Update! I just realized that the comments were closed. I’m sorry! They are open now!

* This was originally posted October 2005, but since we’ve discussed some things of an esoteric nature this week, I decided to repost it. Enjoy!

Three weeks after Maggie was born in January of 2004 my mom’s house caught on fire. Their insurance company rented them a house a few blocks away to stay in while their house was repaired/remodeled. The rental house was older, but it was large with 4 bedrooms and three bathrooms, a large living room, dining room, and family room which was adjacent to the kitchen. All the bedrooms were on one end of the house with the family room and kitchen on the other end and the living room and entryway in the middle. I went through all that to set up the following story.

When they moved in the linoleum in the master bathroom needed to be repaired/replaced. My mom had the rental company send someone out to get it fixed. The gentleman arrived and went to work, my mom had to be in class (at the local university) so she left him there repairing the linoleum. When she came home the repairman was gone, the linoleum was only partially repaired and several of his tools were still sitting in the bathroom. It appeared he had left in a hurry. Mom didn’t think anything of it, she assumed he’d be back to finish.

He never came back.

The first bedroom in the hall was turned into a home office. My mom had a lot of furniture that had to be replaced so we were constantly searching on the internet to find furniture that she liked as well or better than her old furniture. I was in the office looking for leather chairs to replace her old chairs. Maggie was 3 months old and was sound asleep in her carrier nearby. My mom’s two cocker spaniels, Molly and JJ were laying the floor next to me. My mom had a morning class she was running out to and we had planned to meet up with my sister for lunch when she got back.

I heard my mom go out the garage door and saw her car drive away. It was about 15 minutes later when I heard the garage door open then close and what sounded like plastic grocery bags being brought into the kitchen and put on the counter followed by cabinet doors opening and closing. The dogs hopped up and started barking like they always do when my mom comes home and ran in to greet her. I naturally assumed that mom had gone to the store before going to class.

Then everything went silent, dead silent. No grocery bags rustling, no dogs barking. I started to call out to my mom but had the oddest sensation that I should keep quiet. Maggie was still sleeping soundly so I crept out of the office and into the living room. As I came into the living room both dogs were perched on the back of my mom’s expensive sofa (a huge no-no and something they had been trained not to do) staring in the direction of the family room and kitchen, the hair on their backs was standing straight up and JJ had his teeth bared, something he never did.

From my position on the living room I could see the dining room and most of the family room, but not the kitchen. I became concerned that someone had come into the house and so I stood there listening for any sound that might confirm my suspicions. The silence was so strange it didn’t feel like a normal quiet at all. I was just about to turn to go get the baby and leave when I heard, plain as day and crystal clear, a loudly whispered, “Hello…” nearly in my ear, it felt as if someone was at my shoulder. I nearly felt the breath on my neck.

I spun around and, of course, no one was there. The dogs still held their position

When you are not familiar with this sort of thing I can tell you that your mind immediately leaps to rationalize whatever you have seen or heard. I immediately assumed that it was my mom playing some sort of trick on me. Although, for the record, my mom has never been a practical joker of any sort… she’s never been known to prank anyone and certainly would not try to scare anyone on purpose.

I ran in got the baby and called my sister from my cell phone. She was on her way to the house, so I waited by the front door for her to come in. We went through the house and no one was there. The kitchen counters were empty and clean just as they had been when my mom left. All the cabinet doors were closed and the dogs were back to normal.

My sister is sensitive. Very sensitive. And, she refused to stay in that house AT ALL. Preferring to stay with a friend while the house was remodeled. She never really would say why she wouldn’t stay there.

The final incident was on Easter of that year. We did the whole egg hunt thing, had a great meal, the guys settled in to watch a movie, the kids were playing hide and seek all over the house. Finally it was late and my mom, Ethan, GJ, Kate, Maggie and I were all settled into the living room. Yes, the same living room that I had had my experience in just a month or so before.

The boys were discussing how they had slept out in the den (where we could clearly see Mike and my stepdad hanging out) and heard someone walking around the kitchen, opening cupboard doors and things. They assumed it was my mom and when they walked in - no one was there. We teased them a bit (not wanting them to be afraid in the house, they hadn’t heard the other stories at this point, and there are more stories) and started talking about something else. That’s when they interrupted us and told us about the front door - which we were in plain view of. They said that on the night that happened in the kitchen, they walked through the kitchen, through the dining room, into the living room and heard the front door rattling.

Everyone got a little quiet then and we looked at the front door. As if on queue the doorknob began rattling and turning. Ethan, ever the brave little man, ran up to the front door and looked out the window then pulled the door open. No one was there. And everyone at the house was in plain sight.

We noticed that the house has been rented a few times since my mom lived there, it’s even been sold a couple of times… no one stays there very long.

I might post more about this, there are a few more interesting stories my mom told me about the place.

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