The first time I experienced the presence of this spirit was about 12 years ago. I had just moved into the house that I live in now, in the small town of Rustburg, Virginia. It was a Fall night and I was outside doing some work in my shed. It was already dark and I had a couple of lights on in the shed, so it was hard to really see very far outside into the night. The door of the shed faces my driveway which is fairly long and made from gravel, and nearly impossible to walk up quietly.

At the time my daughter had not been born and there were no small children in the neighborhood. Anyway, I was doing some work and the shed door was wide open when I was interrupted by the voice of a young girl. It simply said, "Have you seen my kitty?" It said this twice and I strained to see outside but could not make out anyone being there. So I stepped outside to be able to see better. I looked up the driveway and to my right and left, there was no one there. This all took place in about 15 seconds, needless to say I was confused as to where the little girl had went off to so quickly. I turned to go back inside when I heard the voice again, this time coming from the edge of the woods...about 30 yards away. She was calling her cat now, saying, "Here Kitty Kitty." I quickly turned on my spotlights that are on the outside of my shed and illuminated the entire back yard, including the edge of the woods. There was nothing to be seen.

It was a few months later and I was working at a veterinarians office when I met this lady that grew up on the mountain that I lived on. We were discussing different landmarks and events that took place on the mountain, she informed me that she knew exactly where my house was located and told me about another house that used to be on that property. She told me that it was several years before she was born that a family lived in a house there and that there had been a tragedy which involved the entire family dying when the house caught on fire one night.

This of course got my curiosity up so I decided to investigate and explore the woods that were behind my house. It was the time of year when Daffodils bloom in abundance, this is how I found the remains of the house. In the middle of the overgrown area, there were 4 flower gardens that were easily distinguishable among the saplings and thorny undergrowth. Nearby I found a collapsed chimney and the large beams used around the foundation of the house. Most of the wood pieces I found were charred, as if burnt. I also found fragments of pottery and plates, metal hinges, etc. I ended up visiting this place several times. On several of my visits I kept getting the eerie feeling that I was being watched. The last three times that I went there I could've sworn that I saw a lady, dressed in an old fashioned dress staring at me. I only saw her from the corner of my eye though, whenever I turned to look she would disappear. So I can only rule this as possibly having an overactive imagination. However, I can say it's been close to two years since I have been back down there. Sometimes when I'm in my yard I get the feeling that I'm being watched by someone, or something in my woods. We constantly had strange things happening in the house itself, things would disappear completely, only to show back up a few days later in a very obvious place. Just little things like that, nothing major really. However, my German Shepherd would always get upset when our ghost became active, she would insist on staying outside. I discussed these events with a few friends that were interested in studying paranormal events and one recommended that I try getting a cat. So I figured why not, I went to the pound and adopted a cat. Things calmed down tremendously after that, until the cat disappeared. Then the ghost became active again, even more so this time. So I adopted another cat. We've had this cat awhile now and it seems to appease the little girl that was looking for her kitty. Although I never confirmed where this little girl ghost came from, I've grown fairly accustomed to her. And as long as I live here, I plan on keeping a cat for her to play with.