Pray for us
I used to live in a little village with fields, woods, a church, etc. Very pretty and normal. My usual dog walking path took me over the fields behind the church and into some woods. Just as you entered the trees there was a small shrine. It was dedicated to St. Germain, a bishop who'd wandered through the area 1000 years ago and miraculously cured someone who was lame. There was a small pool, with stone steps leading down to it, and a tiny chapel - no more than a niche in a rock wall really, with a tacky religious picture and a grill over the front of it.

The pool was about 4ft long, and my neighbours had told me the legend that mothers would bring their babies to the pool and lay them in it. If they floated then they would be healthy. If one side of their body dipped under the water then they would be lame, and they should pray to St. Germain.

Usually the pool was covered in leaves and the place a bit overgrown, but one day when I walked past it was obvious that someone had cleared away the bushes and branches. Even the pool was clear. I stopped to have a closer look, and I noticed a piece of paper stuck into the chapel. Through the bars I could just read 'Priez pour nous, St. Germain', meaning 'Pray for us, St. Germain'. I just assumed someone was making an effort to clean up the place.

Next day I walked past, and there was a bunch of flowers laid at the base of the chapel, and another note, this one folded over so I couldn't read it. Obviously someone was taking this seriously. The next day there was nothing new, nor the next. But a couple of days later I came past and there was green ivy strands woven through the bars of the chapel. Flower petals were strewn over the steps leading down to the pool, and the surface was covered in them. A single tiny shoe, obviously for a baby, lay by the side of the pool. On the rock around the niche were the stubs of candles with the wax dripped down. I was very intrigued and looked through the bars to see if there was a new note. Sure enough, there was: 'A votre honneur, St. Germain', 'to your honour, St. Germain'.

As I stood there in the shade I suddenly realised that everything had gone still and silent. The dog had run off, there were no birds singing, even the wind in the trees seemed to have dropped. I literally felt a chill run over my body. Then I heard a faint whispering sound, almost a chuckling. I turned around quickly, convinced there was someone behind me, but nothing. I looked down to the pool: water was dribbling in from a small pipe sticking out of the rock, and then overflowing into a drain with a faint gurgling, chuckling noise. The flower petals stirred on the surface and the trees started to shake as the wind picked up. I hurried away from there, chasing after the dog.

Next day I didn't want to go past the shrine, and I took a different route. And the next day. But after that I told myself I was being stupid and went that way. The shrine looked empty, deserted. They ivy strands had dried and shrivelled in the bars of the chapel. The flower petals had blown away. Even the trees and bushes seemed to have grown back into the space, making it seem more wild. The water looked black, empty, dead. I looked into the niche. The previous notes had been burnt and lay in black ashes on the base of the tiny chapel. Now there was a new note: "À travers les rites des incendies, je convoque les vents pour vous envoyez à l'enfer". "Through fire rituals I call on the winds to send you to hell". I looked around: the bushes and trees seemed to be reaching out for me; the surface of the water rippled and moved. I turned and ran, and never walked the dog there again.
(Smale is stuffed, Sat 9 Apr 2011, 17:22, 5 replies)

Wow
Where in France was this ?
(Bitter and Twisted, Sat 9 Apr 2011, 19:37, closed)

Not France
A place called Couture St. Germain in Belgium, a few km outside Brussels.
(Smale is stuffed, Sun 10 Apr 2011, 6:56, closed)

Now that is creepy!
( Bathory, Sat 9 Apr 2011, 19:55, closed)

c
Lick
( dazbrilliantwhites has been meaning to change this..., Sat 9 Apr 2011, 20:17, closed)

Well..
That's just shit me up.
( bane, Sat 9 Apr 2011, 22:28, closed)