Ocracoke, a community of 900 on the Outer Banks of North Caroline, is so isolated that it has its own dialect, the Ocracoke Brogue, with terms and usages leftover from Shakespeare's day. buck: friend
mommick: to make a mess of
offshore: crazy
quamish: queasy
scud: a short trip
And it is full of ghosts.
Springer's Point, where Blackbeard the Pirate was beheaded, is haunted by a burly man with matted hair and red glowing eyes, who chases trespassers with an axe before disappearing.
The British Cemetery features a lady in Victorian costume who tells visitors that she lost her way en route to a party.
After closing, the employees at Gaffer's Bar often see an elderly man sitting at a booth by himself. When they approach, he vanishes.
But the most unusual ghost lurks in Tarik's attic.
The attic was once used as a library -- there were about a dozen thick, heavy bookshelves which absorbed all of the light and made the sloping rafters look forlorn and abandoned. They planned to use it as an overflow bedroom, so they put a in a futon, a nightstand, a lamp, and a couple of chairs.
One weekend a few weeks after they moved in, there were 7 guys in the house, so they put up their old friend Josh in the attic bedroom.
He came downstairs the next morning and said "I don't know which of you did it, but thanks. That was the best!"
Everyone denied climbing up to the attic to have sex with him .
"I actually didn't get a good look -- it was too dark. Now that I think about it, I never even opened my eyes. I didn't reach down to touch the guy's head or shoulders, either."
"How did you avoid touching the guy?" Martin asked.
He shrugged. "It just never occurred to me. So, come on, 'fess up, guys -- which of you is the culprit, and can you come back tonight?"
Josh eagerly waited for his mysterious visitor the next night, but nothing happened.
The second guy, Michael, was not so pleased. After a long trip from the mainland, he went right up to bed.
