The Grey Man of Pawleys Island

The night was grey and overcast, full moon, though, lit the dusty path, a screened in porch was where we slept, the beach house for two weeks we kept. We were just kids then, twelve and nine and both asleep and sleeping fine, then something eerie woke us each and froze our breath, prevented speech. In foggy moonlight on that road the Grey Man of Pawleys Island strode. We watched in awe as the old man neared then took a right and disappeared. My brother and I, we never spoke of the ghost we saw who moved like smoke. Somehow we slept, the morning came with thunder, lightning, torrential rain. The whole front yard was flooded out; in the yard swam crabs and trout. As kids we thought it all great fun, the adults were grim and silent, stunned. The storm was fierce that summer morn, after all, the Grey Man had come to warn.