The Woman Next Door

Informant: Male/40/Hawaiian-mixed ancestry

Location: Aliomanu, Kauai

Our family owned a beach house on the north-east side of Kaua'i. Our whole family, cousins and aunty's and uncles, would spend the summer there. The lone occupant of the small house next to us was a woman whom my family was friendly with. We would see her all the time, and it seemed she always wore the same clothes every day, with a big hat. Then one day, we found out she had died.

One night me and 3 of my cousins went down to the beach house to have a bon fire and some drinks. We were talking story and having a good time, talking about ghosts and things like that. When 2am rolled around, we had all passed out right there on the beach in front of the house. All of a sudden we were awoken by a soft tap on our shoulders.

I opened my eyes, and the woman from next door was standing in front of me, wearing the same clothes and the big hat she always wore. She said to us, "You boys better get in the house."

We ran into the house. We had all seen her, and we all knew she was the dead woman from next door.