The Scariest Thing I've Done

This is personal history topic #2.  On my paper, I wrote -- SEE STUPID STORY BELOW.

I really had to think about this one.  I'm sure there are several times in my life when I have been scared out of my wits, but I think I have blocked them from memory to keep my sanity.

The scariest thing that came to my mind happened just a few years ago.  While on one of my adventurous drives I discovered Silver City, Idaho in the top of the Owyhee mountains.  Not so long ago this town was a booming mining town with thousands of people roaming the moutainside searching for their fortune.  I stopped in for a bite to eat at the Silver City Hotel.  As soon as I stepped inside I knew I was destined to  return to spend a night in the old hotel.  I told my family about the discovery, and a couple years later I managed to talk my oldest brother Mike and his wife Kerry into making reservations.  I even coerced my roommate Dalelyn into going with us.

We arrived at the hotel just before dark.  The restaurant had already cleaned up dinner, but they were nice enough to make us sandwiches to hold our hunger at bay until morning.  The manager showed us to our room, the Presidential Suite, on the second floor at the end of the hallway.  The old floorboards moaned and groaned under us as we walked to our room.  The room had two queen sized beds, a couch and table and a couple of chairs.  We looked around admiring all the vintage decorations; exploring all the nooks and crannys in the room.  We talked about our lives and laughed and played games until close to midnight when we decided it was time for bed.

As we took turns walking down the hallway to the bathroom, I had this wild idea to take a tour through the rest of the hotel.  It took some convincing, but soon everyone was willing to go.  The hotel had been rewired with solar panels as their main source of energy, so at night the lights were extremely dim.  Lucky for us we had a couple of flashlights to shine on our midnight escapade.

We explored all the dark corners until we came to the stairs leading up to the third floor.  We paused with anxiety.  Should we go up there?  Should we go back to our room?  The hairs on the back of my neck tingled with anticipation.  Mike, being the man in the group, led the way up.  We slowly crept upward, eyes dilated, ears straining to hear the slightest sound.

At the top of the stairs we flooded the hallway with our lights.  Black empty doorways stood open, beckoning for us to walk in and be swallowed up.  We ventured through the rooms until we reached the end of the hallway to find another bathroom.  My heroic six foot, four inch brother kept us safely behind him the whole way. 

We were so entrhralled with thoughts of living in the past, and discussing all the intricate details of the old hotel we didn't notice something was missing until it was too late.  As we stepped out of the bathroom, we realized Mike had disappeared!  HE LEFT US ALONE!!!  In fear we huddled close together and moved in unison slowly back down the hallway.  At each menacing doorway Kerry threatened, "Mike if you scare us, you are dead!" or, "Mike you better not be in there!  I'm serious!  You will be in serious trouble if you scare us!"  At each doorway we stopped to whisper mortal threats and then race past with fright.

Finally we reached the stairway that led us safely back to the second floor.  We hurried back to our room to find Mike safely tucked in bed, wondering what had taken us so long!  We laughed and laughed over how frightened we were and Mike wasn't anywhere near us!  Once we had calmed our nerves, we hopped safely into our beds and slept.

You would think an experience like that would cure me from ever venturing down dark hallways again, right?  You give me too much credit!  I'm not that smart!

The next morning while everyone else was getting ready for the day, I again found myself at the bottom of the stairs leading to the third floor.  This time I was without a flashlight.  The sun was shining in through the windows at the end of the hallway, but the hotel was still dark and the lights still dim.  I managed to make it to the top of the stairs.  However, as I peeked into the first room the hair on my neck prickled in warning.  My mind whispered, "You should not be up here!"  I backed away from the room and thought, "You're just being silly.  Keep going you sissy." 

I stepped past the first door and made for the second.  This time my mind screamed, "YOU SHOULD NOT BE UP HERE!"  I froze with fear.  Logically I couldn't justify this terror, but I couldn't ignore it either.  I spun on my heels and scurried to the stairs.  I hesitated long enough to feel something stalking me from behind and the voice in my mind shrieked, "GET OUT NOW!"

I flew down the stairs to escape the imagined nightmare that lay behind me.  Once at the bottom, my fear abated and I paused to catch my breath.  I turned and peered up the stairs again wondering, "Was there really something up there waiting to terrorize me?"  I didn't want to find out, so I collected myself and calmly strolled back into our room as if nothing had happened.

I enjoyed our adventure at the Silver City Hotel!  I would encourage everyone to make their reservation today!  Step back in time and spend a night or two reliving the "Old West".  Just don't do it ALONE!