September 9, 2013

The Ghost Spooked My Cat

Allie -- American Fork, Utah -- 2012

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My Grandma and Grandpa on my dad's side of the family live in a very old house. Strange things happen quite often, both night and day. I live many miles away from my parents, so when I visit, a cousin I live with will drive me and my pet cat to my Grandma's house. Then, another relative (usually my Grandpa) would drive us the rest of the way. We'd do the same thing to get us home.

We had just finished spending the week at my dad's. He dropped me off at Grandma's and left. Grandpa was at work, and Grandma was leaving to go help a sick friend with something I think, so my cat and I had the house to ourselves while we waited for my cousin to pick us up. There's a nice little guest room by the back door that I feel comfortable in, so I went in there, closed the door, let Momo out of her carrier, and settled down on the bed to play my Nintendo DS to pass the time. After an hour or so, I decided to take a nap. Momo was snuggled up next to me on the bed, purring and totally relaxed. I was rubbing her ears, when she suddenly tensed. She BOLTED under the bed like there had been a loud noise that scared her, but the house was totally quiet. I had never seen my cat act like this before. It was about ten seconds after Momo had hidden that I heard the noises. SOMEONE walked over the creaky floorboards to the back door and started to mess with the doorknob. It sounded like they were struggling to get it open, like it was stuck or something. I could hear their weight shifting on the floorboards as the doorknob rattled violently. My first thought was that there was a burglar or something, but one: The front door makes a very loud and distinctive sound when it's opened. Two: ALL the floorboards creak, and I would have heard anyone coming a mile away. Three: The house is on top of a hill far away from the neighbors and roads. And finally: My cat isn't scared of people. AT ALL. In the three years I've had her, she's never been afraid of strangers, even loud ones. The noises continued for about fifteen minutes or so. I was still sitting in the bed in utter disbelief, and my cat wouldn't budge from her hiding place. The noises came to a complete halt, no footsteps walking away or anything. I decided that since ghosts are technically people, I'd ask it to leave me alone. I went out into the empty hallway, and introduced myself as the granddaughter of the owners. I told the ghost that I was only going to be there for a little while longer, and that he was scaring me and my cat. I politely asked him to leave us be, and went back to the guest room and closed the door. My cat came out from underneath the bed a few minutes later, and the house was quiet for the rest of my stay.