(just be honest, The trolley actually ran down St Asaph, but since my tour doesn't go down St Asaph, the tracks have been moved per creative license)
Across the street in the Yellow Townhouse with the red roof, there lived a young couple with a five year old little boy. There was a trolley system that ran from Washington DC, came through Alexandria down Fairfax and continued on South to Mt Vernon. That little boy loved that trolley. Every night, 8:30 PM, he would be out there at the edge of the street to watch it go by. Being that he did this every night and it was the same men driving the trolley, they would throw candy to him or wave at him and he would get so excited! Then we would run inside, show his parents what he had received, then go upstairs, take his bath and go to sleep. His nightly ritual.
Well, one night, he was there waiting, the trolley was coming, but a tan kitten jumped out into the middle of the tracks. The little boy was terrified that the kitten could be ran over, so he ran out and scooped the kitten up in his arms, not realizing the trolley was upon him and the trolley ran right over him- The kitten managed to jump from his arms and scramble across the street. The little boy lay in the middle of the street, screaming bloody murder, his parents ran out and the neighbors surrounded him and they desperately tried to get him out from under the trolley. Being that 911 didn't exist back then- the doctor came to you or you went to him and either way, you were waiting a while-the boy lost so much blood, he ended up dying in the middle of the street.
The parents were devastated, of course, and the townspeople were angry! They refused to believe that this had been an accident, so in 1907, there was a trial held at the courthouse on King St, accusing the trolley drivers of murdering this little boy. They were acquitted, but the trolley company was found to be at fault and they paid the parents a nice sum of money for their suffering. Then another new story tore across the headlines and everyone forgot about this little boy who had died so tragically.
Two years later. Dad was in the kitchen, making himself a pot of tea. It was about 8:30. The plates on the wall began to tremble as the trolley drew near and for the first time in a long time, he thought of his little boy. He stared in a trance at the pot as the trolley began to pass by the house. A loud scream rang out- that of a child, a child that sounded like his son. He thought he was crazy, but ran outside and watched the trolley pass. The scream fell silent and there, staring at him across the street was a tan cat.
Three weeks later, mom was in the living right by the windows knitting and she looked up to see the trolley start past the house. That same scream rang out. She threw down her needles and ran outside and watched as the trolley passed on. Again, across the street, sat a tan cat staring back at her. This became a frequent occurance. The parents could handle it no more and moved on and another family moved in, but the screams continued and every time people saw this tan cat staring from across the street.
The mental institution down the street ended up burning down and the patients were relocated to other places, but one of them escaped and then two months later, turned up at the corner of Fairfax and king streets, where we began the tour, and would jump out at people and scream random gibberish to them. After a short time, the townspeople ignored him, as they knew he was nuts. He got word of the screams and the cat sighting down Fairfax and changed his tune. He began chanting day in and day out, "The boy's spirit is stuck inside the cat. You must kill the cat and set the boy free!". Insteading of ignoring him like usual, the town folk began going through town tryng to hunt down this tan cat to kill it and free the boy's spirit. However, they never caught the cat and in 1932, the tracks were pulled up and bricks laid in place and it simply became Fairfax street. The cat disappeared and no one heard the scream again.....until 2007, a hundred years to the date of the boy's death.
There was a huge party (in the garden behind us) going on. The parents were dancing, filled to the brim with spirits and the kids stayed out here on the sidewalk playing a game of ball. A cat came down the street towards the kids and naturally they all had to pet the cat. It weaved it's way through them and continued on down the street and the kids went back to their game. Back in the garden, the parents were having a great time and then a loud scream came from the street drowning out the music. Of course they thought a child had been ran over by a car. Hearts dropping, they all poured out onto the sidewalk where all the kids were gathered, all accounted for, all fine. They were crying, but OK. One of the parents finally asked, "what happened?" The kids all fell silent and together pointed across the street. Staring back at them was a tan cat.
***Story inspired by the following actual event: http://www.gendisasters.com/data1/va/trains/alexandria-trolleymay1907.htm ***
Story written by me. Any copying or distribution is forbidden without explicit permission from me.
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