So, some background story about me. I live in Norway. I am a 35-year-old man, which is hard in a workplace dominated by snarky women in their 50s who mostly gossip about their marriage and drink coffee.
I have been working with kids since I was about 18, so I’ve been here for a while. And I have always had the oldest kids in my group for my responsibility. The kids are around the 4-6 years age, so they can dress themselves mostly, but some do need assistance. Also I will try to not use names but if they pop up the names are not real to protect the identity of the kids.
The kindergarten I work in is kind of out of the city but close enough that we can have some excursions there luckily, since some theaters put up child friendly plays in December and we can go to the library and such. But we are also within walking distance to a forest that goes on for a couple of kilometers. We call this forest “Ekorn skogen” which in English is the “Squirrel woods”, since there are so many squirrels there. Original name, I know. But the kids love it. And since I’m the only man in with the oldest kids in kindergarten it’s my job to light a fire so that we can grill some sausages and sandwiches.
The kindergarten in of itself is on a small hilltop. it’s old as well. most of it have been tore down and rebuilt with new safety standards and it have become more “modernized.” So it have this weird style of old and new intermingled with each other. I have heard rumors the kindergarten was bombed during second world war, but honestly I doubt it since the bombings didn’t happen around here.
now that out of the way, there are a lot of things that does not work the way its supposed to work. the old women of the place mostly say “the place just have a personality to it” and yes I suppose that’s true. the kindergarten does have this kind of aura when you are here. like its an old grandpa or grandma watching over you with a smile. but some times there is something else.
Now, over to the kids. I have about 25 kids on the age of four to six years of age in my department (not sure if that is the right word but I’m going to use it) together with 4 others, 3 women in their 50s and one about 27-29 freshly from school. Ten of these kids are about to start school so they are my group which I handle mostly alone when we are at the kindergarten. which is normal for me. I am somewhat strict but the kids know I do it because I care about them. Yes I am the grown up at kindergarten with the loudest voice, come at me.
The days mostly go by peacefully, sometimes weird stuff happen, like cups falling down when there were no one there, or the door closing by itself but that’s just the house settling. I used to think that at least. I have never believed in the supernatural, or ghost or something like that. at least I didn’t.
you see, not that long ago something weird happened. we were playing inside a late afternoon since the weather was truly dreadful. We Norwegians have a saying “det finnes ikke dårlig vær, bare dårlig klær” which roughly translates to “there exists no bad weather, only bad clothes”. But the weather that day was truly horrid. Ice had coated the ground and on top of that it was raining sideways. Safe to say we adults decided it was not safe for the children to be outside since we knew that some kids would fall and hurt themselves.
Now I guess most of you know the types of children that exist. For simplicity’s sake I will split them into 3 groups. You have group one, the loud ones. These kids seems like they have been drinking red bull and then inhaled pure sugar before they arrive in the morning. Pure energy all the time all day. They can be stressful if not managed properly but when they are, they are lovely.
Then you have group two, these kids are the “well behaved” ones. the one who sit and draws but can hold a conversation with you. They seem kind of adult in that they are easy to talk to, but make no mistake. This is the group you should be weary of. They can scheme and talk behind your back and get group 1 to do their dirty work. Be mindful of these little shadow puppeteers.
then there is group 3. these kids are….for the lack of a better word. quiet. withdrawn. often they just sit there, drawing or something calm. just watching. These kids are often overlooked since they are so well behaved. And there is nothing wrong with them, at all. But they value their silence and calm. they are the introverts of the children so to speak.
anyway, on this day, most of the kids had already gone home since it was late in the afternoon. the kindergarten was only a half hour until closing so it was rather calm and I was the last one with 2 of the quiet ones and one of the “adult” ones. We were drawing (yes me too) and just generally talking whilst listening to music on a Bluetooth speaker playing just calm lo-fi from my phone. We were talking about how early it gets dark and that soon Santa might come to give them gifts.
When suddenly a cold draft came trough where we sat and I noticed that the door has gone open, which happens sometimes with this old kindergarten. So I stood up from the small chairs to close the door. When I came back the music on my Bluetooth speaker had stopped. “Huh” I commentated. “The bald man doesn’t like that song” one of the quiet kids said. “Huh” I said again with some surprise. When I looked at the kid who said that, one of the quiet ones. A boy with flowing blonde hair and piercing blue eyes was staring at the spot next to the speaker. “What do you mean Rune?” “A bald man turned of the speaker since he does not like the music, he is frowning at you right now” a chill went down my spine and I felt goosebumps all over. But I am here as a guardian for these kids so I had to at least try to seem calm. “Well then, I guess we can do something else then” and since I didn’t want to stay in this room any longer I told the kids. “Then lets just play music out in the hallway while we wait for mom and dad”. I have never gotten the kids to clean up and rush into the hallway to dance and play that fast before.
when the kids had all gone home and I was alone in the kindergarten I walked back to my wardrobe telling myself that “Jesus those kids and their imagination” trying to convince myself that it was something kids just say somethings, which happens.
but after I got dressed and was about to close and lock the last door so I could head on home, I got a final look in one of the mirrors that are in the hallway, and I swear I thought I saw a shadow of a man with no hair. Staring at me with his finger to his lips.
I ran home as fast as I could. and let me tell you I was a wreck in the next couple of days. luckily, it was the weekend so I could just relax and tell myself it was just my imagination. but I did not play any music that coming week.
I got more stories if people are interested but I am new to this kind of storytelling so don’t expect too much.
Edit: part 2 https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/s/DcO93nSYkb