Stupid Beauty

'Beauty fades, stupid is forever'; in response to his daughters frustration concerning school.

Night Shift

Working for the Wright County Sheriffs Department, my brother recently took a training course located at facilities in the Twin Cities.  The training was conducted in the children's wing of the re-purposed Glen Lake Sanatorium http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Lake_Sanatorium.

The facilities had a colorful past; starting as a sanatorium, it later was re-purposed as a treatment center for tuberculosis treatment center, but now serves for a training center among other things.  The training took place over the course of 3 days.  After the first day of training, my brother choose to drive home rather than stay in a hotel.  The drive, some 3+ hours one-way, challenged sufficient sleep and made for a difficult return trip.  Day 2, my brother choose to stay in the cities.  When discussing his intent to find a hotel with one of the trainers he was informed that the center rented out rooms at a modest cost.  He and one of the other trainees elected to stay on-site while the remainder of the group elected to hit the stay at a nearby casino.  Last words on the matter from the trainer were: 'Rooms rent at $20 per night.....but just so you know....the facilities are haunted.".  Haunted, my brother considered; they're just messing with me.

That night, after training had completed, he and the other trainee were shown to their rooms.  The first room seemed pretty standard, much like a normal hotel room.  This room was taken by the other trainee.  My brothers room, directly across the hall, looked as if right out of a Stephen King novel.  A standard bed, freaky bedside table, connected to a small adjacent room that held a concrete recessed tub that was used for TB treatments of past patients.  Near the tub, a small desk with a single wooden chair.   My brothers buddies comment to my brother: "just so you know, you're going to wake up tonight and someone is going to be sitting in that desk chair."

My brother's job is that of a jailer as well as trainer for the sheriff's department.  On the job, my brother is a team lead and fears little.  That said however, he is a believer of ghosts, having once experienced a near-death experience that involved a reassurance that he would be 'ok' from a voice from beyond.  That experience concreted his belief that ghosts can and do exist, but we're getting off topic.

After bedding down, he and his other teammate being the only two overnight residents in the building chose to leave their doors to the hall open and exchanged pleasantries for a while before going to sleep.

An hour goes by, followed by another.  Hour three begins arrival, my brother having trouble sleeping, partly due to the recurring thought "just so you know, you're going to wake up tonight and someone is going to be sitting in that desk chair."  My brother has resisted looking at the chair for the past 3 hours, and continues to do so, despite the fact that he has had a pressing need to go to the bathroom for the past hour.

Dead of night, a distinct noise from down the hall, followed by 'you hear that!' call-out from his buddy across the hall.  'Yeah', my brother responds.  'We better check it out' his buddy offers.  Uggh, my brothers final though, but given his role as a team lead it's difficult to respond 'F&%k no'.  My brother hesitantly responds, "yeah, let's check it out".

Room after room they travel.  Room after room of a desolate abandoned building, many of which have a freaky setup for housing TB patients and nut-house residents.    Near 100 years of questionable events, numerous deaths and potentially countless apparitions.  As they near the source of the noise, their blood pressure builds, eyes widen, and anticipation of seeing a translucent hovering patient grows.  Rounding the final corner they find....a janitor mopping the floor.

Returning to their rooms with little to no chance of finding sleep in the remainder of the night, my buddy says to my brother; "well, wasn't a ghost, but there is no question in my mind this place is swarming with them.  Just so you know, if a ghost relates with you on a personal level, it'll follow you home.".  "Great", my brother thinks, now unable to shake a thought of a crowd of ghosts filling his mini-van on his return trip home.