Lesson on Shadowy Figures

My mom tells a story about her uncle and a creepy period of his life that involved a shadowy figure.

Uncle grew up on a farm, and as a young man, he was responsible for hitching up the horses to the carriage to run errands in town or drive the family to church. For a period of a several days one year, he would sometimes see a dark, shadowy figure hanging around the barn. It would lurk away when he approached it. Later on, it would come closer to him. Eventually, things escalated to the point that when Uncle was driving the carraige down the dirt road, the figure would jump in front of him. Unable to stop, my uncle would run over it…but when he looked back, nothing would be in the road. This happened on more than one occasion.

Obviously, these events really shook Uncle up. No longer thinking it was just his imagination, he decided to confide in his father and ask for advice. Both of the men did not believe that human spirits continue to reside on earth after death, but they did believe in the possibility that some other kind of spirit might be tormenting Uncle. Never having had an experience like this before, they decided the only thing they could do is verbally confront the figure the next time it appeared.

The very next morning, Uncle set out to hitch up the horses. When all was about finished, the shadowy figure appeared, yet again. This time, instead of chasing after it, Uncle aggressively exclaimed, “What do you want?!!?”

The figure stood still…and turning towards him, it answered:
“Some figgy pudding.”

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I think we can all relate to that.

This story appears as originally told by my mother, except for the last line. The figure actually vanished in the family’s version. Mine is more meaningful, I think.