Ghost of Walker Tower

It was late one Thursday night in Walker Tower. Jonas, a freshman student at the University of Oklahoma, was alone in his dorm contemplating the results of the general chemistry test that he just completed.

“Why did I mark B on question 11?” he thought to himself, as he clearly knew the answer was C.

Suddenly, amidst the anxiety of reviewing his test results, the lights flickered.

“Surely it was nothing. These dorms are tremendously old,” he thought. “The lights always flicker.”

Jonas returned to his studies. Later, he visited his friends in the neighboring rooms, chatting about their day and stressing about the plethora of upcoming exams and due dates. When it was close to midnight, Jonas returned to his room for a good night of rest as he had an early class the next morning. He walked in and jumped straight on his bed.

Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, a frigid breeze brushed across the back of his neck. The hair on his arms stood up. The lights began flickering again. A deep fear washed over Jonas like he had never experienced before. Terrified, he jumped up to run through the bathroom to his suitemate’s room. Steps away from the bathroom, Jonas halted. He was paralyzed with fear. In the doorway to the bathroom that connected his room with his suitemate's room, a solid dark figure became visible in the moonlight that was sneaking in through the partially opened window.

“This has to be my suitemate pulling a prank on me. They are always joking with me in this manner,” Jonas said, trying to calm himself down.

“What do you want?” Jonas asked.

“My name is Bill,” the spirit replied. “I have been living in these dorms for twenty years.”

At this point, Jonas was breaking out into a cold sweat. However, he remained calm. He knew this was not a practical prank from his suitemates. They could never come up with something so sophisticated. Rather than panicking, Jonas decided to be friendly to the ghost that was not showing any aggression.

“Why are you in these dorms?” Jonas asked.

“Because my grandson attends this university now,” Bill retorted. “Perhaps you know him. His name is Josh Adams, and he is a freshman much like you.”

Jonas knew exactly to whom he was referring. Josh was a student that lived on the floor below him and was very actively involved on campus. In fact, they shared the same major and were in the same student organization.

“Of course I know Josh,” Jonas said. “We are good friends.”

"I used to be a campus policeman. I dedicated my life to serving this university. I was killed in Walker Tower during a freak accident. Late one night, I slipped down the trash chute from the very top floor. I have remained here ever since. I despise being dead. My only wish is to continue serving OU," said the spirit.

“Now tell me about Josh. Is he a good leader? Has he served this campus well?” the spirit continued.

“Josh is the best! He has a 4.0. He is the leader of a group on campus that tutors local middle school kids. He is nice to everyone on campus and does his best to leave our school a better place than it was when he first arrived. He is a true Sooner,” Josh said.

Jonas felt a rush of joy as he witnessed a large grin develop on the spirit's face. Before Jonas could say any more, the spirit turned and pranced away with glee never to be seen in Walker Tower again.

Author's Note:

I wrote my story from an excerpt of Homer’s Odyssey about the spirit of Achilles. Odysseus summoned the spirits on his way home from the Trojan War. The spirit of Achilles appeared. Odysseus tells him that he came to seek the road to Ithaca. He says that he has suffered many setbacks, but Achilles has been blessed. Achilles’ spirit says that he wants news of his son. He wants to know if he has become a brave leader. Odysseus says he brought him with him on his ship to join the Achaeans. He states that the son spoke eloquently. He was a leader in combat with great skill. He goes on to tell of the many great deeds that his son embarked upon. The spirit of Achilles left with happiness and joy at the great news of his son’s bravery and leadership.

I based my story on this excerpt but changed the characters. A possible project topic I chose was the ghosts of OU. I wrote a story about a ghost on campus that appears in a student's dorm room. I changed from a summoning of the ghost in Odysseus' tale to a random appearance of a ghost in Walker Tower who was seeking to learn more about his grandson's impact on the OU community he loved. Upon hearing this news, the ghost of the dorms can be set free with the happiness at the good news of his grandson. The plot of my story is similar, but I changed the characters and setting to fit with the ghosts of OU theme that I found interesting.

Bibliography: Spirit of Achilles by Tony Kline