Welcome to this month’s round robin with a great group of
writers. It’s October and time for all things paranormal. The weather has
changed here in Vienna and out my office window I can see the fall colors in
abundance. I just got home yesterday from the States and I do apologize for
being late because I’m still a little jet-lagged...make that very...so I apologize in advance if something doesn't make sense.
But back to the topic of the month and that’s all things
paranormal. I got a great beginning to the subject when we landed yesterday in
a fog bank. Yes, it was like the legendary London fog and total pea soup. I was
thankful that by the time we got in the taxi that you could at least see a hundred
feet in front of the car as there was zero visibility from the plane window.
The pilot gave us a little warning but my husband said that he didn’t explain
it well because the German version was a little disconcerting. Still, I think
it is an appropriate beginning to this month’s column.
The question is have I or anyone I know ever had a
paranormal experience? I can say that with an absolute yes. I live in a very
old building here in Vienna. People have been coming and going, dead or alive,
since it was built in 1867.
We haven’t figured out yet just how the original apartments
were configured. We believe that many of the floors on our side of the building
were single apartments or at the very most, two apartments. We’ve seen a few of
the larger apartments when they’ve been updating them and they could hold at
least a couple of families.
In my particular apartment on the fifth floor, although they
say it’s the 3rd floor because the garden level doesn’t count and
ground level is considered the earth level, we are not alone. I became first
aware of this by noticing the French doors keep coming unlocked. What I mean by
this is that we can stop one of the doors from moving by pushing the lock down
into place in a hole in the floor. It makes it so the door doesn’t swing and we
do it because once the dog discovered the door moved, he wanted to play with
it.
There are many days where the lock has been activated yet
when I return the doors are open and able to swing. At first, I thought that
the dog found out a way to unlock it but soon realized that if he had, it would
involve a lot of jumping on the door which would make a lot of noise. I chocked
this up to any number of things in the beginning: the floor was warped, I hit
the door accidentally thus loosening the lock and so on.
Now some people would say this isn’t an event but it
happened even before we got the dog and I again thought it was something I did.
But another event convinced me otherwise. It was not long after we got our
puppy and in the beginning, he would sleep in his little crate right next to my
side of the bed. Once in the middle of the night, he started growling as if
something were in the room with us. Again, we explained it away because we had
the light on for him and there is a lot of shadow play in our room.
Matter of fact, if the small light on my side of the bed is
on, the room can be absolutely eerie. Yet, that wasn’t the last time our young
pup would do this. There have been at least 3 other incidents and none of them
involved light of any kind. He would start growling and we’d wake up, let him
out of the crate and he’d bury himself under the covers peering out to see if
it were safe to come outside.
One of the times, he woke me up from a dead sleep and I just
lay there, assessing the situation. I felt I wasn’t alone in the room but when
I looked nothing was there of course. The presence wasn’t malevolent but it was
there and it made the hair stand up on my arms. From that moment on, I had to
acknowledge that we had someone else in the house with us.
Now, I take a different stance on things like this and many
people have thought me odd. I talk to my ghost. I don’t know its specific
gender but I do know it means no harm. So when odd things happen in my flat, I’ll
ask if it did them and what’s wrong. It’s my feeling when ghosts act up, they
are like a child where something has gone awry and they want what everyone
wants, comfort and acknowledgement. I’ll talk to it when the doors come
unlocked, when it wakes me at night or when I feel its presence anytime of the
day or night.
Yes, I know this is odd but I truly feel ghosts are real and
are but just one of the many paranormal phenomena that inhabit this world with
us. As they say, I am a true believer and have had many experiences in my life
in regards to the paranormal. And it might have to do with an experience I had
as a young girl with angels. You heard me right, angels and while that’s a
story for another time, just know that without a doubt I believe they exist as
well. Matter of fact, the television show Supernatural is one of my all-time
favorites as the subject matter delves into the paranormal world.
So, now it’s your turn…have you ever had a paranormal
experience in your life? Leave me a comment and I’ll give one lucky person a
copy of my ghost story on October 31 or Halloween. Have a great week and see
you next month with another round robin. Also, look for some changes to this
blog as I am going to start Weird Wednesdays where I tell the world about odd
things I find here in Vienna. And I’ll also be starting to post with the
Weekend Writing Warriors on this blog my next book in the A Taste of Vienna
series.
Thanks for stopping by. Don’t forget to drop by the other
great writers in this round robin. First go to Rhobin Lee Courtright’s blog as
she’s the one after me. You can find her here http://www.
Beverley Bateman http://beverleybateman.
Marci Baun http://www.marcibaun.com/
Diane Bator http://dbator.blogspot.ca/
Connie Vines http://connievines.blogspot.
Fiona McGeir http://www.fionamcgier.com
Lynn Crain http://www.awriterinvienna.
Rhobin Lee Courtright http://www.
Marci Baun http://www.marcibaun.com/
Diane Bator http://dbator.blogspot.ca/
Connie Vines http://connievines.blogspot.
Fiona McGeir http://www.fionamcgier.com
Lynn Crain http://www.awriterinvienna.
Rhobin Lee Courtright http://www.
See you all next month!
Lynn
Enjoyed your post. An apartment with French doors? I'm envious. Great story.
ReplyDeleteGreat story. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI've a several 'ghostly' encounters, some malevolent, some benign, some friendly. A benign encounter happened when I was about 13 years old. We'd just built a new house out in the country. My bedroom was at the end of a long, narrow hallway. Straight away from my bedroom was my parents' room where the hallway took a 90 degree turn into another hallway (think "L" shaped). One day, standing right at that bend in the hallway was a Native American man in full ceremonial headdress and clothing, probably a Shaman. He looked at me for several seconds then turned and disappeared along the other hallway. I encountered him many times after that. So, years later, I did some research and discovered we'd built our house on a much-used campsite.
ReplyDeleteIn the house we lived in that had the "presence", we had French doors also, that led to the Sun-room porch. Old houses like that are the best for housing those who aren't quite ready to leave totally, I think.
ReplyDeleteAnd Kaye, I love your story about the shaman. Since they are mystical true believers, it would make sense that he would be able to cross the boundaries between alive and not alive.
You're a brave soul. to stay where you live. I think I would have moved at the first hint I wasn't alone. Our floors creak, but it's because of shoddy workmanship, but my locked doors never come open. Love you Lynn, but you don't have to worry about me ever being a guest. *lol*
ReplyDelete