The lights usually blink off at 10:00pm in the office. This is to conserve energy. To turn them back on, you have to get up from your desk and flip the switch manually.

I know this because I work late on occasion. Well, more than on occasion; perhaps fairly often. Blame it on workaholic tendencies and an industry that expects 80+ hour work weeks. My hours have since gotten better, but that's another story for another time.

Tonight, I want to tell you about a peculiar night I had last month.

It was a Wednesday night. The rest of my coworkers had gone home and I was almost alone. A few rows over, I heard some typing. But around 9:00pm, that person left as well.

When the lights blinked off, I got up from my desk to turn them back on. I walked into the hallway and my eye inadvertently wandered down the dark stretches. Some movement caught my eye.

I focused my gaze and saw someone standing there, staring back at me. It looked like a little boy. It wasn't a short guy; the person had wide eyes and a childish face. It was just standing there, staring straight at me.

My heart leapt and a chill danced on my spine. My body chills just writing this.

I sprinted to the light switch and slammed them on. Bright fluorescent lights flooded the hallway.

The boy was gone. There was no one standing there. Apparently my imagination had played a trick with my eyes.

I glanced up and down the hallway, forwards, backwards, left and right. Definitely my imagination. I returned to my desk with a brisk walk and told myself I'd rush the rest of my work.

Back in the drudge of work, I lost track of time. I didn't realize I had been there for two more hours until the lights blinked off again. My desk lamp was on and I struggled to finish my work with just that light. But the darkness of the cubes around me was too eerie.

I got up from my desk and walked to the light switch again. As I neared the hallway, I peered down the side. No scary little boy this time. I sprinted to the light switch.

I made an errant glance behind me and almost tripped. There was the little boy again. His wide, white eyes were locked on me. His gaze was cold and unmoving.

My heart shrieked in terror. I could hear the deafening pounding of my blood pumping in my head.

The boy just stood there. I smacked into the wall and my hands scrambled to find the switch. My hands pounded and searched. The lights finally filled the office and the boy disappeared once again.

I stood there for a moment, stunned. My lungs were on fire. I couldn't tell if I was seeing things, or seeing a ghost.

My mind emptied. I was too shaken to finish my work. I ran back to my desk and shut down my computer. It was late and my mind obviously wasn't going to do me any more good.

I threw my laptop into my bag, put on my jacket, and ran out the office. I couldn't help throwing sideway glances down the hallways, but didn't catch anymore glimpses of the little boy.

Once in my car, I sped out of the parking lot. My eye was drawn back to the building one last time. The lights of my floor were still on as I left them. As I rounded the corner, I saw the silhouette of the little boy in the window, watching me leave.

I almost hit the curb when I slammed on the gas. With a squeal of the tires, I raced away from the office and back to the safety of my home.

Fortunately, none of this really happened. (Fooled ya!) It's all the product of my imagination. One late night, a coworker and I considered filming a horror movie in the office because the automatic lights lend themselves to some rather spooky ideas. An idea of mine was the little boy, depicted here.

Would have made for a rather spooky movie, eh? Oh, and Happy Halloween!

. . .

Ever wonder if there are ghosts in your office?