I always get the chills when I remember this experience because it was the first and only time I clearly saw an individual I could call a ghost (I usually only hear and feel them or see shadows or smoky figures). Not this time. I could clearly see every detail...
I live in Barcelona. A few years ago I went on a weekend trip with a couple friends to a very small and very old village in the vicinity of Teruel, in rural Spain. The house we were in belonged to one of my friend's family. In Spain, really old houses have the building date carved in stone over the door, and this house had been built around 1770 (very old, but nothing too out of the ordinary!). The interior had been completely remodeled with Ikea furniture.
It was the middle of February and we were freezing! I had a small electric blanket for the night and I had trouble getting to sleep because of the cold. All the lights were off and my bedroom door was ajar. Suddenly, the hall light went on but I dismissed it, thinking it was a friend going to the bathroom. Then my door opened a little so I had a look.
A child of maybe 8 or 9 stood in the doorway staring at me, grasping onto the door with one hand. He had a very round, pale face with big dark eyes. He wore a white shirt and brown shorts with suspenders. I think he also had a brown cap. He sort of grew wispy below the knees. The outfit made me think of what boys typically wore during the 40's or perhaps earlier.
Now, I might have years of experience seeing ghosts, but that doesn't mean I'm cool about it! I panic each time I see one! In this case, I ducked under the covers, trembling - not of cold anymore - and thinking "not again, not again, not again." A few moments later I felt the light go off so I dared a peek. As I pulled the covers off I came face-to-face with the boy.
He was standing right beside my bed! My worst ever nightmare come true!
By then the encounter was turning into a bad horror movie, so I ducked under the covers again and thought happy thoughts until I eventually fell asleep. In the ghost boy's defense, I have to say that he in no way seemed aggressive. He actually had a puzzled look, as if wondering what the heck I was doing... In his room? Still, I was absolutely terrified.
The next morning I had no recollection of what had happened. At around lunchtime, my friends and I went to visit a nearby ghost town that had been destroyed during the civil war, and all of a sudden the entire encounter came screaming back to me. When I told my friends, they asked me to please not mention it because the rest of the family was scared enough already.
It turns out the entire family has heard footsteps and seen doors open and close in that house. Good thing I'm never going back there again!