Hi, folks! It’s been a while since we posted a blog entry – it’s been a little busy here at Pony Tails – we are still in full swing and haven’t slowed down this fall like we have in the past. We are not complaining though – seeing so many of our customers coming in over and over has been fun. While preparing for the holiday season and working on 2018 planning, we decided to embark on a little thing called a paranormal investigation. Kinda like you see on TV – if you ever watched Paranormal State or Ghost Hunters. We were excited, intrigued and maybe just a little bit afraid of what we would find.
We invited a group called Delmarva Spirit Hunters to come in and investigate one night after we closed. So on a Saturday night in October, we hustled the last of our customers out and they started setting up 15 cameras, audio recorders, spirit boxes and other ghost hunting equipment all around the 10,000 square feet of the shop – inside and out. While they were doing that, our curious staff members gathered in the middle of the store and then moved behind the candy counter to get out of the way while waiting for everything to begin. We all held some dowsing rods and freaked out a little when they worked. The leader of our merry band of spooky sleuths came downstairs to tell us what would be taking place and how we would start. We all knew the rules (#1 rule – do NOT freak out, scream and/or run away) and were ready to get underway. In order to do that, we had to go dark. As in, turn off all the lights dark. Shudder.
We were to start upstairs, in the middle of the store. With the help of our cell phone flashlights, and the LED ones we sell at the shop (great buy!!) we found our way, and all sat down on the floor, not knowing what to expect, but hoping that whatever happened wouldn’t be too freaky. We asked questions. Sometimes we got an answer through the spirit box/EVP thing; sometimes, we got silence. Some of us detected temperature changes that were then verified by a thermometer, some of us felt emotional, weighed down, sad, or heavy. We saw something move toward a rafter door and some sensors were relocated to capture readings. We asked more questions. We could hear something going on downstairs – and no one was down there. So one of the investigators went to see what was happening, and as he was leaving, the voice from the translator thing (no idea what the techie term is for it) said, very plainly, “ha ha. chase.” From then on, if someone left the area, it was “haha. bye.” or “haha. leave.” We went downstairs, upstairs, in the warehouse, outside to the creepy tree, back in the stockroom, into the rafters… everywhere. We asked how many of them were here. The answer? “Many.”
It was like a giant game of tag with someone wearing an invisibility cloak like Harry Potter’s. This leads us to believe that there is a spirit of a little boy here. He’s mischievous, likes to play and tease. This certainly would explain some of the random things we find all over the store. Toys out of place, pictures sitting slightly crooked, as if having been brushed against. After about 4 hours of all this, it was time to wrap up and let the DSH group do their analysis. We expect to have their full report by the end of the month. We do know that they did pick up EVPs and that they got a name. “Eli”. We don’t know what, if anything, that name has to do with the store.
Activity was unusually quiet for a few days, as if the effort had exhausted all the spirits, both the human and the otherworldly. We were tired, drained and it seemed they were as well. However, a few days after the investigation, something none of us can explain happened. One of our fudge kettles had been left plugged in, but was not turned on, meaning it was not heating, nor churning. Two of our team members heard the light click on and looked over – sure enough it was on. They started to take pictures of it with their cell phone cameras and it clicked off. No one was touching it. They were a good 3 feet away. Our shift leader came upstairs to tell me about it and when I was walking back down with her, the other team member was sitting on the stairs – I told them the story we were told a long time ago, one that has never been corroborated in any way, so may be an urban legend. The story goes that many years ago a little boy loved to ride our mechanical pony, Sunshine. Like he REALLY loved riding Sunshine and when he passed away suddenly, his grieving parents came to the island and secretly sprinkled some of his ashes on Sunshine so that he would always be with what he loved so much.
As the story was being told, our front door, entrance side (glass and heavy) swung open by itself and stayed open about 6 inches the entire time. As soon as the story concluded, the door shut. We were all a solid 25 feet from it. Those doors don’t blow open and hang unless there is extreme wind (tropical storm or hurricane) and there is a vacuum effect from our back door being opened. We all separated and they headed behind the candy counter, while I headed to the stockroom. When I came out, I was told that when I went in the back, the door opened again and hung there. Our shift leader, in a very stern voice said “Shut the door!” and it slammed shut.
It hasn’t opened by itself since.
Do you believe?
Sweetly Spirited 