The Ghostening: Part the Second

The epic true-life Monadnock Region tale of poltergeist activity continues — and the mystery deepens

Originally published on facebook dot com.

I stood up from the futon and crouched by the window. I stared hard at the strange, occasionally glimmering column, willing it to come into focus. I could feel my eyes actively drying out. Biscuit, the girthier of the two kitties, jumped down from the futon, rammed his head into my butt cheek and said “RA-OW.” He is a very loud meower. I hissed, “BISCUIT, SHUT UP, THERE’S A GODDAMN APPARITION IN THE YARD.” He padded over to an open cardboard box (I know we moved in like three months ago and we’re still unpacking, but shut up, my life is busy) and loudly rubbed his cat-jowls on one of the flaps. “RAA-OW. RAOW,” he said to me.

“BISCUIT, YOU ASSHOLE, BE QUIET!” I replied.

Again I turned my attention to the…thing. I performed the ‘look at it only in my peripheral vision’ trick for a solid five minutes, and, though it was definitely vaguely person-shaped, it also appeared to not have moved, or be moving. The weird, sporadic glistening was still disconcerting, but I decided to be a grown-up and apply logic. There was something out there, yes, and it possessed some kind of reflective characteristic, but it did not appear to be a living thing. There was not a dude wearing a spottily sequined jumpsuit spying on my house. C’mon brain, what would shimmer like that? Could it be…the river?

But of course it could be the river! The moon is bright, water is reflective, and there might be a slice of river somehow visible through the trees! …and the ground?

The shape was very clearly right by the edge of the lawn. But I used another grown-up tactic: denial. “It’s just the river. That’s all. I’m going to bed. IT’S JUST THE RIVER.”

As I opened the door to my bedroom, James sat bolt upright. “Huh? Ali? What’s wrong?”

Knowing that he would likely not be able to sleep if I told him of my recent experiences, I said, “Nothing, it’s fine, everything’s okay.”

The man is no fool. “No, what’s wrong?”

“Well, I woke up because I heard a thump and…”

“Oh, that was me,” he said. “I was having a weird dream and I got dream-frustrated and I pounded my fist against the bed. I woke myself up.”

So, mystery thump solved, anyway.

“You jerk! You were asleep when I looked at you after it woke me up!”

“Well, I fell right back to sleep after.”

“Okay. Well I checked on Sylvie and then went into your office and thought I saw something in the backyard…”

“What did you see?”

“Um, nothing, it’s okay.” I attempted to get back in bed.

He scootched across the bed and leaned forward, barring my entry, obviously intrigued. “What did you see?”

“I don’t know, it’s probably just the river or something but it’s right at the edge of the yard and it’s weird and…”

“I wanna see it!”

I sighed. “Fiiiine.” And we proceeded, I in my torn, oversized t-shirt and he in his boxer briefs, to the office window. I started to explain where I saw the apparition but before I could finish he said,

“I see it. …And that’s definitely not the river.”

TO BE CONTINUED.