True Ghost Story: the Ghosts that Kept on Working

A few friends were gathered at our home not long ago when the subject of ghosts came up. We shared our stories of ghostly encounters, and were having a great time reliving our scary or sometimes comical, experiences. But one story stopped us all cold.

My friend (I'll call him "Joe") had worked in convenience stores for most of his adult life, and had always worked the night shift. He was a bit of a wanderer in those days, moving to a new town or city every few years. His travels eventually took him to a moderate-sized town in Virginia, where he soon found work at a neighborhood convenience store. Shortly afterward, he found out that the store had a tragic history.

Three people had been brutally massacred inside the store. The manager, the lead clerk, and the shift clerk had died at the hands of a vicious killer. Apparently robbery was not the motive as no money or cigarettes had been taken, and the killer was never caught.

Apparently, however, the employees who died were not ready to give up their jobs. Customers would arrive at the counter with their purchases and Joe would find that the orders had already been rung up. If he was interrupted while stocking shelves, he would return to find the job already done. Old stock, scheduled to be returned to the vendors, seemingly pulled itself from the shelves, ready to be shipped. When the newspaper vendor arrived to deliver his stock, he would go inside and have a cup of coffee with Joe. Then, when he came out, all the newspapers were carefully stacked in their racks, with the old newspapers stacked and ready for him to pick up.

Joe soon found that all he had to do was mention a chore that needed done and invisible hands hurried to complete the task. They even cleaned the bathrooms for him.

Night shift clerks generally work alone, so Joe's manager had warned him to expect some unusual events during his shift. Likely, he had had clerks quit their jobs because of these strange activities, but Joe assured him that he had no problem working with his unseen assistants.

Customers, too, were aware of the odd activity in the store. Some left, never to return; others made jokes. Others thought that Joe should be sharing his salary with his unseen helpers.

Joe is a hard man to spook, but finally one night an event took place that shook even him. One task at a convenience store involves "sticking" the underground gasoline tanks in order to check the levels in those tanks. On one particular night, Joe went out to stick the tanks only to find that it was already being done. The cap covering the tank was already open, and the stick, wielded by invisible hands, lowered itself into the tank.

A customer pulled into the parking lot at about this time, and watched with Joe as the unseen worker finished the job and replaced the cap on the tank. Neither man spoke a word about what they had just seen. But Joe said the customer turned white. Joe took the man inside and gave him a cup of coffee, and the two men agreed not to mention what they had just seen.

The manager had assistance in his job, too. When he came in to the store in the morning, the safe usually had been opened, though he was the only one with the combination. The money was counted and tallied, the cash laid out for the registers, and the day's deposit was prepared. The safe was always closed and locked afterward. The manager told Joe that this was quite normal.

Joe eventually moved on, leaving Virginia. He does not know if the convenience store still exists, or if it has been torn down. But he is certain in his own mind that if it is still there, its loyal, ghostly crew is still on duty.