I worked in the basement of a Caltech campus building that had been periodically haunted by the specter of the upper half of a roofer who had fallen from the six story roof twenty years earlier.
On the day of the 6.0 Whittier earthquakes of 1987 I arrived at the building an hour earlier than usual and took the elevator to the top floor where the snack bar was located. After buying a cup of coffee from the dispenser I strolled out of the snack room onto the penthouse balcony to gaze over the lovely campus. Just as I was about to take a sip1 of coffee the whole building jolted2 upwards3 and nearly knocked me off balance. Thinking the short earthquake could be a precursor4 to an even bigger earthquake, I turned to find my way to the stairwell. However, as I turned I was slammed to the tarmac so violently and swiftly that I had no time to break my fall with my hands.
As I struggled to crawl towards the stairwell I felt a sharp jabbing pain of my left ankle. I descended5 the stairs to the lobby and observed huge cracks in the corners and stumbled over chucks of plaster that had fallen onto the stairs. As I stumbled and limped through the lobby I encountered marble wall panels that had fallen and broken.
A few employees were huddled6 right outside of the building afraid to enter. When they saw me emerge from the building they called security and soon I was taken to the campus clinic. By the time I arrived I my left ankle was swollen7 and discolored and I could not put any weight on it. As I described the accident to the attending physician I could not account for the way I was injured since I was out in the open and completely removed from any objects.
Later as I drove myself home to Whittier I began to see more damage along the streets. It turned out that the epicenter of the earthquake had been in Whittier and my neighborhood looked like a war zone. Since aftershocks follow the larger earthquakes I decided8 to drive to Las Vegas, Nevada to visit a friend for a few days.
In the early morning darkness of my first night the doorbell rang, waking my hostess and me. As she turned on the porch light neither she nor I could see anyone from the front window. We then shrugged9 and went off to bed. A couple of minutes later the doorbell rang again. This time we repeated our steps much more quickly in order to see if a prankster might be lurking10 about. Again we returned to our rooms only to hear the ringing repeated.
Thinking the fuse box may be faulty; we determined11 which fuse to turn off to snuff the doorbell. As we settled back in our rooms the doorbell rang again in an oddly hollow ring. At that moment I began to realize that something must have been trying to get our attention.
That morning I called one of the local spiritual practitioners12 to discuss this phenomenon. She suggested that I come for an "entity13 healing" as soon as possible. Later that morning several practitioners came to sit in on the healing session. One of the practitioners picked up on a male who seemed lost and in need of direction. The group took turns directing their prayers of healing and lifting to this entity. One of them mentioned that lost souls often seek out those who are sensitive and spiritually aware.
When I returned to my basement office I was told by one of the long time employees that shortly before the building was completed one of the roofers had taken a fatal fall from the exact spot I was standing14 when his left ankle was caught in a coiled rope. His ghost had been seen by several of the employees over the years.
Could I have attracted the roofer while standing in the exact spot he died at the completion of the building during a major trauma15 to the building?
我在加利福尼亞理工大學(xué)校內(nèi)的一個(gè)地下室里工作。20年前，有個(gè)蓋屋頂?shù)墓と藦倪@棟六層樓的房頂摔了下去，從此，這樓就鬧鬼，那個(gè)工人的上半身總在這樓里游蕩。
1987年惠蒂爾發(fā)生6級(jí)地震的那天，我比平常早到了一個(gè)小時(shí)。坐著電梯到了頂樓的快餐店，從自動(dòng)售貨機(jī)買(mǎi)了一杯咖啡后，我踱出小吃店，走到有遮陽(yáng)雨篷的陽(yáng)臺(tái)邊，欣賞這可愛(ài)的校園景色。正當(dāng)我要嘬口咖啡時(shí)，突然整個(gè)建筑向上晃動(dòng)起來(lái)，我差點(diǎn)失去平衡。我想這個(gè)輕微的地震之后肯定還會(huì)有場(chǎng)劇烈的地震發(fā)生，便轉(zhuǎn)身想下樓去。但我一轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)身，我就被狠狠地甩倒在停機(jī)坪上，速度之快讓我都沒(méi)時(shí)間用手撐著不至于跌倒。
我掙扎著向電梯間爬去，忽然左腳踝傳來(lái)一陣劇烈的刺痛。我下樓來(lái)到大廳，聽(tīng)到角落里傳出很大的墻壁裂縫的聲音，我一瘸一拐得跨過(guò)樓梯上散落的一堆堆的石灰，穿過(guò)大廳，中途看見(jiàn)大理石的墻壁嵌板也掉下來(lái),摔碎了。
一些員工聚在樓外不敢進(jìn)去?？吹轿页鰜?lái)，他們叫了保安，接著我便被送到了學(xué)校診所。到診所的時(shí)候，我的左腳踝已經(jīng)水腫，都變色了，完全不能支撐身體重量。我向主治醫(yī)師描述事故經(jīng)過(guò)的時(shí)候，沒(méi)辦法說(shuō)清我受傷的原因，因?yàn)槲沂钦驹陂_(kāi)闊的空地的，周?chē)鷽](méi)有任何東西。
晚些時(shí)候，我開(kāi)車(chē)回惠蒂爾，沿途看到了更多的地震造成的破壞。原來(lái)地震的震中就在惠蒂爾，我家附近看起來(lái)簡(jiǎn)直就像個(gè)戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)。因?yàn)榈卣鹬髸?huì)有余震，所以我決定開(kāi)車(chē)到內(nèi)華達(dá)州的拉斯韋加斯，到我朋友那住幾天。#p#分頁(yè)標(biāo)題#e#
我在朋友家住的第一晚，天還沒(méi)亮的時(shí)候門(mén)鈴就響了，把我和女主人都吵醒了。她把手電打開(kāi)，我倆從前邊窗口望出去，沒(méi)看見(jiàn)外邊有人。我們覺(jué)得莫名其妙，便聳聳肩膀又上床睡覺(jué)了。幾分鐘之后，門(mén)鈴又響了。這次，我和朋友迅速走到窗邊想看看是不是有人在惡作劇，仍舊一無(wú)所獲。但當(dāng)我們回到臥室后，門(mén)鈴再次響起。
我倆認(rèn)為一定是閘盒壞了，便把控制門(mén)鈴的那個(gè)閘關(guān)掉。但我們回到臥室后，門(mén)鈴又發(fā)出了一種奇怪的空洞的聲音。那一刻，我意識(shí)到是有什么東西想引起我們的注意。
那天早晨，我去見(jiàn)了當(dāng)?shù)氐囊晃煌`者，和她討論了這件事情。她建議我盡快作個(gè)“實(shí)體復(fù)原”。那天早晨晚些時(shí)候，好幾個(gè)通靈者都來(lái)參加了復(fù)原儀式。其中一位通靈者揪出了一個(gè)貌似迷失方向，急需人指點(diǎn)迷津的男人。通靈者們輪番給這個(gè)男人進(jìn)行復(fù)原，讓他離開(kāi)實(shí)體。一位通靈者說(shuō)，迷失的靈魂通常會(huì)找那些敏感的或者在精神上有感應(yīng)的人。
當(dāng)我回到我的地下工作室后，一個(gè)已經(jīng)在那工作了很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間的員工告訴我，就在這棟樓完工不久前，有一個(gè)負(fù)責(zé)蓋屋頂?shù)墓と司驼驹谖耶?dāng)時(shí)站的那個(gè)地方，因?yàn)樽竽_踝被卷繩套住，從樓下摔下來(lái)死掉了。這幾年，好幾個(gè)員工見(jiàn)過(guò)他的鬼魂。
是不是因?yàn)槲艺驹跇欠客旯で澳敲蓓敼と怂狼罢镜牡胤?，所以在地震時(shí)才會(huì)招引了他的魂魄？
