Everyones gone or have they?

Hi hun, where do I start…

When I was young, my parents used to run a pub. Loads of strange things would happen. My bedroom was just next to what used to be the pool room. I say “used to” because the pub’s still open today, but the inside’s all been rearranged.

Anyway, my bedroom was near the entrance to the old pool room, which you could get to from the flat above the pub. And loads of nights, early hours of the morning. I’d wake up to the sound of someone playing pool. Not just little sounds, full-on pool balls clacking, cue tapping, like someone properly having a game.

At first, it scared me. I’d hide under my duvet and just hope it stopped. But as time went on, I got used to it. I started sneaking to the door and peeking through the gap, trying to catch someone in the act. But I never saw anyone – just the sounds, like the pub was open again after hours.

One night, I saw a man walk past one of the frosted glass doors. The pub was shut, mum was totting up the till after a busy night. I asked if someone had stayed behind, because it looked like one of our regulars, Chris, who sometimes did stick around after closing for a chat with my dad. She said no, everyone had left.

I thought it was weird but didn’t say much. A few minutes later, my dad came into the room and started chatting with us—and suddenly stopped mid-sentence and asked,

“Is Chris still here?”

Mum looked at us both and went,

“What is wrong with you two? No! Everyone’s gone.”

Turns out, my dad had seen the same thing I did.

He went and grabbed my older brother, and they checked the whole pub and flat – just in case. But there was no one. Just us as a family.

Still freaks me out to this day. That sound of the pool balls never really stopped, either.