Sicknesses

I got sick in the early part of November. I was at work, in a meeting. About halfway through it, I could feel my body just 'shthlump.' I went from feeling fine and happy to chilled and droopy. At least there were only four more hours of work and then my weekend. I spent most of the next day either in bed or on a chair watching TV. Karen took care of me, making meals. After another day, it was time to get back to living; there were many things left to do around the house and the first winter snowstorm was on the way. I needed to bring many wheelbarrow loads of bark dust to the back yard and spread it over the garden, do some weeding, rake the fallen leaves...I probably pushed myself a bit too hard, but I have to admit, it sure felt good being outside. Then, when the snow fell over the next two days, I could feel that I got things done. A few days later, I was still coughing and a bit hoarse, but now Karen was the one feeling sick. Now, she's bottomed out, feeling really bad, taking medicine and getting restless nights of sleep. I'm still coughing after more than two weeks, but not too often. I sure wish Karen would start to feel better. I could tell this morning that she at least wasn't getting any worse--she started flipping me some attitude during breakfast! Yippee! My loving Karen is scratching her way back from the depths of illness! Hopefully it won't take much longer and Karen will be smiling again...

Sleepless Nights: Epilogue

It's been a week now since our invader first arrived. Karen and I laughed about it when it was overwith on Wednesday but while it was going on, we had no idea what would happen next. When we tell the story to friends and family, we smile at the fact that what we were doing to keep IT out was actually keeping IT in! One thing we don't always say, but can provide a good background at why we were initially freaked out about this whole incident: The former owner of this house had two rotten girls who grew up to be unruly, morally-questionable women. Even now, we get letters from local police and vice departments. Neighbors have told us horror stories of what they were like. Then, just before the Sleepless Nights began, Karen had two incidents of cars stopping on the road right in front of our house and the people inside just looking this direction. Were they the former daughters just checking up on their old home? Or, maybe they were ex-boyfriends looking for a fight...

We haven't seen that cat since it left Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. We looked around the house to see if it had left any piles or puddles but didn't find anything. We did finally see some faint pawprints in the bathtub closest to the bedroom he was staying in. Smart kitty, using the bathtub! One other note, when Karen and I each searched the house Tuesday morning, we both noticed that the rug in that bathroom had been ruffled up but we each thought the other had done it and didn't mention it until Wednesday. Funny!

I wonder what our next event will be in our new home?

Sleepless Nights: Part Four--Face To Face with Fear

I was at work all day on Tuesday, so I couldn't be with Karen. I hoped she would be OK, especially as night settled. The forecast called for thundestorms, which really perpetuated to cinematic feel to everything that had happened the past few days. Really, when you think about it, we had the full horror-movie quotient at play. Dark nights, eerie scratching sounds outside then inside, shadows creeping about in the bedroom. Of course on this night, it had to include an unrelenting storm. I got home at my normal time, pulling up to our house with all the lights off. What were we going to experience tonight? I had practically resigned myself that this was how life would be during the summer months. I mean, we had moved out of a fourth-floor condominium right into a ground floor house. We already had to deal with ants, slugs, even maggots coming from...wherever they come from. I felt strong, maybe just like horror movie characters do when they're faced with no choice but to confront their worst nightmare. I unlocked the front door and walked in. A strange odor tickled my nose and I wondered what Karen had fixed herself for dinner. It was dark inside, save for the light coming from the family room. Karen had left the TV on and gone to sleep already?

I stepped into the kitchen to drop off my backpack and take off my soaked jacket.

"Chad? Come here." Karen's voice was strangely calm, coming from the TV room.

I paused for just a moment. I don't recall ever hearing that tone in her voice before.

I walked down the hallway to join her. Why were there no lights on? What was that smell? The walk seemed to take forever as I thought about what I might see in that room. Which movie might it reflect? "Amityville Horror" with blood streaming down the walls? "The Exorcist" with a green liquid spewed over the carpeting? "Poltergeist" with it's portal to purgatory? I entered the room. Karen sat in her chair. The TV was playing "That 70's Show."

Karen said flatly, "Turn the light on." I flipped on the switch and bathed the room in harsh flourescent light. "I saw it."




























One heartbeat moment later, she told me about her day here at home. She had an uncomfortable feeling that there was a presence in the house all day with her but couldn't find anything. Finally, just before 11:30 pm, she was watching TV and felt something behind her. She swiveled around to see...a BLACK CAT trying to pry open the door of the laundry chute! Time slowed as Karen and the cat stared at each other. He must have felt the rush of cool air coming from the basement and probably felt that was his last desperate way out of the prison that this house had become for him the past two days. Karen's startled gasp sent him darting to the guest bedroom. Now that she knew what it was, Karen could finally relax. She opened up a can of tuna fish and served it with a bowl of water, placing it just inside the doorway of the bedroom. That explained the odor I encountered when I came in. I walked into the bedroom and peered under the bed, all fear of "Poltergeist" and that movie Clown drifting away. Under the far end of the bed, there it was, a dark mass of fur and two glowing eyes. It wasn't moving, just waiting. After a few minutes of trying to coax the frightened cat from under the bed, I ended up taking the tuna fish out of the room, opening the window and closing the door.

Karen and I slept well Tuesday night, after laughing about the last two nights. The next morning came, like it always does, and I checked the guest bedroom. Sure enough, the bowl was nearly empty of water and the cat was gone. I stuck my head out the window and said a quiet goodbye to our unlikely guest.

Sleepless Nights: Part Three-- Day After Night Two

I am no stranger to being alone late at night. For years, I lived alone in my flat in Singapore. I felt comfortable living alone then. So when Chad works and arrives home long after it has gotten dark, I do not have a problem being on my own. I feel comfortable and safe. Until a couple of nights ago, that is.

After another night of fitful sleep, I found myself calling Chad at work just a little too often. After two nights of some THING going bump and thump in the night...and losing sleep over it, no longer was I comfortable being alone in the house. I was especially freaked because Chad thought he saw something in our room both nights. But then, he didn't have his glasses on and I did not see anything, so we both decided that it must have been his imagination. Still I sat up and stayed awake after Chad had gone back to sleep just to make sure.

The day after night two started as grey and cold but later it got sunny like someone had turned on a switch. It was even starting to get warm but no way was I opening a window. That THING might get in. As I entered the basement to do laundry, I found myself holding my breath. "Please, please, don't let that THING be in here." Then I got busy in the front yard and I was distracted. Strange...I actually felt safer being outside.

When I was inside, I kept hearing strange noises and had an uneasy feeling. I looked around. I checked all the windows and doors. Shut and locked! Still I kept hearing the noises and I switched the lights outside. I was not letting any-THING in.

I hear the dog next door whining. He was doing that last night too. 11.30 pm and I'm in the media room which is connected to our bedroom. Chad should be home soon. I'm still feeling uneasy and turn my head. At laundry chute a few feet away, I see ...

Sleepless Nights: Part Two--The Next Night

So, Sunday night, we seemed to have a nocturnal visitor. Scratching at the wall-twice-trying to get somewhere. What was it? Why were there no marks at the window? We had no answers and no evidence. I went to work Monday morning and Karen was left at home alone. While at work, I got a few opinions from co-workers. Most likely, everyone agreed, was that it was a raccoon. Or a cat. Maybe even a squirrel. Whatever it was, we were going to be prepared Monday night. We gathered up a flashlight and I had my backscratcher ready to beat back anything that would attack. Hey, who knew what was lurking in the shadows outside?

Laying in bed, we slowly drifted off to sleep. Then, about 1:30am, I woke up to the sounds of scratching above us. Karen was already sitting up, distressed. I was immediately awake, hearing the scratching at the wall behind our bed, which meant that whatever was making it had to be inside our home. Then the scratching moved over us, as if in the attic. The scratching stopped. Karen and I sat up in the dark and whispered about how to proceed. This was just nuts. How could something be scratching a wall inside our house? The windows were closed and Karen had been careful to not leave any doors open during the day. There must be something inside the wall, that had to be the only--then I saw a slow moving shadow by the laundry shoot close to our bed. "GET OUT!!!" I yelled. I turned on the light, rushed out of bed and stomped down the hallway, switching on every light that I could. But, searching every room, every corner turned up nothing. That's it. Was I imagining it again, like the night before? Maybe I was seeing things due to the stress of it all. But, nerves were now rattled and needed to be settled. I closed the other bedroom doors and we left the hallway light turned on just like Mom leaving the closet light on to keep away childhood monsters. Thankfully, we don't have a stuffed clown doll like in the movie "Poltergeist." Morning would be here soon and the daylight would chase away the shadows. We both finally fell asleep.

We still had no answers to this mystery. Is this something we would have to deal with every night? Would we just have to get used to it?

Sleepless Nights: Part One-The First Night

Karen and I have been in our new home for about 10 weeks now. We are loving it here. Who knew I would enjoy doing yardwork after 20 years of apartment and condo living? We've got plenty of room here and every night we are thankful that we have a good solid home. We enjoy spending time in the kitchen, planning and shopping for each of the rooms--I'm looking forward to someday soon getting our first HDTV. Going from a small one-bedroom condo in a busy Seattle neighborhood to a wonderful house in a quiet Shoreline neighborhood has meant a few adjustments. Its much darker here at night, and much more quiet.

But, two nights ago, our nighttime peace was broken. Around 2:30am, we woke up to sounds of scratching. I swore that they were coming from INSIDE the window. Of course, that would just be crazy! It just had to be a raccoon or something crawling outside. I figured maybe it was trying to jump the fence we had right outside our window and kept hitting the house. Creepy, for sure! Scratching, clawing sounds are not what you want to hear at night. Then, maybe 5 minutes later, the same sound. Now, I was wide awake as was Karen. We had the window open just a little to get some air circulation, as it had felt stuffy when we went to bed. I sat up in the near-pitch black of night. What was I expecting to see? Well, all the horror movies I've seen over the years started to play back in my mind. What makes scratching sounds? Or sounds like it/they are moving around in or out of the house? The alien visitors from "Signs" first came to mind. But that would be too far out there. Some sort of stalker right outside the window. Maybe, logically, it really was just a raccoon outside. Karen had told me she had seen one recently. So, sitting up and straining to focus my eyes I tried to see if there was anything inside the room. Nothing, no sound but my beating heart. Way back in the kitchen, the refridgerator turned on and I jumped a bit at the sudden sound. A deep breath and a relaxing sigh at what it was, then IT MOVED! Something darted from the window into the bedroom! Something not really there, but yet there. Something dark and shadowy, the kind of something you can only see out of the corner of your eye. I yelled out, jumped out of bed and shut the window. I turned on the lights and nervously started searching the...thing...that I was sure I had just seen jump from the window. I walked down the hallway, turning on every light I could because I didn't want that thing to jump out from the dark. But, then I thought it must be just a trick and maybe it was trying to lure me away from Karen. But, she joined me in the kitchen, nervous as well. Another moment later and I realized I must have just seen something move because of my imagination. We went back to bed, a little on edge still, but thinking it just had to be a raccoon or animal outside making the sounds. It was maybe another 30 minutes before I went back to sleep...

I woke up Monday morning and checked outside at the window. Hmmm...no scratches on the wall and no footprints in the dirt. What the heck happened Sunday night? Did I see anything or was it sleep and stress induced halucination?

Now, what happened Monday night? That comes in the next post...