The Kat House

Brico and I had a discussion about ghosts last night. I should have known better than to bring up such a topic, but I felt compelled to tell him about Jake’s ghostly visitor.

I’ve been living alone for three years. Prior to that, my brother Jake lived with me for three years. During that time, several “unusual” things had happened in my house. The TV had turned itself on a couple of times. My dogs would sometimes go crazy, barking at some unknown presence. And we often had phantom knocks on the front door. These occurrences spooked us slightly, but we never got overly upset – until…

Late one night I was chatting online with a friend. Jake had gone to bed a few hours before. I hadn’t heard a peep from him since. All of a sudden, I heard him come running down the stairs. He was scared shitless, and he was yelling that there was a ghost in his bedroom. When he had finally calmed down enough to tell me the story, I was scared shitless too! Apparently Jake woke to see a young man’s ghost standing across the room. They made eye contact, and when the ghost knew that my brother could see him, a huge grin spread across his face. Jake was temporarily paralyzed. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t scream. He could only lay there as the ghost approached him and started to wrap his hands around Jake’s neck. I guess the thought of being strangled by a ghost was enough to get Jake’s body moving again. The ghost disappeared as Jake jumped out of the bed and ran down the stairs.

Jake slept on the couch that night, and he wasn’t comfortable going back upstairs for quite a while after that experience. Sometimes we talk about what happened that night, and it never fails. I end up getting scared. I’m afraid to go home, afraid to go to bed, afraid to close my eyes. So why, WHY did I talk to Brico about the ghostly visitor last night? Brico said that the reason the ghost doesn’t bother me is that I walk around naked all the time. He then theorized that it’s the ghost who, by some sort of subliminal message, convinces me to do so. By this point in the conversation, I was scared. “Shut up, Brico! I don’t want to talk about this anymore!” Then I heard…

Tap, tap, tap…

“Hang on, Tish. Somebody’s at the door.”

(long pause)

In a whispery, monotone, ghostly voice, “No one was there, but I’m okay. Are you naked yet?”

Mean, mean Brico! He then informed me that he was sorry that I was scared and all alone, but that it was time for The Daily Show. What?? He was going to leave me at such a vulnerable moment?? But wait – the sweet Brico then returned!

“If you would like some company, Tish, we can stay on the phone and watch The Daily Show together. That way you won’t have to be alone.”

Brico, thanks for being such an awesome friend!