UPON A DARE Sometime in 1977 a mini excursion was taken from Decatur, Illinois south some 185 miles to Carbondale home of Southern Illinois University (S.I.U.) also known as the party school, simply to have something to do for the long weekend ahead. Along for the ride was my friend Rick, we planned on stopping in Marion, Illinois to see if a couple of girls, Judy and Renee (Renee’s nickname Wren) wanted to accompany us over to the campus about 15 to 20 miles away. When we stopped at their house they were all too glad to see us and quickly accepted our evening plans. Now headed to SIU, soon we were on the grounds. Little to do was found there, the place was dead, and so up the road we went with no particular place to go.One of the girls, I can’t remember who, mentioned a haunted cemetery not far from us. The girls talked of strange sightings and weird goings on but had no real details or facts, stating although they believed the stories, it had been years since they had heard the tales, adding they really wasn’t even sure of the location of the cemetery. Going by their directions soon we were far out into the countryside, where dark is dark, thousands of stars could be seen at a glance to the heavens, over gravel covered roads, across an old rinky-dink bridge and past an unmarked railroad crossing where the sign lay in the ditch, going no faster than 25 miles an hour, then they said, "There’s a cemetery, I don’t think it’s the right one but lets check it out." Well it wasn’t the right one and neither were the next one we stopped at. Now totally turned around, I wasn’t even sure of which direction I was heading when one of the girls yelled, "Yes this is the right way, around the next curve the cemetery is on your side." Sure enough there it was, huge I thought for a cemetery out in the country, three family mausoleums could be seen from the road.Wren with claims of ties to the occult then said, "I dare one of you guys to walk around the second mausoleum three times saying, Tonight I come to visit you, come out, make yourself known, you’re not alone. The other guy I dare to walk to the rear of the cemetery and return, and then tell us what happened." I took the dare to walk around the grave; my curious nature didn’t even require a dare, although I thought the little saying was stupid, I did repeat it as was requested. Rick said he’d walk to the rear adding those graves above ground [mausoleums] freaked him out. Rick started walking and soon was out of sight in the absolute blackness of night, I looked at my watch and as if scripted by Steven King it was straight up midnight. Going to the second tomb, I remember reading the name above the door and trying to look inside. Then I started my slow deliberate walk around the structure saying aloud, "Tonight I come to visit, come out, make yourself known, you are not alone." The first circle left me feeling a little nervous but a lot silly, the second time around I thought I saw a dim light inside the tomb, thinking it must have been a reflection from something, somewhere, but as I reached the rear of the tomb on my third cycle, a force I literally felt as if a bouquet of roses slapped me across the face, froze me in my steps. The most intense odor of roses was smelled I had ever experienced. Just at that time Rick came screaming from the far side of the cemetery, I met him about half way to the car which was parked across the road roughly 100 yards from the second tomb. Quickly I asked Rick what was the matter? He said he saw a black dog come out from behind a tombstone. I said, "Are you sure Rick, are you real sure, maybe it was your own shadow or a raccoon?" Rick sat there for several seconds not saying a word, then Wren said, "Jerry what did you see?" I replied, "I’m not telling, I’ll write it down. Rick how about you go around it three times and tell me what you experience, if anything?" Rick now a little gun shy said, "I’ll do it but you guys all come and stand by me." Rick mustarded up the nerve and around he went as the girls and me stood close for his comfort. On his second trip around he said, "What was that?" no one answered, and then around on the third revolution he said, "Damn! Jesus forgive me, man lets get out of here!" Rick ran to the car, we three did the same. Rick got in the back seat and said, "Roses it was roses they hit me right in the chest, I couldn’t see them but it was like a bottle of pure ass rose perfume was poured up my nose!" I then turned on the dome light and let Judy read my note, "I felt a bunch of roses hit me in the face, and I smelled a very strong odor of roses." I asked him what he was remarking about when he said, what was that?" Rick said he thought he saw a weak ball of light for a second in the window [of the tomb] but it went away. Driving back to town all of us felt something had happened but were not sure of how or what and even wondering if our own game of dare and underlying thoughts of something should happen made it happen. The conversation got heated and torn. Wren believed, as Judy laughed, Rick still shaking didn’t appear to be in the mood to argue, just muttered out, "I bet it was a raccoon" and I trying to take it all in and sort things out ended it by saying lets stop and get a coke. We then turned up the radio and found a small restaurant open, as I went up to the juke box and played, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" kicking up my shoe as I leaned against the juke box, I heard a horrible loud gasp at my table, quickly turning about Wren said, "Look on the bottom of your left shoe!" Raising my foot there on the bottom was a red rose petal!