"Way To Go, Earl"
By Andi

A year ago I filed for divorce and moved to town with my two young boys. This was a difficult time for the three of us to say the least. The boys moved from the only home they ever knew and the whole divorce was just ugly.

When I began house hunting for us, I saw some real doozies. We aren't rich people, but some of these houses were just nasty and I knew the boys wouldn't be comfortable there. I found a nice little two-bedroom house in a good neighborhood with a garage and nice little yard with shade trees. It was perfect for us.

I noticed right away how comfortable I felt in this house. It seemed odd that I would feel like this. I'd lived in the same house until I went off to college and then got married. I had lived in one place for the nine years I was married. The first weekend in our new house, I felt like I was where I belonged and even welcomed in a way. My counselor said it was probably the relief of getting out of the situation I was in.

I spent a lot of time by myself out in the living room after the kids went to bed. Sometimes, I noticed a white wispy something out of the corner of my eye move past the doorway in the hall, or in the corner of the window between the kitchen and living room. I had noticed things like this before so it really didn't alarm me.

Then, I began to notice another little odd thing that would happen when I stood at the bathroom mirror doing my hair and make up. As I would stand there, out of the corner of my eye, I could see someone standing at the edge of the door peeking in. I told myself it wasn't there and just kept on doing my thing. Sometimes it wouldn't happen and sometimes it would. I got to where I would stand at the mirror frozen in the middle of putting on my make up, but watching this person out of the corner of my eye. It was a shadowy type form, dark with no real definition. I felt like it was a man. He was pretty tall, and only his head, shoulder, arm and leg were visible where he peeked around the doorframe at me.

I'm not a brave person at all. I can work myself up into a terror with my own imagination. All I can say is that this man didn't really scare me, but it just wasn't a normal thing. I always felt nervous when I had to be in the hallway. At night, when I was alone, or the kids were in bed, I would feel nervous and anxious for no real reason. I never could figure out where to set the thermostat because the rooms would be really cold or too warm. I had incidents where the hall light would come on all on its own and one morning, when I got up and went out to the kitchen, all of the cabinet doors were standing wide open. Many times it sounded like someone was walking around out in the kitchen and hallway.

I started to complain about this to my family. Mom and Dad gave me some advice to ask my ghost not to scare me and to please go away. Dad told me to make sure I was polite about it. So, from then on, at night, when I got too anxious and feeling like I wasn't exactly alone, I'd tell him he was scaring me and to please stop. The feeling would go away. I got the impression sometimes that my ghost played with me like he was aware of how he made me feel and had fun with it.

My mom, and my sister Lori, came to the house one day to get some clothes from my closet. Mom teased her to watch out for my ghost and Lori felt his presence and had to ask him to stop. She said she felt him get really close behind her and follow her down the hall to my room. She felt like he was messing with her or picking on her just like he made me feel.

My boyfriend, Jon, thinks this is just bunk. He does not believe in ghosts and I think the ghost is well aware of this. One night with the boys was particularly trying. When Jon came in, I was on the computer in my room with the door open. He leaned on the door jam and was talking with me about my night. In the conversation, he said, "Your house is cold tonight." Just as he said that, I saw something pass behind him in the hall and thought one of the boys had gotten out of bed. I got up to check and their bedroom door was still closed. I had to laugh, and Jon never did understand what had happened.

The latest incident that happened was a few weeks ago. I was at home alone recovering from outpatient surgery. I remember lying in bed, feeling terrible and a bit sorry for myself. Jon was at work, the kids were at school and there I was. Poor me. Just when I was really wallowing in all this, I heard footsteps come down the hall into my room and right up to my bed. I felt a calming presence next to the bed and immediately felt better. I thought Jon had come in on his lunch break to check on me. How sweet of him. I pulled the pillow off my head and opened my eyes. The room was empty. Someone had come in to comfort me, but I couldn't see him or her. I was able to relax and fall asleep for a long while.

It's been awhile since anything else has happened. I have no doubt that the ghost will make some sort of contact in the near future.

And, boy did he... I've decided to call the ghost Earl like that country song, "Earl's Gotta Die". Anyway, since this story was written, Earl has been up to his usual tricks. He walks up and down the hallway, messes with the blinds in my room, walks back and forth in the sunlight in the hallway so I can see his shadow, and the ever popular pops and cracks coming from the kitchen. I don't have an icemaker, but some nights, it sure sounds like I do.

The boys are away at their father's house for a two-week visit and things are pretty mellow around here. Jon comes for a few hours in the evening before he goes to work on the night shift. It's just REALLY quiet around here, but I've never felt totally alone. For a couple of days I had been feeling really anxious and nervous.

One night I couldn't sleep at all because I felt so weird here in the house. I was lying on my side with the blankets all pulled up over my head. Just a hole was open for my nose and eyes so I could do some channel surfing. Out of the clear blue, someone poked the side of my butt really hard and then pushed before they stopped. My heart pounded in my chest. I told myself that this did not just happen. Any second, Jon was going to pull the blanket back and kiss my cheek. And... as this string of thoughts formed, a huge crash came from the kitchen. It sounded like someone slammed the microwave on the floor. I couldn't bring myself to go out to the kitchen and look. The next morning, not a thing was out of place. Way to go, Earl. He may have scared the b'Jesus out of me, but at least he doesn't make messes.

Earlier that day some girlfriends had been over. One of them stayed for a long weekend with her husband at a cabin in Brown County. The cabin they stayed in was haunted and she was telling us what all happened that weekend. One of the incidents was a loud crash in the kitchen. I wonder if Earl overheard her story and was inspired?

I called my sister that night because I was really feeling scared. She is a night owl too so I knew she wouldn't mind. She reminded me that ghosts tend to "act up" if the house is in some sort of turmoil or change. We decided that Earl was upset and wondering where the boys were. So, I told Earl that the boys would be home in another week and that I missed them too. I also told him that he was scaring me and I wished he would stop. AND, I reminded him that he was dead and should pass over to the other side, but since for some reason he wouldn't do that, let's all just get along. After that one-sided conversation, he walked up and down the hallway all night and did his popping and cracking thing in the kitchen.

I used the last week the boys were away to get some things done. I tore up the carpet in the hallway and washed up the pretty wood floor with oil soap. It looks pretty nice and that white carpet in a high traffic area is now a thing of the past. What is NOT a thing of the past is the sound of Earl walking up and down the hallway. He goes up and down and makes the exact same noise as when the carpet and plastic runner were on the floor. My sister, Lori, reasoned this one out for me. She said that "ghostie feets don't touch the ground" and it doesn't matter what's on the floor.

Of course, I shared my latest ghost story with Jon and he made it perfectly clear that he didn't wish to hear it. So, in retaliation, Earl did his trick with the blinds. We were lying there watching the television and the blinds fluttered in the breeze about a foot from Jon's head. The neat thing was, the window was closed so it couldn't have been the breeze fluttering the blind. Nice touch, Earl.

UPDATE ON ANDI'S GHOST

The other night, Andi's oldest son, Matthew, was sick and in bed. Andi, and her second son, Mike, thought they heard Matt call. Mike went in his room and came back out. Andi asked him if Matt was all right. Mike said, "Yes. That guy is with him." Andi said, "What guy? What did he look like?" Mike said he had dress pants on and slip on shoes. He said he could only see the bottom half of him which was strange. Andi looked into the room. Matt was sleeping and there was no man. She asked Mike if he had seen this guy before. He said yes, but the top half. Andi has checked the history of the house and there is nothing strange about it. The house looks to be about 40 years old.