I've always suspected I have a ghost living in my house. Several times she (I suspect it is a female ghost) has locked my bathroom door and I can almost hear her laugh as I try to gain entrance in the middle of the night, my legs crossed trying to keep from wetting myself.

Well, last night she slipped up. She allowed the cats to hear her. I know they did, they had to have. We were all in bed. Selena and Hobbes sound asleep and I was reading, waiting for my migraine medicine to ease my pain. Suddenly, from a sound sleep Selena jumped two feet straight up in the air. She must have come down on Hobbes tail because he woke up and turned around to face her and hisspit at her. Then the two of them watched something near the ceiling. Both of them tense and alert. They followed this apparition around the room, their ears cocked forward, every muscle in their body twitching. They continued to watch the ceiling for almost 10 minutes. Although they eventually began to relax I could tell they were still very alert. Finally, Hobbes lay back down and fell asleep. Selena curled up and laid her head on Hobbes' hip but she wouldn't close her eyes. She kept watching the ceiling just in case.

My reaction? It scared me, I'll admit. Although I've always assumed she was a benevolent ghost, really just a prankster, I also tend to take my cues from the cats. If I hear a noise in the house and the cats look up then go back to sleep, then I know whatever I heard was just house noises. But when the cats react like they did last night then something is afoot. Fortunately they eventually went to sleep and I was able to relax.

Copyright © Julie Cook
June 6, 2001