October 21, 2015 • 14 mins
Mississippi ghost story about a young boy's encounter with a strange girl who suddenly appears near his family's farm.
For more strange Southern folktales, including stories not on the podcast, visit https://themoonlitroad.com
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"Mississippi Rose" was written by LaDoris Davis and Craig Dominey
Storyteller: LaDoris Davis
Audio Production: Henry Howard
The Moonlit Road Podcast is a production of The Moonlit Road, LLC.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Night has fallen, and the moon is a
glowing golden orb in the black sky.
See how it shines on the dark back
roads of America, and on one road in
particular.
Come with us, and we'll take a walk
(00:23):
down the moonlit road, for the night is
waiting.
And the moon is full.
(00:48):
Joshua was a young fellow who came up
from New Orleans to live on the farm
with his grandpa in Mississippi.
Joshua used to come up for summers to
visit his grandpa, and he always liked Mississippi,
and he figured when he got old enough
to make his own decisions, he would go
(01:09):
to live in Mississippi.
And he did.
Now what Joshua liked about Mississippi, that it
was quiet and peaceful, it was so simple.
Not complicated like living in the city.
Now his chores at his grandpa's farm included
(01:29):
helping in the fields, and he had a
real important chore of taking the produce to
town on Saturday morning.
Now the farm folk would take the produce
to town, and the city folk would come
in to buy it.
So Joshua had peas, and tomatoes, a little
okra.
(01:50):
And people would sell their produce on the
town square, right there in the center of
town.
When Joshua headed back to his grandpa's farm
after selling his produce, it was a long
stretch home, and Joshua was getting a little
tired and thirsty.
And along that long stretch of road, he
(02:12):
saw a cluster of magnolia trees that he
thinks he remembered passing on the way in.
And that was the only place that he
saw some shade, so he pulled the mule
over in the wagon, and he got out
and had a drink of water out of
his water jug.
And by his recollection, he figured right there
(02:33):
by that clump of magnolia trees, well that
must have been about halfway home.
When Joshua got back to his grandpa's farm,
it was early evening.
And grandpa came out and met him and
said, Son, I know you're tired and you've
had a long ride from town, but Obadiah
(02:54):
sent word that he needs a load of
hay first thing come Monday morning.
Well, we can't get that hay over to
him first thing Monday morning, because you and
I are going to be in the fields
here.
Can't do it on Sunday, because the only
work we do on Sunday is church work.
So, boy, you're going to have to load
that wagon with hay and take it down
(03:16):
to Obadiah's house, and I'll tell you right
where he lives.
So Joshua loaded the wagon with hay.
After getting the instructions, he got in the
wagon, and grandpa said, Now, boy, you take
your lantern.
It'll be getting dark on the road, and
when you get to Obadiah's, it'll be late,
so he'll no doubt invite you to sit
(03:37):
down to supper, spell, and have you spend
the night.
Now, listen, boy, be patient.
Obadiah is known around these parts as a
talker.
He tells some wild tales, and he's pretty
superstitious.
All right, grandpa, I'll be okay.
And Joshua snapped the reins and headed down
(03:58):
the road toward town to get to the
cutoff that led to Obadiah's house.
As he went further along, it started to
get darker and darker, and there were sounds
coming from the woods around him, perhaps the
(04:19):
sounds of wild animals, and something darted across
the road in front of him, and all
he could make out was the eyes.
Whatever it was had cat-like eyes, and
the night took on a chill, and Joshua
held up the lantern to try to figure
out where he was and how much further
(04:41):
it was to the turn to Obadiah's, and
as he held up the lantern, he saw
the cluster of magnolia trees, and he knew
where he was then, and all of a
sudden there was someone who jumped from a
branch of a magnolia tree, and he brought
(05:01):
the muse to a halt, and a young
girl came to stand beside the wagon, and
Joshua held up the lantern to see, and
it was a pretty girl.
He said, Ma'am, why are you out
at night by yourself?
(05:22):
She said, It's okay.
It's not like any harm will come to
me.
But, ma'am, it's late.
It's dark.
There's no telling what will happen out here.
There are wild animals running about.
Let me take you to your house.
You do live around these parts, don't you?
Yes, I live right down the road a
(05:45):
piece.
Well, let me take you to your home.
Okay.
He held up the lantern so she could
see how to step into the wagon, and
from the light of the lantern she looked
sort of pale, but she was so pretty.
She had dark hair with a ponytail pulled
(06:07):
back with a pretty bow on it, and
he was thinking, Wow, what a nice girl
to marry up with.
He was so excited, and Josh said, Ma
'am, my name is Joshua.
What's your name?
My name is Rose.
So as they sat in the wagon, and
(06:28):
he giddy-upped the muse to go down
the road, he was so proud that his
pretty girl was sitting beside him in his
wagon, and in just a little while she
said, That's where I live, right there.
You can stop.
So he brought the muse to a halt,
and they were in front of a large
(06:50):
gate all covered with wild roses, and the
girl hopped right out and went to the
gate, and Joshua said, Ma'am, I could
open the gate and take you right up
to your door.
I could.
I'm okay.
It's not like any harm will come to
me.
I could take you up to your door.
(07:11):
I don't think I should go up to
my house with a stranger, especially at night.
Oh, okay, Josh said.
So when the girl stood at the gate,
he watched her for a minute, and then
he snapped the horses to start, and he
(07:31):
went down the road just a ways, and
he came to the turn to go to
Obadiah's house.
As he made the turn, he lost sight
of the girl in the darkness.
When Joshua got to Obadiah's house, unloaded the
hay, and put the muse up, he went
in, and there was Obadiah standing right inside
(07:54):
the screen door, tall and graying and a
cantankerous looking old man.
Obadiah said, Come on in, son, and sit
down to supper.
And see that room there on the right?
That's where you'll sleep, being it's late and
all.
And help yourself to supper.
And the boy sat down and had supper
(08:16):
with Obadiah, and as he was eating, he
decided to ask Obadiah some questions.
Mr. Obadiah, sir.
Your boy.
Are there any pretty girls around these parts?
Oh, sure there are, son, say.
Are you looking to find you a girl
to marry up with?
(08:36):
Ha!
As Obadiah slept this tower, son, if you're
looking for a girl to marry up with,
you need to follow the flight of the
redbird.
Yes, sir.
Everybody knows if you follow the flight of
the redbird, why that redbird will land right
where there's a girl looking for a boy.
(08:57):
And that's a good place to start, boy.
Ha!
And then Joshua wanted to ask Mr. Obadiah
about Rose.
Mr. Obadiah.
Your boy.
Do you know a girl around these parts
named Rose Simmons?
(09:18):
Why, sure.
I know about Rose Simmons.
Well, Rose would be about 19.
Yeah, about now she would.
She's a pretty girl, isn't she, Mr. Obadiah?
Oh, sure, son.
I would say Rose Simmons was one of
the prettiest girls that ever lived around these
parts.
She's kind of sassy, but she was pretty.
(09:41):
Had that black hair, you know, pulled back
in a ponytail and always had a pretty
bow on it.
Yeah, she was a pretty girl.
She was.
Joshua was feeling confused.
Mr. Obadiah, why do you say she was?
She doesn't live around here anymore?
And Mr. Obadiah looked at Joshua kind of
(10:02):
strange.
Boy!
Rose Simmons is dead!
She's dead, Joshua said.
His face was getting hot.
His palms were sweaty.
His heart was beating fast.
Son, Rose Simmons died about last spring.
Yeah, she did.
(10:22):
What happened was the girl was out playing
in those magnolia trees.
She loved to play in those magnolia trees,
and it was on a Saturday evening, it
was.
And her parents called out the door to
her.
You know, the trees were down the road
a ways from the house, but seeing this
land is flat and the air is so
(10:43):
open, a parent could just call out the
door to the child or spell, and the
child would hear and come right on.
So they called for Rose to come in
and do her Saturday chores, which was churning
butter in the kitchen there.
And the daddy went to feed up some
cattle down at the bottom of the pasture.
He had a trough down there.
(11:03):
And the mama went with him to look
for the milk cow, because if you don't
milk a cow regularly, the milk will just
dry up.
And before you know it, there came a
lightning storm, and it struck a pantry right
next to the house there by the kitchen,
set that house on fire, it did, and
burned up that girl inside the house.
(11:25):
And it was before her folk could get
back up there, and they never did find
a body burned, I reckon it was.
And it was too much for the mom
and the dad, and they just moved away
from these parts.
And Joshua's face had turned white, and Obadiah
(11:46):
stopped talking long enough to look at Joshua
and say, Boy, you look like you've seen
a ghost.
Joshua said, Mr. Obadiah, do you think there's
ghosts?
Mr. Obadiah said, Boy, let me tell you
what I think.
I think folks around here tell stories that
(12:07):
that girl tries to get home because she
hears her folk calling.
Now, I reckon her spirit ain't resting on
account of the way she died, but just
as sure as the Pearl River runs through
this town, I'm telling you, dead folks don't
belong in this world.
They belong to the dead, and folks shouldn't
ought to be talking about them, like they're
(12:30):
walking around with the living.
That's evil, and that's all I'm going to
say, boy.
And Obadiah pointed to the room where Joshua
was to sleep, turned off the light.
Now, first thing the next morning, Joshua got
up and hitched up his mule to the
wagon, and he started down the road with
(12:50):
a gallop, because he was kind of doubting
what Mr. Obadiah had said.
He wanted to see for himself, because he
had surely seen that girl on the road,
and her name was Rose.
And when he got to that property where
he let that girl off, the Simmons property,
he left the mule and wagon right there
by the road, and he opened that gate,
(13:12):
and he walked on in, and as he
was walking, his heart was pounding in his
chest, because he didn't know what he might
find, and sure enough, he found what was
a burned-out homestead.
And Joshua walked further along with his fingers
(13:35):
digging into his thighs, because he was just
so frightened of what else ever he might
find, and there it was.
There was a marker on a little mound
of dirt down back behind the property, and
it had a little magnolia tree planted over
it, a little baby magnolia tree it looked
like, and the marker said, Rose Simmons.
(14:02):
Well, Joshua was so frightened, he stumbled from
that property, he got into that wagon, he
snapped the reins for those mules, he went
down that road to his grandfather's farm, and
he packed so fast and got back to
New Orleans, and that boy Joshua wasn't seen
in those parts ever again.
(14:26):
That concludes this tale from The Moonlit Road.
Be sure to visit our website at themoonlitroad
.com to find out more about our stories
and let us know how we're doing.
The Moonlit Road is produced and directed by
Craig Dominey, recorded and soundscaped by Henry Howard
in beautiful Stone Mountain, Georgia.
Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next
(14:48):
time.
(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Night has fallen, and the moon is a
glowing golden orb in the black sky.
See how it shines on the dark back
roads of America, and on one road in
particular.
Come with us, and we'll take a walk
(00:23):
down the moonlit road, for the night is
waiting.
And the moon is full.
(00:48):
Joshua was a young fellow who came up
from New Orleans to live on the farm
with his grandpa in Mississippi.
Joshua used to come up for summers to
visit his grandpa, and he always liked Mississippi,
and he figured when he got old enough
to make his own decisions, he would go
(01:09):
to live in Mississippi.
And he did.
Now what Joshua liked about Mississippi, that it
was quiet and peaceful, it was so simple.
Not complicated like living in the city.
Now his chores at his grandpa's farm included
(01:29):
helping in the fields, and he had a
real important chore of taking the produce to
town on Saturday morning.
Now the farm folk would take the produce
to town, and the city folk would come
in to buy it.
So Joshua had peas, and tomatoes, a little
okra.
(01:50):
And people would sell their produce on the
town square, right there in the center of
town.
When Joshua headed back to his grandpa's farm
after selling his produce, it was a long
stretch home, and Joshua was getting a little
tired and thirsty.
And along that long stretch of road, he
(02:12):
saw a cluster of magnolia trees that he
thinks he remembered passing on the way in.
And that was the only place that he
saw some shade, so he pulled the mule
over in the wagon, and he got out
and had a drink of water out of
his water jug.
And by his recollection, he figured right there
(02:33):
by that clump of magnolia trees, well that
must have been about halfway home.
When Joshua got back to his grandpa's farm,
it was early evening.
And grandpa came out and met him and
said, Son, I know you're tired and you've
had a long ride from town, but Obadiah
(02:54):
sent word that he needs a load of
hay first thing come Monday morning.
Well, we can't get that hay over to
him first thing Monday morning, because you and
I are going to be in the fields
here.
Can't do it on Sunday, because the only
work we do on Sunday is church work.
So, boy, you're going to have to load
that wagon with hay and take it down
(03:16):
to Obadiah's house, and I'll tell you right
where he lives.
So Joshua loaded the wagon with hay.
After getting the instructions, he got in the
wagon, and grandpa said, Now, boy, you take
your lantern.
It'll be getting dark on the road, and
when you get to Obadiah's, it'll be late,
so he'll no doubt invite you to sit
(03:37):
down to supper, spell, and have you spend
the night.
Now, listen, boy, be patient.
Obadiah is known around these parts as a
talker.
He tells some wild tales, and he's pretty
superstitious.
All right, grandpa, I'll be okay.
And Joshua snapped the reins and headed down
(03:58):
the road toward town to get to the
cutoff that led to Obadiah's house.
As he went further along, it started to
get darker and darker, and there were sounds
coming from the woods around him, perhaps the
(04:19):
sounds of wild animals, and something darted across
the road in front of him, and all
he could make out was the eyes.
Whatever it was had cat-like eyes, and
the night took on a chill, and Joshua
held up the lantern to try to figure
out where he was and how much further
(04:41):
it was to the turn to Obadiah's, and
as he held up the lantern, he saw
the cluster of magnolia trees, and he knew
where he was then, and all of a
sudden there was someone who jumped from a
branch of a magnolia tree, and he brought
(05:01):
the muse to a halt, and a young
girl came to stand beside the wagon, and
Joshua held up the lantern to see, and
it was a pretty girl.
He said, Ma'am, why are you out
at night by yourself?
(05:22):
She said, It's okay.
It's not like any harm will come to
me.
But, ma'am, it's late.
It's dark.
There's no telling what will happen out here.
There are wild animals running about.
Let me take you to your house.
You do live around these parts, don't you?
Yes, I live right down the road a
(05:45):
piece.
Well, let me take you to your home.
Okay.
He held up the lantern so she could
see how to step into the wagon, and
from the light of the lantern she looked
sort of pale, but she was so pretty.
She had dark hair with a ponytail pulled
(06:07):
back with a pretty bow on it, and
he was thinking, Wow, what a nice girl
to marry up with.
He was so excited, and Josh said, Ma
'am, my name is Joshua.
What's your name?
My name is Rose.
So as they sat in the wagon, and
(06:28):
he giddy-upped the muse to go down
the road, he was so proud that his
pretty girl was sitting beside him in his
wagon, and in just a little while she
said, That's where I live, right there.
You can stop.
So he brought the muse to a halt,
and they were in front of a large
(06:50):
gate all covered with wild roses, and the
girl hopped right out and went to the
gate, and Joshua said, Ma'am, I could
open the gate and take you right up
to your door.
I could.
I'm okay.
It's not like any harm will come to
me.
I could take you up to your door.
(07:11):
I don't think I should go up to
my house with a stranger, especially at night.
Oh, okay, Josh said.
So when the girl stood at the gate,
he watched her for a minute, and then
he snapped the horses to start, and he
(07:31):
went down the road just a ways, and
he came to the turn to go to
Obadiah's house.
As he made the turn, he lost sight
of the girl in the darkness.
When Joshua got to Obadiah's house, unloaded the
hay, and put the muse up, he went
in, and there was Obadiah standing right inside
(07:54):
the screen door, tall and graying and a
cantankerous looking old man.
Obadiah said, Come on in, son, and sit
down to supper.
And see that room there on the right?
That's where you'll sleep, being it's late and
all.
And help yourself to supper.
And the boy sat down and had supper
(08:16):
with Obadiah, and as he was eating, he
decided to ask Obadiah some questions.
Mr. Obadiah, sir.
Your boy.
Are there any pretty girls around these parts?
Oh, sure there are, son, say.
Are you looking to find you a girl
to marry up with?
(08:36):
Ha!
As Obadiah slept this tower, son, if you're
looking for a girl to marry up with,
you need to follow the flight of the
redbird.
Yes, sir.
Everybody knows if you follow the flight of
the redbird, why that redbird will land right
where there's a girl looking for a boy.
(08:57):
And that's a good place to start, boy.
Ha!
And then Joshua wanted to ask Mr. Obadiah
about Rose.
Mr. Obadiah.
Your boy.
Do you know a girl around these parts
named Rose Simmons?
(09:18):
Why, sure.
I know about Rose Simmons.
Well, Rose would be about 19.
Yeah, about now she would.
She's a pretty girl, isn't she, Mr. Obadiah?
Oh, sure, son.
I would say Rose Simmons was one of
the prettiest girls that ever lived around these
parts.
She's kind of sassy, but she was pretty.
(09:41):
Had that black hair, you know, pulled back
in a ponytail and always had a pretty
bow on it.
Yeah, she was a pretty girl.
She was.
Joshua was feeling confused.
Mr. Obadiah, why do you say she was?
She doesn't live around here anymore?
And Mr. Obadiah looked at Joshua kind of
(10:02):
strange.
Boy!
Rose Simmons is dead!
She's dead, Joshua said.
His face was getting hot.
His palms were sweaty.
His heart was beating fast.
Son, Rose Simmons died about last spring.
Yeah, she did.
(10:22):
What happened was the girl was out playing
in those magnolia trees.
She loved to play in those magnolia trees,
and it was on a Saturday evening, it
was.
And her parents called out the door to
her.
You know, the trees were down the road
a ways from the house, but seeing this
land is flat and the air is so
(10:43):
open, a parent could just call out the
door to the child or spell, and the
child would hear and come right on.
So they called for Rose to come in
and do her Saturday chores, which was churning
butter in the kitchen there.
And the daddy went to feed up some
cattle down at the bottom of the pasture.
He had a trough down there.
(11:03):
And the mama went with him to look
for the milk cow, because if you don't
milk a cow regularly, the milk will just
dry up.
And before you know it, there came a
lightning storm, and it struck a pantry right
next to the house there by the kitchen,
set that house on fire, it did, and
burned up that girl inside the house.
(11:25):
And it was before her folk could get
back up there, and they never did find
a body burned, I reckon it was.
And it was too much for the mom
and the dad, and they just moved away
from these parts.
And Joshua's face had turned white, and Obadiah
(11:46):
stopped talking long enough to look at Joshua
and say, Boy, you look like you've seen
a ghost.
Joshua said, Mr. Obadiah, do you think there's
ghosts?
Mr. Obadiah said, Boy, let me tell you
what I think.
I think folks around here tell stories that
(12:07):
that girl tries to get home because she
hears her folk calling.
Now, I reckon her spirit ain't resting on
account of the way she died, but just
as sure as the Pearl River runs through
this town, I'm telling you, dead folks don't
belong in this world.
They belong to the dead, and folks shouldn't
ought to be talking about them, like they're
(12:30):
walking around with the living.
That's evil, and that's all I'm going to
say, boy.
And Obadiah pointed to the room where Joshua
was to sleep, turned off the light.
Now, first thing the next morning, Joshua got
up and hitched up his mule to the
wagon, and he started down the road with
(12:50):
a gallop, because he was kind of doubting
what Mr. Obadiah had said.
He wanted to see for himself, because he
had surely seen that girl on the road,
and her name was Rose.
And when he got to that property where
he let that girl off, the Simmons property,
he left the mule and wagon right there
by the road, and he opened that gate,
(13:12):
and he walked on in, and as he
was walking, his heart was pounding in his
chest, because he didn't know what he might
find, and sure enough, he found what was
a burned-out homestead.
And Joshua walked further along with his fingers
(13:35):
digging into his thighs, because he was just
so frightened of what else ever he might
find, and there it was.
There was a marker on a little mound
of dirt down back behind the property, and
it had a little magnolia tree planted over
it, a little baby magnolia tree it looked
like, and the marker said, Rose Simmons.
(14:02):
Well, Joshua was so frightened, he stumbled from
that property, he got into that wagon, he
snapped the reins for those mules, he went
down that road to his grandfather's farm, and
he packed so fast and got back to
New Orleans, and that boy Joshua wasn't seen
in those parts ever again.
(14:26):
That concludes this tale from The Moonlit Road.
Be sure to visit our website at themoonlitroad
.com to find out more about our stories
and let us know how we're doing.
The Moonlit Road is produced and directed by
Craig Dominey, recorded and soundscaped by Henry Howard
in beautiful Stone Mountain, Georgia.
Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next
(14:48):
time.
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