Then, one day I sat beside an elderly man on a park bench as we both watched the ducks in the small, man-made pond.
We struck up a conversation, during which I told him I was on vacation... staying in a quaint little pink and white cottage near the beach.
He asked if I'd seen the White Lady... so, I told him all that I had observed... and then asked if he knew anything about her.
"Her name was Lilly White" he said. "She was always courageous... and known to face whatever life threw at her head-on."
Then he went on to say that she was an excellent swimmer... had loved to swim and had done so every day.
One day she had gone swimming... after a hurricane had passed through... despite warnings of a storm surge and high waves... and she was never seen again.
"Did they find her body?" I asked him.
He shook his head and then said, "Her likeness... whether you want to call it ghost or spirit,,, first appeared on the beach about a month after the storm."
The story, he told me, claimed that the first person who saw her burst into the local bar just before closing time... his hair all dishevelled by the wind... his face as white as a sheet... and unable to say a word. Some said he looked like he'd been shell-shocked.
The bartender poured a whiskey and slid it across the bar... the man downed in in one gulp... like he'd just survived a week in the desert.
After he'd calmed down enough to breathe normally... he looked at the bartender and whispered hoarsley... "The White Lady... she's back... I've just seen her!"
The bartender asked what he was talking about.
"The White Lady," he repeated. "The one who disappeared last month in the storm surge."
People rushed from the bar... and rushed down to the beach to see what he was talking about... some thinking that perhaps her body had finally washed ashore.
They found nothing... not even a piece of the white swimsuit she had always worn.
So, they gathered back in the bar... feeling disappointed... and a little ticked off... thinking they had been pranked.
However, the guy insisted that he had seen her...walking on the beach... but, she disappeared into the fog.
There were many sightings after that... but no one ever got close to her... or was able to see her face.
Several people tried walking towards her... after that first sighting... but all reported that she vanished before they got close... just as if she'd never been there.
From that time on... she has been seen often... either in the fog or before a storm.
I thanked him and, as I got to my feet to leave, he added: "By the way, that little cottage you're staying in was her home. Since there were no descendants or close relatives, the town took it over for renting as tourist accommodation. It's been repainted as needed... but always in the same colours."
As I walked back to my rented holiday cottage... the White Lady's former home... my thoughts were whirling.
The story of my own house could wait a while... but I needed to write Lilly White's story... I felt that she was looking for rest... and maybe telling her story would help her find it.
It would take a lot of work and research... but I needed to do it... so I created a new folder on the laptop... and named it simply 'White Lady.'
Next I started a new document.... which I titled...'THE WHITE LADY - The Story of Lilly White'...
I typed up what the man in the park had told me... and made a mental note to try to connect with him again... perhaps he could tell me more... or give me names of others who might remember her.
I needed his name and contact information too... so I could keep in touch in case I had questions after I returned home.
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