SPECIAL MENTION 4
Ghostless Haunting
This is a story about a
type of haunting. It happened in 1980 through 1982 in Orange County,
California.
It
all began when my husband and I and our teenage daughter bought a townhouse.
To understand you have to know a bit about me and my life before the house.
We had been married for 16 years and lived a simple life. We seldom
entertained large groups. We usually had just one or two couples at a time
over. We drank some on these occasions, but seldom drank at any other time.
My husband never drank
coffee and I preferred tea. I sometimes had coffee with neighbors or at my
job, but didn't even own a coffee pot at the time.
The purchase of the
townhouse was a big step for us. It had a double front door, a huge living
room complete with wet bar and nice dining room and one of the nicest
kitchens I've ever seen complete with a lovely bay window over the sink.
That was the downstairs. The upstairs had three bedrooms a full bath with
the master bedroom and a complete bath for the other two rooms.
My daughter's bedroom was
at the front of the house and our room was at the back.
We seldom drank and never
entertained on a large scale. Why did we purchase a home with a wet bar?
Anyway for a housewarming
present my mother gave me coffee pot. Why? She knew my husband never drank
coffee and I seldom did.
The townhouse was
practically new. It had had one previous owner. We heard it was some kind of
rock band. Not famous, but the kind all over Southern California. Playing
where they can and trying to make the big time.
A group of young men trying
to make it big and in the meantime partying way too much and probably taking
drugs. This was the 1980s remember. We heard from the real estate agent that
they had to do some repairs on the house. A full motorcycle had been taken
apart and left in the master bathtub.
I changed almost the minute we moved in just before Christmas 1980.
I suddenly loved coffee and
began making and drinking several pots a day. The new coffee pot had a timer
and I made sure a full pot was waiting when I woke up in the morning and I
continued to make pots of coffee all day.
I found myself not thinking
very clearly. I don't remember much about the nearly two years in that house
except that I kept wanting to arrange large parties. We were both working
and I'm sure lots of you know how it is with both parents working and a high
school kid with a busy schedule.
There was just no time for
big parties and my husband never cared for large parties anyway. At the time
I just thought I was growing and expanding my horizons. Looking back I
wonder.
I barely remember those two
years. A couple of memories stand out. My daughter asking why I never talked
to her anymore. Making coffee. And wanting to go to parties.
We sold the townhouse in
the summer of 1982 and moved to another house in the same area.
I began drinking tea again.
I had no more urge for big parties and we entertained as we always had. One
or two couples at a time.
It's been a long time, but
sometimes I wonder what was in that house and if it somehow made me a
different person while we lived there.
I have talked this over with my daughter who is now a young mother herself.
She said she never liked that house and always felt as if someone was
watching her, in particular in her bedroom.
When I think about it her
bedroom always made me slightly uncomfortable and I seldom spent any time in
there. At the time I told myself I was respecting my daughter's privacy. Now
I wonder.
Was I haunted?
-SallyJo.