I had been assigned to a school that was over 75 years oldlocated less than amile from a cemetery. As a brandnewteacher,i often stayed late organizing and preparing mylessonsfor thefollowing day. Usually I was left alone in the building, longafterother teachers hadgone home.But I liked the quiethallways and workinglate into theevening.Exceptfor the custodian, I was completelyby myself at school. One night, the custodian came to my door. He asked,"did you need something? I saw that you pressed the emergency button in the gym." Surprised, I told him I hadn't gone to the gym and although I appreciated his concern, I reassured him that I hadn'tcalled for help.He looked a little pale and stared at me for a few seconds. "Maybe some kids got inside and are playing," I told him. "There is no one in the building" he said abruptly and quickly walked down the hall into one of the classrooms to finish cleaning. I thought it was odd that he hadn't gone to the gym to check.Curious, I walked towards the gym and opened the heavy doors. It was pitch dark butIcould hear whispers. As soon as the door opened unexpectedly, it sounded likestudents had scamperedto hide. There was a basketball rolling on the floor. I tried to flip on the light switchbut the lights didn't work. I left the door open, and walked inside. I spotted the emergency intercom button, on the adjacent wall by the entrance. The airfelt a little thick and musty. I could feel someone watching me at the back of the gym. "Hello,who is there?" My voice echoed in the stillnss of the vast room. For some reason I was compelled to walk inside and investigate. Iwent to the restrooms to make sure there wasn't anyone hiding or playing inside.The light switch didn'tturn on ineither of therestrooms.They were empty.The only light emittedin the gymnasium was from outside. As I made my way back to the entrance, I thought I heard footsteps a few feet behind me. Everytime, I walked, the steps followed me.My eyes adjusted to the darkness and by one of thegym walls I could make out the shadows of two boys."What are you doing here?" I asked. I started to approachthem but as I got closer, the shadows disappeared. I was stunned. I stood there in the middle of the gymnasium staring at the empty room. I told myself, my eyes couldn't have been playing tricks on me. I know I had heard whispers, steps, and had definitely seen the shadows of two children. The next day, I told another teacher what had happened. She was quiet for a moment and then explained that several years ago, there had been an accident in the gym. There were a couple of students who had sneaked into the gym after hours to shoot baskets. No body knew how the fire started. People thought it was an electricalaccident due to faultywiring. The smoke filled the gym quickly, but thedoors had gotten stuck andthey couldn't get out. The boys perished trapped inside thegym. She signed,"They are buried at the nearby cemetery just down the road. "I guess their ghosts still come to play."