Hatfield Haunting

The Little Lost Girl
By: Elizabeth S. Tyree

There are stories of hauntings everywhere, old houses, hotels, graveyards, even towns are purported to be haunted. How, why and by whom they are haunted; however, can often become lost in the translation of teenagers and adults alike, trying to scare themselves up some fun. This is the case at many reportedly haunted sites here in Alva, Oklahoma.

For example, there have been many reported hauntings in Alva’s Hatfield Park. How do we know which ones are true and which are a hoax? One way is to experience them for yourself. This is exactly what I did, although I didn’t mean to at the time. One night, a few years ago, I was feeling particularly claustrophobic in my little house and, wanting to procrastinate writing a paper, I decided to go spend some time in the great outdoors; namely in the field near Hatfield Park’s hiking trails.

As I was sitting at a picnic table, reading and relaxing in the cool night air, I heard a young girl’s voice. Although I was in the park, I found it a little curious that there was such a young sounding girl there after dark and began wondering where her parents were. As I looked around for the voice, I encountered a young girl, about 6 or 7 years old, standing near an old tree at the far edge of the field. She was alone and wearing an old fashioned white dress, although not so old fashioned that it registered immediately. Although she seemed a little pale, it didn’t occur to me that she was a ghost until after I tried to talk to her. When I asked her where her parents were, she merely looked away. After a little while waiting for her to answer, I tried again to ask her where her parents were, this time she looked at me and said her father was a bad man, that he hurt her. I told her we could get help, but she said she didn’t need help anymore and just wanted to be left alone, that her mother was coming and wouldn’t like it if she was talking to strangers. I agreed and turned to walk back to my seat, when I looked back, she was gone. At first I thought I was imagining things, or that my blood sugar had gotten to low again; but then my friends called me a few nights later, saying that they had heard a little girls voice in the park, calling out to her mother. They couldn’t find the girl and thought it was their imagination. I hadn’t told them about my encounter and it was only after their story that I realized I had not been hallucinating.

I’ve had several other encounters with her over the past few years. Over that time I have learned that she was abused and ultimately killed by her father, although I believe him to be a step-father, because she talks lovingly of daddy, a man who “went away” when she was 4. She was buried by this “father” somewhere in the area, and returns to the park to wait on her mother to find her. She still refuses to tell me her name, her mother doesn’t like her talking to strangers, and she doesn’t know her parent’s names, except that they are mommy and dad. She has, however, told me that she doesn’t like the changes that have been done to the park over the years. Hatfield used to have a zoo with a “monkey” (Charlie the Baboon), deer, ducks, etc. and she is very upset that the zoo has disappeared, along with the majority of the pond. She does like it when people bring their dogs to walk the trails, although she is upset that she can’t play with them, most dogs strain to get away from her, which she doesn’t understand. The little girl has also introduced me to the spirit of a nice older gentleman, who she calls grandpa, that wanders down from the nearby cemetery every once in a while. While I still don’t know her name, I feel somehow connected to this sweet little girl whose spirit waits day after day for her mother to find her.