IS IT JUST IN MY HEAD?

When I was eight years old, my family moved to the small town of Ely, Nevada when my dad was transferred with his job.  We had rented this odd little house that as an eight year old seemed enormous.  It was a two level house with all of the bedrooms upstairs and the main living and eating downstairs.  A long steep stairway connected the two levels, with my parent’s room to the left of the stairs and mine to the right.  Down the hall was my little sister’s room.  

Whoever owned this home was obviously frightened by something, as every door leading to the outside had at least three locks; the regular lock on the handle, a bolt lock and a chain lock.  All of these extra locks only added to the ridiculous amount of keys my mom stored on her keychain, making it unmistakable that she was around every time she took those keys out.

One night, in the middle of the night, I was awakened by the sound of someone fussing with the locks on one of the doors downstairs.  I immediately sat up in bed.  I remember looking at the clock and it saying 2:00.  My blankets were pushed down off of my legs.  These details were important to me because I distinctly remember thinking to myself “am I dreaming?”  

As I assessed whether I was awake or not, I continued to hear noise downstairs.  After the locks, I heard my mom’s key chain rattling, then cupboards slamming.  I remained still in my bed, trying to be as quiet as possible as fear took over.  Soon I began to hear heavy footsteps walking slowly up the staircase.  I remember counting each footstep as it neared the top, “one, two, three…”when I got to six I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next.  I jumped out of bed as quiet as I could and bolted for my sister’s room, careful to slip through the doorway without anyone having the chance to see me from the stairs.  As soon as I left my room, the sound disappeared.  I sat in my sister’s bed as she slept soundly, barely able to move, listening until I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. 

To this day, I have no idea whether I was awake or asleep but it seemed so real.  From time to time I’ve had other paranormal type of experiences but nothing quite like that one, and all of my experiences have been centered on hearing things.  I’ve never actually seen a ghost to my knowledge.   

As I moved into my teen years I stopped hearing things altogether, and didn’t begin hearing things again until my husband and I moved into our home here in Corona.  There was an entire year where my husband was kicked out of bed by me to check out a noise downstairs that distinctly sounded like someone in our home.  Sometimes I would hear windows opening, or cupboards slamming, or just movement.   There was definitely something dark about that house for me.   I never felt comfortable living there.  I couldn’t go downstairs alone at night because I always felt a presence.  

We moved from that house almost a year ago, into one across the street.  Although this house doesn’t have the feel of a dark presence, I have definitely had some interesting experiences since we moved in.  There is a place near the staircase (what is it with me and stairs?) where on occasion it will feel several degrees colder than any other location of the house.  I would think it was the air conditioning, but the vent isn’t near and it happens even when the air conditioning isn’t running.  

The most noteworthy event, however, was a couple of months ago.  I had woken up to my husband kissing me goodbye as he headed out to work.  All of the kids were sleeping sound, with my two-year-old asleep next to me in our bed.  I decided to take advantage of the quiet and hop in the shower.  As I was washing the shampoo out of my hair someone knocked on the shower door.  My eyes were closed so thinking my two-year-old had woken, I said “hellloooo?” in a tone meant for my son.  I hurried and finished up when he didn’t respond, and got out of the shower.  I looked in the room and he was sound asleep still sleeping just the way I left him.  I got dressed and walked into my older son’s room and then my daughter’s, but both were still sleeping soundly in their beds.   I don’t know what it was, but it was a distinct knock on the glass shower door.  

While I definitely believe in ghosts, I still question what it is I’ve actually experienced.  Is it in my head, or is there actually something following me around?  I’m always trying to make sense of things, but I have yet to come up with a good explanation for what I have experienced.  So is it in my head, or is it real?  

So what about you?  Do you have a good ghost story that you want to share?  Maybe it wasn’t something that happened to you, but someone you know.  We’d love to hear your stories as well.  Just head over to Patty’s at Simplicity in Volumes or Quinn’s at seeing, dreaming….writing and sign up for their BOO-FEST to share your creepy ghost tale as well, or just enjoy reading everyone else’s by clicking on their blog link.