JULY 4, 2013

It was the 4th of July 2013. The fireworks had long subsided as a pack of me and 5 friends were walking down to the water from a party (I’m sober, always have been, although I can’t attest to the mental state of my friends that night). As we made our way down Allison we decided to head to the small park close by, Good Turn Park. As we enter the park from road walking north, we see a woman dressed in what I assumed was cosplay because she looked to be straight out of a Victorian era period piece. She her dress and headpiece or hat were both a sort of yellowed cotton color, as if it once were white. I remember the details… she was obviously wearing a corset and the fabric was extremely intricate with different types of stitching. She had these little tan leather chunky-heeled booties that were reveled under the dress when she would stand on her toes as she looked up and down the street with her hand above her eyes like she was trying to see off into the distance. Next to her was a suitcase, leather matching the boots, with a handle that indicated it had clearly been used many times. As we gleefully approached the park we slowed down a bit, all taking a moment to register what we were seeing. However, Seattle is a quirky place and us being Seattle locals were not phased. We walked into the park, (it’s really very small,) and sat at the wooden table. I couldn’t shake the feeling that the woman might need help. Honestly, I thought maybe she was having some kind of mental episode or was in distress in some way. I got up to go check on her, and as I turned around I saw her coming into the small clearing with the table we were seated at. Not walking on the *only* path that leads into the park (total of maybe 30 feet) but straight up coming out of the bushes at us. She was staring at us like she was pissed, but not saying anything. Some of my friends kinda laughed, trying not to be rude, and continued on. But two of my other friends and I looked at each other apprehensively… at this point she begun walking in a circle around the table. I remember straight up saying “NOPE!” and breaking the circle because if horror movies have taught me anything, there’s something magical about circles. She turns to me sharply and gives me the most haunting look. At this point I ask her if she’s alright and if she needs help, to which she just continue staring at me, occasionally looking at my friends too, as if she can’t hear us. Needless to say, we’re all completely spooked now and decide to leave the park and the woman with it. We’re walking along the path to exit the park, I keep looking back to make sure she’s still behind us. We exit the park to find she’s right back where we saw her the first time, standing on the side of the road out front the park, looking up and down the street. Although this time, the air is FILLED with slowly floating Dogwood tree cotton puffs, the kind that that we get here in Seattle for a couple days in the spring… but… it wasn’t spring… and none of them touched the ground, they all just kept floating around as if there was no gravity. We begin walking briskly away but and as soon as we pass her I turn back to take one last look… and of course, she had disappeared!

Submitted by Rae