ditchswitch
Paranormal Novice
Ok so here's my ghost story - I've had several paranormal-esque experiences, this was one of the most memorable and yet most mundane.
I was working at a local coffee-shop here in Denver called "Common Grounds" (so original) it's pretty well known here in town, and they have a second one by the same name down-town - this happened at the one in NW Denver. It was after we had closed, the front door was open, not standing open, but not locked. Another important detail was that the back door of the store had been locked, this door opened out to the alley outside. This was a lock that could not be opened except by a key. I always locked that back door right away because I didn't like the thought of anyone being able to come into the store after closing from the alley ouside These two entrances were the only two in the store - front and back door. At the time the following occurred - my co-worker was vacuuming in a section of the coffee-shop where she could not see the front door - and I was doing closing type sidework behind the counter - which is in full view of the front door, it is a fairly small shop. As I was working behind the counter a women came in the front door - and walked purposefully past the counter I was working behind, to the back of the store - and I heard her go into the bathroom in the back and shut the door. She did not look at me as she passed, her appearance was very mundane - she had brownish curly medium length brown hair - was wearing some kind of tee shirt - and sort of tight stretch pants. She was not really overweight - but somewhat rotund, definately not thin. At the time I thought nothing of it - I assumed she was a friend of my co-worker (people often had their rides - if they arrived early come in and hang out as we finished closing.) - there to pick her up or something and using the bathroom. After a bit my co-worker passed me by - she had stopped vacuuming and was doing other closing stuff - I asked her if she was expecting a ride and if she had seen the woman come in - she said no on both accounts, I wasn't suprised she hadn't seen the woman, as she had been vacuuming in another part of the shop. At this point - I revised my guess as to who the person was - now I assumed she was someone who had come in the store just to use the bathroom, possibly someone transient - or maybe even looking for a place to shoot up or something. And I began thinking of her as a possible
liability , just the awareness that there was a third person in the store who had been back in the bathroom awhile - and various scenarios began to occur to me - mostly involving - hoping she was not passed out or something, and that we would have to do something about her b4 completing closing obviously. It absolutely did not occur to me that she was anything other than a person - who I would have to deal with in some capacity. More time passed - and at this point I was listening pretty carefully - waiting to hear a door opening, And knowing pretty soon I was going to have to go back there and deal with her, and I also had not cleaned the bathrooms yet - which was part of our closing stuff. Finally I went back and the door to the women's restroom was closed - i knocked on it - no answer - knocked again, no answer. Completely prepared to see someone passed out - or deal with some wierdness - (not paranormal at all - regular strung out person drama) I went in, no one was there. Suprised - i went into the men's bathroom, that door was open, no one there either , and then - starting to feel a bit freaked I checked the storage room - and cleaning closet - no one was there. I asked my co-worker at the front of the store if she had seen anyone leave as i was in the back - she said no - and by that time she had locked the front door too, which we usually did for safety at a certain point. So there's my story - to this day it stand out in my mind as one of the most unexplainable experiences I have ever had. So there it is - to this day I will swear up and down that there was no way that she went past me when i was doing anythings else, the back door could NOT be opened without a key and was much heavier door anyway - and im sure it wasn't the d/Users/joeltagert/Desktop/cover_0_side1.jpgoor I heard shut. The only thing I can think of to this day was that perhaps she had her own key - but again I was listening like a hawk for the sounds and even with the vacuum running the sound i heard was a bathroom door shutting - not the heavier exit door being opened with a key - and then shut again.
I've never had an experience like it before or since - where all of my senses were very very clear about what I had seen and how completely inconsistent it was with going back there and not finding anyone. At the time, once I realized there was no one but the 2 of us in the store - I remember being very rattled - I've had lots of odd experiences - but nothing like this before.
I was working at a local coffee-shop here in Denver called "Common Grounds" (so original) it's pretty well known here in town, and they have a second one by the same name down-town - this happened at the one in NW Denver. It was after we had closed, the front door was open, not standing open, but not locked. Another important detail was that the back door of the store had been locked, this door opened out to the alley outside. This was a lock that could not be opened except by a key. I always locked that back door right away because I didn't like the thought of anyone being able to come into the store after closing from the alley ouside These two entrances were the only two in the store - front and back door. At the time the following occurred - my co-worker was vacuuming in a section of the coffee-shop where she could not see the front door - and I was doing closing type sidework behind the counter - which is in full view of the front door, it is a fairly small shop. As I was working behind the counter a women came in the front door - and walked purposefully past the counter I was working behind, to the back of the store - and I heard her go into the bathroom in the back and shut the door. She did not look at me as she passed, her appearance was very mundane - she had brownish curly medium length brown hair - was wearing some kind of tee shirt - and sort of tight stretch pants. She was not really overweight - but somewhat rotund, definately not thin. At the time I thought nothing of it - I assumed she was a friend of my co-worker (people often had their rides - if they arrived early come in and hang out as we finished closing.) - there to pick her up or something and using the bathroom. After a bit my co-worker passed me by - she had stopped vacuuming and was doing other closing stuff - I asked her if she was expecting a ride and if she had seen the woman come in - she said no on both accounts, I wasn't suprised she hadn't seen the woman, as she had been vacuuming in another part of the shop. At this point - I revised my guess as to who the person was - now I assumed she was someone who had come in the store just to use the bathroom, possibly someone transient - or maybe even looking for a place to shoot up or something. And I began thinking of her as a possible
liability , just the awareness that there was a third person in the store who had been back in the bathroom awhile - and various scenarios began to occur to me - mostly involving - hoping she was not passed out or something, and that we would have to do something about her b4 completing closing obviously. It absolutely did not occur to me that she was anything other than a person - who I would have to deal with in some capacity. More time passed - and at this point I was listening pretty carefully - waiting to hear a door opening, And knowing pretty soon I was going to have to go back there and deal with her, and I also had not cleaned the bathrooms yet - which was part of our closing stuff. Finally I went back and the door to the women's restroom was closed - i knocked on it - no answer - knocked again, no answer. Completely prepared to see someone passed out - or deal with some wierdness - (not paranormal at all - regular strung out person drama) I went in, no one was there. Suprised - i went into the men's bathroom, that door was open, no one there either , and then - starting to feel a bit freaked I checked the storage room - and cleaning closet - no one was there. I asked my co-worker at the front of the store if she had seen anyone leave as i was in the back - she said no - and by that time she had locked the front door too, which we usually did for safety at a certain point. So there's my story - to this day it stand out in my mind as one of the most unexplainable experiences I have ever had. So there it is - to this day I will swear up and down that there was no way that she went past me when i was doing anythings else, the back door could NOT be opened without a key and was much heavier door anyway - and im sure it wasn't the d/Users/joeltagert/Desktop/cover_0_side1.jpgoor I heard shut. The only thing I can think of to this day was that perhaps she had her own key - but again I was listening like a hawk for the sounds and even with the vacuum running the sound i heard was a bathroom door shutting - not the heavier exit door being opened with a key - and then shut again.
I've never had an experience like it before or since - where all of my senses were very very clear about what I had seen and how completely inconsistent it was with going back there and not finding anyone. At the time, once I realized there was no one but the 2 of us in the store - I remember being very rattled - I've had lots of odd experiences - but nothing like this before.