| One clear cold October day, I happened by chance to be in Point Pleasant Penna, way up along the Delaware river. There stood an old hotel, that at that time, had been turned into a large gift shop. As you entered, there was a massive stone fire place, and on this day it was all fired up and blazing. Of course, with the cold Fall air and turning leaves outside, all concerned -including yours truly- were drinking in the wonderful free atmosphere, huddling like pilgrims on a long journey into winter, clinging to the warmth of the fire. All said and done I could not resist asking if anyone thus gathered had a ghost story or two to tell, since it was somewhere around Halloween time. I gleaned three stories, one of which I can't for the life of me remember, but this is one story - told by a very sincere women, looking about in her late fifties - I do remember. She must have been a sales person or something, who on this particular day, was late for a meeting of some kind.
She was winding up river road at a breakneck speed when she came to a portion of that road that went up a steep incline, then curved wildly around to the left, almost making a horseshoe. A white picket fence ran clean around the curve on the right side of the road. On the left side, right at the middle of the curve in the road (believe it or not) someone's driveway met the road.
As our dapper lady hit the curve, out of the driveway on the left, a car suddenly appeared. In that instant, she lost control of her car. Now I must state here that she told me -whenever some emergency came up, she had a terrible habit of letting go of the steering wheel. This day was no exception! As she did this, suddenly she felt something grab the wheel, turning the car to the right, taking out a large portion of that nice white fence! In an instant the wheel was turned to the left, and presto, she was back on the road, completely around the other car. All this with absolutely no hands anywhere on that wheel!
Coming to an abrupt stop, all she found she was capable of doing was to sit there and shake uncontrollably. The man who she almost creamed, ran over to her car, apoligizing for causing the near fatal accident. As he was leaving, suddenly he turned back to her and said - in a voice filled with admiration, "and by the way, that was fantastic driving on your part!" All this took place in a tiny vllage of perhaps six or seven homes, called, fitly enough -----------"The Devil's Half Acre"!!
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