Jellico Tennessee- The Friend That Only I Could See

I have seen many stories about the ghosts of Jellico Tennessee. I don't know about all of that, I'm sure some of those stories have truth in them. As many old towns, Jellico is filled with history and stories that we will never truly understand. One story that I know to be genuine is my very own. My Sunday friend that only I could see. Years later I would marry and have a daughter who had an astonishing resemblance to my mysterious friend.

In my childhood days, Sunday's were spent with my lovely granny. She lived in a small house located behind the majestic First Baptist Church. I attended many Sunday services in this church sitting beside of my grandmother. After church we walked back to her house where I played in the trees behind her house while she prepared dinner. Around noon time other family members and friends would arrive to enjoy Sunday dinner with us. Everyone was invited to eat dinner with us on Sunday so we never really knew who all might show up. Sometimes her little house was overflowing with people.

I was five years old when I first met my friend. I was playing in the backyard amongst the trees when I heard a little girl humming. I looked up and saw her sitting in the tree, looking down at me. She was my age, fair skin and long blonde curls. I recall her eyes being as blue as the sky. A faint light seemed to surround her and I asked her if she was an angel. Her lips did not move, yet she spoke to me, in a soft whisper. Her name was Anna. Her clothes looked odd to me and she always wore the same thing (a faded pink dress with no details or designs) but I didn't care, I loved her right from the start. From that day on, each Sunday Anna and I played beneath the trees in my grandmas backyard.

I told many people about my friend Anna, however I was the only one who could see or hear her. My grandmother would tell people that I was outside playing with my imaginary friend and the adults would chuckle. But I knew in my heart that Anna was special and she was anything but imaginary. During our time together she told me of how her parents were gone but she didn't know where. She told me about her siblings and how they too had went away. Anna was alone, but she was never afraid or sad. In fact she was always very happy and I felt good when I was near her.

I would take leftover food outside and give to Anna, but she was never hungry. Before bed I always worried about her being cold and granny would let me take a blanket outside and I placed it beneath the trees.

Late one night, granny was granted the ability to hear Anna humming her angelic tune beneath the trees, although she was still unable to see her. From then on I would catch my grandmother peering out the window trying to catch a glimpse of my friend, I am unsure if she ever saw her, but she finally believed that Anna was more than just an imaginary friend. She even sit down with me one night and told me a story of how some souls get lost and can't cross over into the light and how sometimes they just don't want to leave for some reason. I think this was her way of explaining to me that Anna may be a ghost.

As I grew older, I saw Anna less and less, within a few years our time beneath the trees came to an end. One night when I was a young man I sit beside of my granny's hospital bed, preparing the tell her goodbye. We talked about my childhood and the memories that we had made together. With tears in my eyes I asked "What do you think happened to Anna?" Granny smiled and held my hand as she told me that sometimes we don't need to look for answers, we should just accept that some things can never be explained. Maybe Anna had moved on or maybe I had grown too old to play with her anymore.

In the years ahead I married and had children of my own. My first child was a beautiful little girl that my wife named Anna. Yet I had never told her about my childhood friend. I asked her "What made you choose the name Anna?" She explained that she didn't really know why. The name had just came to her mind when she first looked at our daughter and she thought that it was a beautiful name. As Anna grew into a beautiful little girl her hair was long and laid in curls around her face and her eyes was as blue as the sky above. One day as I watched my daughter playing with her toys, I heard a familiar hum. She was delightfully humming to herself as she played unknowing that I had heard that same tune many, many years ago. My heart nearly stopped and every hair on my body was surely standing on end. My wife looked at me confused and asked me if everything was alright. As I looked at my little Anna sitting there looking back at me, all I could say was-

"Some things just can't be explained."

I now have a granddaughter named JoAnna with the same long curly hair and bright blue eyes and she too hums that special tune to herself, just like her mother did and just like my friend Anna had done. Not long ago I had JoAnna out for a ride around town and we passed the big, beautiful First Baptist Church. I drove past the lot where granny's house once sit, but has been gone for many, many years. Still standing is the tree that was in granny's backyard. I slowed down and breathed in the memories from my childhood. JoAnna, only three years old, pointed at the tree and smiled.