Ghostly Encounters

Sometimes things go bump in the night at our house.  Papers fall off the table of their own accord.  Odd noises come from the opposite side of the house on a regular basis.  Cell phones and books seem to have moved from where they were set down.  All little things easily explained as normal occurrences in a busy household............. until the little occurrences start adding up.  Then, an occurrence (or two.... or three) happens which is not so easily explained.  It's those few inexplicable occurrences which have convinced my children that our house is haunted. 



Ghostly encounters Public Domain


No matter how much I try to convince them there's nothing in this home's history (no suicides, murders, unexplained deaths, etc.) which would invite the spirit world through the doors......... or walls...... they don't believe me.  They are convinced some kind of ghost has made its way in.  

They say they've seen a ghost-like apparition in the middle of the night.  Our house sits on a corner at a bend in the road, so when cars come down the street, their headlights do cast ghostly beams through the tightly drawn blinds.

They say they hear crashing noises but when they investigate, nothing is found.  Yeah well, we have lots of squirrels who like to jump from the trees onto the roof, and from the roof onto the trees.  Hence, lots of crashing sounds.

They say things move of their own accord.  No, mom and dad get sick of tripping over their shoes in the middle of the floor and move them out of the way.

They say they have heard "people" sounds but no one is in the area where the sound came from.  Ok, this one got to me because I have noticed this but disregarded it............ until a couple of nights ago.

It was about 2am and I was sound asleep on the sofa (yes, I had tried to stay up to watch the end of a show and probably made it 10 minutes and missed the ending - darn it!).  I awoke with a start to what sounded like someone stepping on one of the dog's squeaky toys.  And boy, oh boy was it loud.

I sat up instantly and waited for one of my kids to walk in the room.  I waited and waited but no one came in.  I got up and walked into my kids room to see if they'd been sleep walking.  They were sound asleep and, from the way they were wrapped burrito style in their blankets, they hadn't gotten up since going to bed hours before.  I peeked in my bedroom.  My husband was sound asleep......... and snoring like a freight train.

I decided it was either my imagination or a dream and went back to the sofa, because there was no way I was going to be able to sleep with the snorus-chorus my husband was serenading the house with.  I arranged the throw pillows so they'd be comfy, grabbed a blanket, and headed off to dreamland.  Just as I was dozing off, the sound of a dog toy squeaked quite loudly again.

I flew off the sofa and with my heart racing and with the fireplace's andiron poker held like a baseball bat, I quickly walked through the house.  I found nothing out of sorts.  And, all of the dog toys were in their place........ in a different room from where the sound emanated.  That could only mean one thing......... gasp!  A possible rodent invasion.

I looked for evidence of a mouse or some other squeaky creature.  The problem with that thought was:  A)  I might find a mouse........... and then what was I going do?!; and B) The sound I heard was more akin to a wonky sounding dog toy which had the squeaker punctured than it was a rodent. 

Again, I found nothing...... thankfully.  I wasn't sure which thought was worse:  having a ghost or a mouse in the house.  I tried to fall back to sleep, but there was no way my racing heart or wayward thoughts could settle down enough to allow me to rest.  I finally turned on the tv and watched mindless tv programming until it was time to get everyone up and off to school and work.

Later that day, while my kids were in school and my husband was at work, I heard a very loud crash.  The sound came from my closet and it sounded like my closet rod had given way, sending everything to the floor.  Not that this event would be a surprise since that rod has been bowed since I hung one hanger from it.

With a lot of grumbling and a big sigh at the work I knew would be before me, I walked to my closet.  I dreaded opening the closet doors, but when I walked in there was nothing wrong.  The closet rod was still there bowed just as much as before.  All of the shelves were in place and nothing was on the floor that shouldn't have been.

Quite surprised, I quickly looked around my bedroom and bathroom.  Nothing.  I looked in the garage.  Nothing.  I sprinted to check both of my kids' rooms and closets.  Nothing again!  What the heck?!  I flew to the window to see if maybe the sound came from a delivery truck or a neighbor.  Yet more of nothing!  EEK!  I decided to tell myself the same thing I tell my kids "It was just a squirrel.  It was just a squirrel.  It was just a squirrel.  It was......."

Ok, so from the tremendous sound of that crash it must've been a 300 pound squirrel, but it could happen.  Right?!  If there's a Loch Ness monster and 8 foot tall Sasquatch in the forests, there could be a squirrel big enough to make that kind of noise.  I am, after all, in Texas and everything is bigger in Texas.........

After consuming a good amount of chocolate, I have decided not to get too worked up over the whole thing though.  If it was a ghost that knocked something down in my closet, or made a dog toy squeak, then I haven't been able to find evidence of its presence.  Not that that's all bad because hey, at least they picked up after themselves........

Written by Christie Bielss