The Marfa Grey Man

The Marfa Grey Man

By A.R-G., Fifth Grade

     In the city of Marfa, Virginia over the past hundred years there have been a large number of sightings of a strange being called the Marfa grey man along a high ridge about a mile from the town. This mysterious creature of the night has never been approached, in fact the large rise, now called ' Grey Man Ridge,' has been virtually walled off from the world, nobody has ever gotten even close to seeing the grey man on the ridge less than two hundred feet away, if you get to close, he disappears. He has only been seen as a small white figure on the ridge, gazing down into Marfa. The Marfa grey man has been spotted almost nightly for over past eighty years, yet one stands out as the strangest and best sighting.

     Sighting Number 412

     January 23, 1931

     The hooves of James D'Lock's horse clopped along the path up the rise known as Alazo Hill. He continued up the lower hill toward a small ledge bellow the peek of the hill, which looked rather like It had twenty years ago when his neighbor Gerald Pines had vanished when he went for a ride on Alazo hill, but that rarely crossed his mind. Reaching the ledge, he paused long enough to hear a long whistling sound.

    "What is that?" he said to himself. He got off his horse and listened closely. Slowly the sharp whistling turned into words.

    "My land, territory, enclosed here for eternity. I can not leave, but you can. So please proceed."

    "Uh-um-flu-uh-uh-hu-um"stuttered James.

    "Leave!" said the angered voice.

   
     At this point in the experience, James still had not seen the ghost of his neighbor, but that was about to change. A man in a long grey coat floated down from above the ledge. He had a beard and mustache, his coat was made of fine cloth, and a large silk top hat sat on his head. "Goodbye, neighbor. Or you shall join me in the kingdom of the gone on Alazo hill!" the ghost boomed. James could have noticed that this was probably scientifically impossible, because, the ghost having just threatened to destroy him, could not handle a weapon, since he was made out of ectoplasym, which of course was not solid. He was to terrified to notice any of this.

     Back in town, a small girl awoke. Looking out the window, she saw two men. One seemed to be frozen with fear, the other seemed to be making frightfully aggressive gestures with his hands. She woke up her father.

    "Daddy, there is something going on on Alazo ridge."said the girl. The two rushed to the nearest window. The girl pointed to the grey figure that stood on the hill.

    "Holy mother Mary! What is that?" The father ran out into the street.

    ''Men come out! Bring a weapon! Mount your horses! Fast! Move! Move! Move! Quickly now!"

   
     Within a few minutes, every man in Marfa was out in the street on a horse. Some carried guns, others carried knives and swords, others still were handling large frying pans and even soup ladles. They rode out of town and across a wheat field toward the rise. The grey man saw the approaching cavalcade and promptly ran, leaving James D'Lock a terrified heap on the ledge. The men who had guns fired into the barren crest of the ridge, but the grey man had disappeared.

   
     "I-I-I-I-I-I It was Ger-Gera-Gerald P-P-P-P-P-Pines!" stammered James.

   "Pines! By grabs! He's been dead for twenty years!" said a man with a large rusty frying pan called Blue Ridge Billy.

   " I-I-I-I-I-It was h-h-h-is g-g-g-g-g-ghost!" stuttered James, still terrified.

   "Oh my god!" said a man.

   "This is the story of the nineteen-thirties! In ten years this ain’t gonna’ be topped!'' said a reporter, already running back towards Marfa to type the paranormal thriller.

      By now the sun was just coming up over the blue ridge, peeking into the cave where the grey man was hiding.