\/228-2019s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ds.guilford.edu\/classes\/english\/228-2019s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ds.guilford.edu\/classes\/english\/228-2019s\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}