Jess the Creep: The Parlors
As you walk down Chapel Hall, you can’t help but stare at the pristine parlors, filled with crystal, china, antique books, and a variety of other valuables to feast your eyes on. You can’t help but think about the people who used to sit in those exact seats, marveling at the beauty surrounding them. Although many students claim to not enjoy sitting in the Parlors because they fear the chance of breaking anything, could there be an alternative, mysterious reasoning behind this?
Perhaps it’s the eerie feeling of being watched while sitting in complete silence. Or maybe it’s the sudden creaks of the floors you hear when you thought you were alone. While sitting in the parlors after school, everything is silent. The only audible noises are the faint voices down the hall, the jingling keys of the maintenance staff, the slow gonging of the antique clock, and the occasional creaks of the floor behind you. Wait a minute…if you’re alone, why are you hearing other noises behind you?
As you walk around the parlors, noticing the plentiful beauties placed in each room, you develop a certain feeling of being watched. You are looking for something to focus your mind on, so you begin to study the covers of the novels in the bookcase. As you admire each cover, the thought is still in the back of your mind: Is someone here with me?
You move towards the piano and as you lift the fall board to play a few keys, you think you see something out of the corner of your eye. You brush it off as nothing, and continue to play. You look around the room. You look into the colossal mirror, seeing your reflection. You see no one else in that reflection, and are overcome with relief, realizing that you are in fact alone, because whoever it was would have appeared with you.
You cross the hall into the sitting room and stare at the magnificent chandelier hanging above you. You become so entranced as you stand there for minutes that you shut off all of your thoughts. Your peace of mind is disrupted by yet another creak of the floor, this one coming from the piano room you just exited. Without looking back, you step farther away from the piano, and enter the sitting room. As you walk around the room you see countless statues of saints with soft smiles across their faces. You find yourself in a state of tranquility just looking at them, and you sit down for a moment or two. When looking forward your eyes fix themselves upon the crystal in the room ahead. You are drawn to it and you go to admire its beauty even further. As you walk around the room, you hear the louses creak of all, and it almost appears closer. For some reason you go towards the sound, unsure of what you are hoping to discover. As you round the corner, you find yourself face to face…with…another student.
You are overcome with an extreme sense of relief realizing it was only a harmless student walking around the Parlors just like you. She wasn’t getting picked up until five o’clock, so she decided to wander through the Parlors. As you leave, you analyze everything that has happened in the past hour. You laugh at yourself for becoming so paranoid, but you find yourself wondering one thing: could she really have been there all along?
After my experience, I decided to talk to other students about their personal experiences. Some experienced similar events.
“Ah yes. The Parlors. Makes me nervous. I don’t know what it is, but I constantly feel like someone is watching me. Being in there gives me the heebie jeebies,” says Samie Moriarty ‘15
Other students, however, did not report an eerie experience. Sarah O’Shaughnessy says, “Honestly, I don’t see why people say The Parlors are scary. I go in there sometimes to clear my mind and relax. I think it’s cool that they’ve been around for so long.” “I know there are rumors about how girls are scared to go in The Parlors, but I go in there all the time. If it’s 5th Bell and I don’t have something going on, I’ll just stop in and walk around for a little bit. It’s so quiet and it gives me a lot of time to think.” –Hannah Isfort ’14
If you have never stepped foot in The Parlors, why not try it? Take ten minutes, sit down, walk around, let yourself become entranced by the beauties surrounding you. You will find yourself stress-free, letting your mind take a break. Treat your eyes to the feast of antiques, and maybe you, too, will have your own unique experience.