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A FUNNY LITTLE GHOST STORY I would like to tell a story, which illustrates that not all encounters with spirits need by of the scary variety. Some years back, I was seeing a woman who felt that she had a ghost in her house. Now I was staying with her a few times a week and I never heard or saw anything that would lead me to believe that she was right. She described things which to me, sounded like pranks being pulled by her children on each other. She described things such as her daughters waking up and finding their shoelaces missing. They would often turn up in the freezer or the oven. She also talked of hearing giggling coming from downstairs when she knew her children were asleep upstairs. Another thing she mentioned was hearing footsteps running up the stairs at night. When she would go out and look, there was never anyone there. Another of her complaints was that she would turn off a light only to have it go back on when she left the room. There were other things too, all silly stuff. I tried to explain to her that all of this sounded just like the pranks I used to pull when I was a kid, somewhere around 2,000 B.C. She would have none of this. She insisted that there was definitely something going on. I pretty much wrote it off. Over the ensuing weeks, she would occasionally mention other things to me but I basically ignored them. Until one day, that is. I came home one day after having played in my Sunday softball league. I knew I was coming home to an empty house. My girlfriend and the kids were attending a barbecue at her sister’s house and would not be home until later that evening. I entered the house and went straight upstairs to take a nice cool shower. I also wanted to watch the Mets play. They were on the West Coast so the game was scheduled to begin at 4:00. It was around 3:50 when I got in. The first thing I did was turn on the air conditioner. It was a brutally hot August day. I kicked off my shoes, laces still tied. I never usually do this, but I was so hot and tired that I just kicked them off. I then peeled off my filthy uniform. I would like to say that it got so dirty because of stellar play on my part. You know, something like a diving, game winning catch that belonged on a highlight reel. That is what I'd like to say. Truthfully, I was rounding third and heading for home when I tripped over my own two feet and fell right on my face. In the process of getting up, I stumbled and fell again. I did score though, even though the throw beat me by two steps. No, it wasn't a brilliant hook slide; the catcher was laughing so hard that he dropped the ball. I jumped in the shower and let the cool water beat on me, washing away the dirt and exposing two nasty scrapes on my knees. After getting out of the shower, I threw on some shorts and ran downstairs to get an ice-cold soda. I went back upstairs and sat on the bed. I realized that my sneaker laces were still tied. I was about to pick them up when I realized that I had not turned on the TV. Leaving the sneakers where they were, I leaned over the bed and picked up the remote. I deftly turned on the TV. Operating a remote is one of the things I do best, pure poetry in motion. I turned around and picked up my sneakers and sat there in awe. The laces were tied together! Just then, I heard giggling coming from the other side of the room. I burst out laughing and said something to the effect of "That was good!" I laughed my buns off, which is probably why I don't have any today. It has been years since my encounter with the little imp. I wonder if the pranks still continue to this day? If so, I hope the new residents enjoy them as much as I did. © 1996 T. Cooney |
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