THE GHOST OF PINEWOOD ELEMENTARY

Ann

It was Tuesday night, May 31, 2016, in Marysville, Washington. My friend Ann Velasco and her daughter Karen were on the way home from their walk and cut through the grounds of the Pinewood Elementary School at the end of their cul-de-sac. In her curiosity, Ann stepped over to peek through the window into the school's kitchen, while Karen stood back, fearing she might get in trouble.

Looking through the kitchen to the darkened cafeteria, Ann was startled to see a boy on a bike ride past the kitchen doorway leading to the gym! His head was down and Ann said he looked as if he was riding "home." It was baffling, because the gym was dark but the boy was lit up as if from a streetlamp. There were no windows to cast this light, nor was it a reflection from a kid riding past behind them. Either the boy was wearing red or his bike was red, but it was so fast that Ann was not sure which.

She thought it might be a real boy, perhaps the janitor's son, but it was a tiny gym and he was going too fast and going straight, and was a teen or pre-teen in size. And, Ann said, the lighting on or from him was weird, too. The gym was black except for the light shining on the kid. It was like a street light shining down on him, showing only him and not the interior of the gym.

And so the Pinewood Elementary School has a ghost -- perhaps a boy who was killed there while riding his bicycle?

Well, the following night Ann and Karen went back to the school and started peeking again, still having no explanation for what they saw. Then Karen saw something move, and they went around to the side of the building. The door opened, and a small man with sandy-gray hair poked his head out. It wasn't a ghost or a janitor's kid; it was a kid-sized janitor! With a kid-size bike! Riding around in the middle of the night in a dark gym with one light! He explained that his doctor told him to get more exercise so he was practicing where no one could see him, so he could ride his bike around in the summer.

Ann asked him if he ever sees anything strange there at night, and he said, "Sometimes I see people walking around in circles and peering through the windows. It kind of creeps me out."




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