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The year was 1950, in Alderson W. Va. It was late in the summer, but the
nights were still a decent temperature. Nice enough for 11 year old boys
to stay out late, and try to stay out of trouble. David Honaker and I
had just come from the Presbyterian Church where occasionally we used
their lawn to lie on our backs and look at the stars. Couldn't get in to
trouble for that. We finished that part of our evening and walked down
the street to the bank and turned the corner where to I lived over the
drug store. There was no one on the streets and all the stores were
closed. We stopped at the door that led upstairs to my home. David sat
down on the rock step and I followed. Obliviously we weren't ready for
bed yet.
We chatted some more, usually about cars, and then heard a loud
mechanical "click" that sounded close to us and if it were coming from
the opening in the partition* between the drug store and Russell's
department store. Both our heads turned quickly toward the sound. Then
another loud "click". A bright light emitted from the opening, and then
a whoosh of air. At the same time, another light even brighter, appeared
on the side walk as if marking a pathway through the opening. (*This
partition had a door which led to stairs of the second floor of
Russell's store. There was also a gate on the left that gave access to
the rear of several of the building on the street. We use it as a short
cut.)
Both of us jumped up and ran over to the door of the partition. David
was first and as soon as he looked inside he stopped, and stretch out
his arms as if to keep me from going on. As our eyes adjusted to the
light, we saw a compartment. The best way to explain it was that it
looked simply like the inside of an elevator with a sliding door on each
side. The doors were slid back as if it was waiting for us to enter in.
Needless to say we didn't go in. First, what we were seeing shouldn't
have been there. We should have seen the stairs that goes up to the
second floor, and also the gate that leads to our shortcut, and, without
all that light.
We moved slowly, walking backwards,
keeping our eyes on the compartment and the doors. We stopped about 6
feet away. Another loud "click" and the light that looked like a path to
the door went out. Then, immediately after, another loud "click", the
sound of a whoosh of air and the other light went out. We stood there,
not moving and waiting for our eyes to adjust, with only the street
light to see anything. We look at each other. David said, "I gotta go
home". "Me too" I answered.
I didn't see David for a few days. I was in the drug store sitting on
the penny scales, reading comic books when David came in. I said "where
have you been?" "At home" he answered. I said, "I guess you got the
nerve to walk by that door. He grinned and said, I came here by the back
side of town so I wouldn't have to walk by that door". I said, "Yeah, I
know what you mean, I haven't been to the movies in days to keep from
walking by it".
Several weeks passed and we both eventually got the nerve to walk by
that doorway. We later decided to stay up late one night and wait to see
if the phenomena would happen again, but it didn't. The weather turn
much cooler and neither of us cared to stay out late at night. Besides,
our folks would have soon realized what we were doing.
David is no longer with us,
Russell's store, and the space between it and the drug store is now just
a empty lot. It's been many years since it happened and I rarely think
of it, maybe it really didn't happen. The one question that always come to mind
was, what if we had gone through that door?
Now you might be asking, "Why
didn't you tell someone? We thought about it, but realized no one would
believe us. Did you?
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