So there I was...part III

So there I was, sound asleep in my bedroom in the Laguna Beach house. I had moved in with my mom after G died to kind of start my life anew after the emotional upheavals of the last couple of years. I LOVED living in Laguna Beach. Loved It, Loved It, Loved It. Did I mention how much I loved living there? No? Well, I did. Anyhoo, one night, I'm home alone. Actually, not REALLY alone as I had two dogs hanging out with me. Neither of which were my dogs. But the guy who lived in the apartment above the garage totally ignored his dog so my mom and I pretty much adopted her. And my next-door neighbor was out of town so I was dog-sitting his pooch as well.

So after a night of pizza and TV, me and the dogs are curled up in bed, snoring gently in sync, when I'm woken up by the dogs whimpering and growling on the bed. Without sitting up, I open my eyes and look through the doorway into the kitchen. Standing in the kitchen was a person. They didn't move or make a sound. And I couldn't make out any details. It was like a silhouette. I remember thinking if I pretended to be asleep, they'd leave me alone. So I didn't move. I just looked at the figure through half-closed eyes and the figure just looked back at me. At least I think they were looking back at me. I couldn't see a face so I really don't know if they were looking at me or not. And it was very, very quiet. Except for the dogs whimpering. But the dogs would not jump down from the bed. They just stayed on the bed with me, whining and whimpering. And the figure still just stood there, not moving and not making a sound.

I don't know how but I managed to fall back asleep. When I woke up the next morning, I wondered if I had dreamed it. And then I noticed the dogs weren't on the bed. In fact, they weren't even in the house. I hear a scratching sound on the back door and after unlocking the deadbolt, I open the door to both dogs sitting on the back porch. And I asked myself, "Who let the dogs out? Who? Who?" C'mon! You knew THAT was coming!

So now I'm all verklempt. Someone or something had managed to get into my locked and deadbolted house without making a sound, had managed to leave without making a sound, had managed to lock the deadbolt behind them without making a sound and somehow let the dogs out, without making a sound.

I later questioned the neighbors who had keys to the house but they had been out of town that night and they said they would have never come into the house in the middle of the night.

I never did figure out who or what I saw. Or how they came and went. It's still a mystery.

So there I was...Part II

So there I was, laying in bed and trying to fall asleep. My fiance had just died earlier in the day after a long illness but I wasn't really thinking about him, probably because I was a bit numb after the events of the last month, when he had gone to the hospital with stroke-like symptoms, at the age of 23, and one thing after another went wrong and his body finally gave up the ghost. I hope that's not a bad choice of word. But it fits in this situation.

So, I'm dozing off when I hear G's voice, clear as a bell, coming from the foot of the bed. "Kelly!" I hear. And I, of course, answer with "What?" None of that "Is it you, my darling?" stuff. Someone calls my name, even if it's from "beyond" I answer. Simple as that. So, I hear G's voice, still from the direction of the foot of the bed, say, "It's not bad." And I'm pretty sure I replied with something deep and profound, something along the lines of "Ok." Then I rolled over and went to sleep, glad to know he was, well, Ok.

After that, however, things started to happen in the apartment. Lights would turn on and off in the living room, I'd put something down, leave the room for a minute and when I came back, it would be gone only to turn up a day or two later, exactly where I had left it. I'd hear people mumbling but I just chalked that up to thin walls.

Sometime later, an odd thing took place. It was in October and I know this because my sister had gone to Oktoberfest that night and told me she would be staying the night elsewhere. My dad had gone to spend the night down at my mom's house (the were divorced but "dating.") So I was home alone. I watched TV, read and then went to bed after locking the doors but leaving a dim light on in the living room in case Sis came home. FYI, my sister and I shared an apartment with my dad. One of the neighbors thought it was a menage a trois-type of arrangement and was bummed when he found out my dad didn't have 2 20-something girlfriends sharing his bed.

Around 2:00am, I was rudely woken up by someone opening the bedroom door. The light from the hall area was so blinding I turned over and covered my head. I hear a voice ask, "Where's dad?" I answered, "He's at Mom's. Shut the goddamn door!" The bedroom door shut and I could hear the sounds of someone moving around before I fell back asleep.

Next morning, I remembered what had happened and went to wake my sister up to complain about her waking ME up in the middle of the night. She wasn't there. Nobody was there. The front door was still locked but the light was off in the living room. I figured she had come home then left again. And then the phone rang. It was Sis, calling to tell me she had spent the night at a friend's. I asked her if she had come home at any time during the night. Nope. She had gone straight from Oktoberfest to pass out at her friend's place.

At this point, I'm starting to get a little confused. I call my mom's house to see if maybe my dad had come home in the middle of the night although I didn't know why he'd ask if "dad" was home but I was grasping at straws here. Nope. Dad had stayed there all night, only leaving a few minutes before I called.

A couple of things stood out about what had happened in the middle of the night. The light coming from the open doorway was bright. Very, very bright. Way too bright. The type of light Norma Desmond was waiting for when she was ready for her closeup, Mr. DeMille.

And I didn't actually SEE anyone. I know the bedroom door was flung open and I heard a voice asking, "Where's Dad?" I couldn't tell if it was a male or female voice; it was just a voice. But here was the kicker, the voice asked, "where's Dad?" Neither my sisters nor I ever referred to our father as "Dad." He was always, ALWAYS, called by a nickname. So who was looking for their dad that night?

A few months later, I moved in with my mom who was living in a 1920's house in Laguna Beach. Where another such episode took place.

To be continued...

So there I was...

So, there I was. Sitting in the Tyra's living room watching a movie. Because they had "On TV" and we could see actual movies! Remember "On TV?" So, me and one of the Tyra boys, Alan or Jim, were sitting there watching "Apocalypse Now" or something when I keep noticing movement out of the corner of my eye toward their hallway door. But whenever I would turn and look, nothing would be there. This kept up for quite a while along with the sounds of footsteps along the hallway. It's starting to drive me nuts because I couldn't concentrate on the movie because I was so distracted by whoever was walking back and forth and wondered why the hell they never left the hallway and came out into the kitchen and living room area. It's like they'd get to the hall doorway, start to step out and then change their mind and walk back down the hall.

I couldn't stand it any more so I got up and went looking to see who was being so annoying. I looked in all the bedrooms and bathrooms but damned if I couldn't find anyone. I went back to the living room, totally perplexed. A few minutes later, there go the footsteps again. Finally, I ask JimorAlan, "is there something funny going on here?" AlanorJim looks at me and says something along the lines of "Huh?" I explain what I've been hearing/seeing and AlanorJim says, "Oh yeah, we think we have a ghost." Oh. Good thing they only THINK it's a ghost.

Seems they'd all had the same experience as I had. Sitting in the living room, hearing footsteps coming down the hall, a glimpse of someone out of the corner of the eye but upon investigation, nothing to be found.

This was my first experience with the "unknown" but it sure wouldn't be my last.

To be continued.