This month's topic: Are you a believer in the paranormal or a skeptic? Have you ever experienced (or known someone who had) a paranormal experience?
Why yes, as a matter of fact, even though both parents raised me to be skeptical, I must admit to some eerie experiences. Like what? Nothing involving being outdoors, since nature isn't scary to me, just beautiful.
I used to think that paranormal phenomena didn't exist. Then I moved with my boyfriend into an old house that had a ghost. It wasn't malevolent...just there. It was my dog who noticed it first, barking at what appeared to be nothing, then things would happen near her...like coffee cups that jumped off the counter when they'd been nowhere near the edge. A sudden chill to the air where she was standing and barking. We got kind of used to it, so when we moved we invited the ghost to come with us, and switched the andirons in the fireplaces, telling the ghost it was welcome in our new place. It didn't come, so we figured it was house-specific.
When we bought this house we were a little disappointed that it was "uninhabited" also. But the house next door is an old farmhouse, obviously the oldest one on the block. The woman who used to live there got to be a good friend of mine. She once told me that she kept all of the lights on in the house because her daughters didn't like "the voices" that they'd hear in a dark room. I didn't think about that much until my dryer broke and she invited me to use hers while she was grocery shopping. I went down into the basement, which I had never been in before, and it had such a low ceiling that I almost had to stoop...and I'm a short woman. As I was putting the clothes into the drier the hairs on the back of my neck started to itch and I felt a chill to the air at the same time as I started to hear "whispers" from behind me. I spoke loudly, saying I was only there to do laundry, then I high-tailed it up the stairs and out the door! I waited until Eva was home to get my laundry. Years later when the couple who had bought the house from Eva split up and the woman moved out, Eva said to ask the woman if "the voices" were why she was leaving him and the house. When I did, she gave me a funny look and asked "How do you know about them?" The man who still lives there alone, keeps all of the lights in the house on, on both floors, whenever he's home.
The most recent contact I've had with the after-life was after my Father passed on. He was an unrepentant atheist who went to the afterlife convinced he'd just stop thinking and that'd be it. My Mom was struggling through the early stages of the dementia that took her away almost four years later. But soon after he died I had a dream about going to see her and she took a long time to get to the door. When she opened it she told me she was on the phone with my Dad. I reminded her that he was dead, and they don't have phone service there. She told me, "See for yourself", and waved at the phone. I picked it up and my Dad told me "Hi". I asked him where he was, and he told me he didn't know, but that he was walking a lot and enjoying seeing all kinds of familiar sights. (He died from colon cancer that brought on a stroke that had made him unable to get out of bed, but told me that in his dreams he was still able to ballroom dance.) I asked him where he was going, and he told me that he didn't know, but had seen some familiar faces along the way. Then he told me that he had to get going because he was getting to his destination. He told me he loved me and my family then he hung up. Then I woke up. Rationally I can think that it was just my brain comforting me because I missed my Dad. That's the explanation he'd choose. But really? I'm not sure.
Find out what others have to say by visiting the next author in this Round Robin: Lynn Crain http://www.awriterinvienna.blogspot.com
Happy Halloween!
Why yes, as a matter of fact, even though both parents raised me to be skeptical, I must admit to some eerie experiences. Like what? Nothing involving being outdoors, since nature isn't scary to me, just beautiful.
I used to think that paranormal phenomena didn't exist. Then I moved with my boyfriend into an old house that had a ghost. It wasn't malevolent...just there. It was my dog who noticed it first, barking at what appeared to be nothing, then things would happen near her...like coffee cups that jumped off the counter when they'd been nowhere near the edge. A sudden chill to the air where she was standing and barking. We got kind of used to it, so when we moved we invited the ghost to come with us, and switched the andirons in the fireplaces, telling the ghost it was welcome in our new place. It didn't come, so we figured it was house-specific.
When we bought this house we were a little disappointed that it was "uninhabited" also. But the house next door is an old farmhouse, obviously the oldest one on the block. The woman who used to live there got to be a good friend of mine. She once told me that she kept all of the lights on in the house because her daughters didn't like "the voices" that they'd hear in a dark room. I didn't think about that much until my dryer broke and she invited me to use hers while she was grocery shopping. I went down into the basement, which I had never been in before, and it had such a low ceiling that I almost had to stoop...and I'm a short woman. As I was putting the clothes into the drier the hairs on the back of my neck started to itch and I felt a chill to the air at the same time as I started to hear "whispers" from behind me. I spoke loudly, saying I was only there to do laundry, then I high-tailed it up the stairs and out the door! I waited until Eva was home to get my laundry. Years later when the couple who had bought the house from Eva split up and the woman moved out, Eva said to ask the woman if "the voices" were why she was leaving him and the house. When I did, she gave me a funny look and asked "How do you know about them?" The man who still lives there alone, keeps all of the lights in the house on, on both floors, whenever he's home.
The most recent contact I've had with the after-life was after my Father passed on. He was an unrepentant atheist who went to the afterlife convinced he'd just stop thinking and that'd be it. My Mom was struggling through the early stages of the dementia that took her away almost four years later. But soon after he died I had a dream about going to see her and she took a long time to get to the door. When she opened it she told me she was on the phone with my Dad. I reminded her that he was dead, and they don't have phone service there. She told me, "See for yourself", and waved at the phone. I picked it up and my Dad told me "Hi". I asked him where he was, and he told me he didn't know, but that he was walking a lot and enjoying seeing all kinds of familiar sights. (He died from colon cancer that brought on a stroke that had made him unable to get out of bed, but told me that in his dreams he was still able to ballroom dance.) I asked him where he was going, and he told me that he didn't know, but had seen some familiar faces along the way. Then he told me that he had to get going because he was getting to his destination. He told me he loved me and my family then he hung up. Then I woke up. Rationally I can think that it was just my brain comforting me because I missed my Dad. That's the explanation he'd choose. But really? I'm not sure.
Find out what others have to say by visiting the next author in this Round Robin: Lynn Crain http://www.awriterinvienna.blogspot.com
Happy Halloween!
