Knock-Knock

In the early afternoon on Friday, my 25-year-old son emerged from his bedroom. He had just gotten up. Yes, that is his usual time and no, he doesn't work the night shift. He's just somewhat lazy and unmotivated. But that's another topic for another blog post. Anyway, he came into the den where I was working away on a writing project, and asked what my daughter was doing in her room, which is at the far end of the hallway. He knew she should have been in school. I let him know she was in school, that she hadn't been feeling well in the morning, but got better after a couple of hours rest and wanted to go on in. Then, my son looked confused, and said he'd just heard her in her room moving around when he was walking down the hallway. I told him it was probably just the cat nosing around, but he pointed out to me that the cat was asleep and sitting behind me, and the noise he'd heard was like loud shuffling of papers and moving other objects around in the room. I had no explanation, and went both let it go.

Later on in the afternoon, I was back in my writing chair, shortly after having picked my daughter up from school. She and I were sitting in the den, talking, and my son was behind me in the adjoining kitchen. My chair is situated so that I can see all the way down the hallway. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shadow move across it, about twenty feet away from me. I stopped mid-sentence, not sure what I'd seen. The overhead bathroom light was on, and the shadow had momentarily blocked out the reflection of it on the opposite wall. The kids, noting my abrupt dropping of the conversation and quizzical expression, asked what was wrong. I told them what I'd seen, and my eyes never left the hallway, because I was still trying to make sense of it. After a few more seconds, I saw it again. This time it was clear. I'm not accustomed to seeing such things. I've felt and heard odd things I can't explain, and I've seen my animals react to things not visible to me, but I've never actually seen anything like a apparition or this type of shadow before.

That night in bed, I watched TV for awhile, and fell asleep with it still on. I woke up and was about to turn it off when I smelled something unusual. It was a fairly strong scent, and perfumy. It was pleasant, and the kind I could appreciate rather than be disturbed by (I have a serious sensitivity to a lot of fragrances). I decided to just be still for a while, to make sure I was really detecting something. I've awakened on several occasions in the past to a burning smell. Usually, it's kind of like burnt toast. I always get up to check, because I'm sure someone must have left something in the oven too long. But there's never anything burning. The smell will linger in my nose for up to a minute before it dissipates. I've never been able to figure it out. At one time, I wondered if it was a sign of something not quite right in my brain than I needed to have checked out. But this new scent Friday night was definitely new, flowery. It lasted for a half-minute or so, and then was gone.

Honestly, I didn't think anything more about the perfume smell until late in the evening on Saturday. Then, I mentioned it to the kids. They had to point out to me that the other two off events had occurred just hours before. My son laughed, saying, “Well, that's what 'she' was doing in the bathroom. She went in there to put her perfume on, and then went back to the bedroom.” I don't know what it was, or what it meant. Nothing more has happened since, and I'm not keen on having any other occurrences. Stuff like that doesn't intrigue me. It just makes me feel anxious and on guard. One reason it's bothering me right now is that I bought the house we're in just nine months ago from a widow whose only daughter had died of cancer, much too soon. The daughter was much like my own, very musically gifted. In fact, she wrote the scores for a few major films. When we found the house, it seemed very odd and serendipitous. I was drawn to it by forces for which I have no explanation, and was able to afford and purchase it through means I can't explain either.

I have always had a sense that my deceased father and the seller's deceased daughter somehow worked in concert on the other side to bring the house purchase about. We really, really needed to move from the dangerous neighborhood we were in prior to this, but I had never really thought it was possible considering the state of my finances and poor credit a year ago. But, it happened, and we're very content in our new home. I never had anything 'weird' or of the paranormal variety during the many months I was painting and updating the house before we moved in. And, believe me, I was a little on alert for signs, but nothing ever happened. I had just a twinge of anxiety the first couple of nights we slept here. I resisted the urge to sleep with the lights on. But nothing happened. I made the assumption that any spirits were either too occupied on the other side to be visiting here, or they knew how much I don't want to experience their presence and are respecting that. So, I relaxed. Now, I'm back on alert, but I'm trying to be curious and comforted, rather than fearful.

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Okay, there absolutely is something strange going on here. Not a half-hour after I finished writing this post (while sitting in me bedroom), my daughter came out of her room directly across the hall from me. She went into the bathroom, and was doing something, then went back into her room. I didn't actually see her, I just heard her door open and close and her shadow go by. Only I discovered by way of my son a few minutes later that she was still fast asleep. No, she had not gotten up and gone back to bed. She didn't wake up until she heard us having a conversation about it just outside. She assures me that she did not get up before that.

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UPDATE

This morning I was up early. I spent an hour or so working on a writing assignment, hoping to get it out of the way before the kids got up. I was in my usual writing spot, so I could clearly see down our hallway. I heard no one and saw no one get up, but suddenly there was the sound of water running in the bathroom shower and moving around. I thought it odd because my kids rarely get right into the shower on a Saturday morning. I got up to check it out. The bathroom door was closed and along the top edge of it I could see that the light was on. I went to my bedroom next the hall bath and decided to wait and see who was in the shower. When I could no longer hear water running, I went into the hallway, and found the bathroom door open and the light off. No sign of any water having been run. Both kids' bedroom doors were still closed, but I was absolutely sure someone had been up. I knocked on my son's door, and clearly awakened him. He assured me he hadn't budged, and was a little annoyed. Then, I knocked on may daughter's door. I couldn't even wake her, she was so out of it. I've never been so mystified.