This is a re-write of a previous post, I’m posting it (late, sorry) for Sarcastica and Becky. We were chatting about the supernatural last night and agreed to post something related to the supernatural. The following is an absolutely true story.

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. The rental company sent 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. There was a lot of furniture that needed to be replaced so we were constantly searching the ‘net to find certain pieces of furniture. I was in the office searching one day with Maggie, then only 3 months old, 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 door to the garage 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, I can’t emphasize enough that it was a very strange silence. 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. Naturally, the first thing that concerned me was that someone was in the house.

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 the 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 in 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 the same position.

When you are not expecting 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 someone was playing a joke on me.

I ran in got the baby and called my sister, 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 refused to stay in that house. Preferring to stay with a friend while the other 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. I joined in the fun for a bit and hid with Kate in a closet. We heard someone come into the room and rustle around. I peeked through the cracked door of the closet (it had sliding doors) and no one was there. The closet became stifling and the air got really thick so we bolted out of the room and found another spot to hide.

Finally it was late and my mom, my brother, Ethan, Kate, Maggie and I were all settled into the living room. 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. Then they told us about the front door – which we were in plain view of. They said that on the night of the kitchen incident, 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. He closed the door and backed away from it and we all watched as the door knob began twitching and turning again.

They usually left a radio or television on at night in the house because if they didn’t they would hear things. Shuffling, walking, cabinet doors opening and closing, things like that.

Around the house odd balls and pet toys would show up out of nowhere. A phantom cat or small dog was seen running through a room occasionally. There was a big, heavy gate in the backyard that was kept securely latched, it would swing open on its own giving full view to a small garden put in by previous owners. There were old fruit trees that appeared dead, nothing more than dark, creepy skeletal looking sticks. There was a big redwood in the corner of the backyard with large rocks beneath it. Tennis balls and baseballs would appear piled up near the rocks. Two or three at a time.

The house was put up for sale and purchased about a year or so ago. Prior to that it was rented several times but no one seemed to stay very long.