Still Waters Run Deep

Everyone loves a good ghost story, at least when they are safe and warm in their bed. It is easy to enjoy a scare when you know it is just the product of someone's imagination. However, when you are surrounded by a mystery that no one will believe, it is less than enjoyable. In fact it is downright terrifying. The small community of Southdale found themselves surrounded by a dark mystery in the summer of 1984. This is their story. I found this twisted tale in some old newspaper articles I came across while doing research for my next book. I became mesmerized and maybe a little obsessed with what I discovered on that old microfiche. So I hunted down the leads that were presented in the articles and did some more digging of my own. What I dug up was haunting and too intriguing of a story to not pass it on. This ghost story is a little different than the usual tales of men with hook hands and headless horsemen. It is laid out for you here, in the form of my research and excerpts from the original newspaper articles that sparked my curiosity.

Families In and Around Southdale Suffer from Mysterious Illness. Southdale Gazette, June 25, 1984. That was the first headline that grabbed my attention. The article described the illness that was slowly taking over a town. It was odd to me because the article described the illness as a physcial condition but the shared symptoms seemed more psychological in nature. The commonalities among the residents included: sleep disturbances, irritability, depression, anxiety, and hallucinations.

After this strange story I started looking for stories before this one to see what might have lead up to this mystery illness. I found an article dated May 03, 1984; Southdale Gets a New Water System. I'm still unsure what exactly caused me to read this boring sounding article. Looking back I think it was my intuition or maybe even divine intervention at play. The story went on to say that the residents of the town were complaining about the century old water system that was the life blood of the town. Pipes that were buried over one hundred years ago were rusting and collapsing one after another. This was keeping the local water maintenance man working nearly 24\7 fixing one busted pipe at a time when the state government finally stepped in and upgraded the whole system.

I felt that there must be at least one more story connecting these two occurrences. I mean it's well known that water can cause illnesses if it has been contaminated in some way. It didn't take me too long to find another article that fit into the path of breadcrumbs I was traveling. While Upgrading Southdale's Water System State Officials Discover a Strange Well; June 7, 1984. The article seemed nonchalant about this mystery. However, it gave me chills up and down my spine that day as I read about the well. It had been sealed up about eighty years ago. That was what the officials guessed but really had no idea just how long it had been sealed. When the water maintenance man explored the well they found that even though it was sealed on the topside it was still connected to the main water system. When they tried to seal off the pipes underground, they accidently released the contents into the towns water supply.

Well shit, I thought to myself, that can't be good for anybody. So, well, I dug deeper (no pun intended) and there was an article about testing the water that was released. The article was titled; The State Completes Testing of Southdales Water After Upgrade, June 13, 1984. The story was a proud one stating that after extensive testing the water was now clear of any and all contaminates. I was not convinced that the water was all clear given the mysterious illness that took over the town just a couple of weeks after the testing was complete.

I went home but this unraveling story was consuming my thoughts. I had to find more breadcrumbs to lead me to the piece that connected it all. The next day I set off to the town of Southdale. I researched and I found three people that agreed to talk to me about that time period and what they experienced. One was the daughter of the maintenance man, the other was one of the people who suffered from the illness, and the third was a woman who had extensive history on the town.

They were all very friendly and actually seemed relieved to finally share their experience. The daughter told me how she was terrified during that time. She was only about ten years old when the well was discovered. She told me about how her father was gone all the time trying to fix the decaying water system. She said he grew increasingly irritable, depressed, anxious and couldn't sleep due to nightmares. The day he found the well out in the woods he came home white as a sheet. She said he was never the same after that day. The well was out in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the woods. The nearest house to the hidden well was at least two miles away. This was too far for the well to be connected to that house, but it could have been the source of water for some other structure that had disappeared long ago. I asked her what happened to her father and she sadly replied that he had to be placed in a mental institution after he started talking about the shadow man that followed him everywhere. He believed that the man came out of the well. He described a human shaped figure that was made of shadow, with long arms and bright green eyes. It was the eyes that haunted him the most. Her father said that the eyes were judging him and all his life choices. Leaving him feeling guilt, fear and shame. I thanked her for her time and promised to send her a copy of my book when I was done.

Up next, I drove out to the person who actually had the illness in 1984. His story was short and somewhat uneventful. However, it did connect a lot of dots. He reported the exact same symptoms as the maintenance man even down to the shadow man with the green accusing eyes. This man did not know the story of the maintenance man. It seemed that this man was able to overcome his symptoms but it took him a decade. As I was walking out he added that the only side effects he still has is the shadow and the eyes. What he added gave me chills again, like in the library when I read about the well. He said "Now he only shows up in my nightmares but he is still an energy vampire". I had to stop at that and ask what he meant. He said "He seems to grow stronger when I am feeling strong emotions and he shows up. He becomes more solid, less shadow and more demon. After these visits I feel exhausted for days."

I thanked him and rushed over to the do the last interview. I had a deadline to meet so this was going to have to be quick. This woman was very different from, well honestly anyone I have ever met. She is a local mystic energy healer, medium and tarot card reader. I told her what all I had discovered and she gave me a sweet, knowing grin. She said "You mean to tell me that you do research for a living and you have never heard about the power of water?" She didn't let me respond to that question and she went on to tell me what happened with the well and the town's water. The old well was once connected to a house that was occupied by a practitioner of the mystical arts. Similar to herself but this man practiced the dark arts while she only works with the highest white light. This man had to escape from his house one night when the towns folk were chasing him. He fell in the well but his body was never found. The well was then sealed up and forgotten. "So he still haunts people but he is not connected to just that well. You see water holds emotions, it actually changes the molecular structure of the water. Research that and you will see it is backed by science. So when the well water was released into the towns system it was poisoned, but not with chemicals or bacteria. It was poisoned with negative emotions."

Then it hit me like a ton of bricks and all the breadcrumbs came to the destination. I will never look at a glass of water the same again. I did the research and she is right. Water is way more powerful than we realize. Please do your own research and respect the water you intake daily. Water not only holds negative emotions but positive as well. I urge you try to drink a cup of happiness and joy everyday.