Pemiscot County - Hope International

The Haunting of Caruthersville: What happens next will SHOCK you!
The Pemiscot Pearls

Hello MTV, welcome to our crib!
So, the home we were staying in was slightly spooky. It is situated between a funeral home and a lumber yard (and probs a cemetery), but that isn’t even the beginning of it. 
At 10:34 p.m. on Friday night, we were about to go over logistics at the kitchen table when a haunting melody caught our attention.
“Do you hear an ice cream truck?” Kristin asked. 
It sounded like a music box.
Alecia and Molly went into the other room to find the source of the music, however as soon as they got near the source, the music stopped. They looked for a moment then headed back to the group. As soon as they made it through the doorway it started up again! 
Tara, Olivia and Sarah clutched onto each other. Dana looked to her co-site leader, Lauren. The blood was drained from Lauren’s face and her lips were white (basically the epitome of the lyrics “white lips, pale face”).
“Are you okay?” Dana asked. Lauren didn’t immediately respond. Later, Dana revealed that she thought Lauren was legitimately possessed by the spirit of the music box.
“I’m just low-key having an anxiety attack,” she responded. 
We cowered and tried to laugh away our fears for a while, until we decided that we should investigate.
We checked through all of the furniture. As Molly went through the closet, Madeline held the door open to make sure a ghost wouldn’t shut it.
“Hodor!” Molly shouted. 
Nothing in the closet, nothing behind the furniture, and nothing outside the window.
The 12 of us rallied in the furthest bedroom from the source of the noise. The “13th” stayed behind. We all texted our family members and loved ones to let them know what was going on. Here are just a few of the many texts we sent:

We sang “Go Tell It on the Mountain”, some said Hail Marys and the Lord’s Prayer. Anything to ward off bad spirits.
We decided we needed to do three things: cover the front door (one big window), investigate the exterior of the building, and all sleep in one or two bedrooms.
Three brave ones, Dana, Grace, and Molly, ventured outside to take a lap around the house to make sure the noise didn’t come from outside. Lauren stayed on the phone with Dana while she was investigating. This was when we found the creepy door that they dared not touch. 
Ultimately, the findings were inconclusive. 
When the three returned to the group, we found a way to hang up a sheet in front of the door. Then, we reconfigured our sleeping arrangements so we would all feel safer; we took the “rule of three” concept very seriously (as in three to a bed). We moved from four rooms to two, obviously leaving the “ghost” room empty. The internal fears continued, despite the fact that music hadn’t played in at least 30 minutes.
After a restless night of tossing and turning, we were all very eager to GET OUT (of the house) and give back with service.
We rolled up in our swagger wagon and loser cruiser to Hope International. We spent the day sorting clothes, which would be donated to people affected by natural disasters or tragedies. The organizers at Hope International explained to us the breadth of what they do, which amazed us. They devote so much of their time to making sure families have the bare necessities after they experience something awful.
As we sorted through clothes, we saw cute items that we thought we would wear and jammed out to the “oldies, but goodies” (AKA music since 2005). They kept bringing us more clothes to sort, and each time we finished a massive bin, the organizers expressed their surprise and gratitude. 
After we finished our service, one employee told us that the work the 12 of us did in five hours would have taken her at least five weeks to complete. This made touching damp cargo shorts well worth our time and effort.
In our reflection, we talked about how we knew that we did not eradicate any worldly problems with our service. But, we did feel like we made a difference, at least for the regular employees of Hope International. Our service embodied the principle of “poco a poco.”
When we got back to our house for the weekend, we decided to do some more investigating in the daylight, because we were all still very bothered by the inclusive search for the music box. After checking all of the furniture again, Madeline found a crank on the underside of a side table.
She twisted it, and nothing happened. But then, we opened the top on the table and the music began to play!
You can view a video description of the music box here: https://twitter.com/MAB_Weekend/status/795015146838048768
The mystery was solved! Well, sort of. Still, we do not know what caused the music to play. Maybe it was the humidity from our showers that caused pressure to change in the room. Maybe it was a spirit (if it was, we deemed it a “she” who was probably around our age and wanted to hang out with us). If “she” had any motive, it was only to unite us in our sisterhood.
We still don’t know what exactly caused the music to play from the little table. What we do know is that the music box situation brought us so much closer together, and it made us be very, very gumby.
Thanks, unnamed she-ghost.
And also, thank you to our hosts! In all seriousness, they were very hospitable and we are truly grateful for the housing that we had! 


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