Pop Teases The Animals Still

I've not had any major experiences as far as I can remember, but there have been a lot of small occurrences happen to myself and other family members that just seem too much of a coincidence at times.

I grew up extremely afraid of the dark. It was even noted in my baby log book from when I was first born and had to stay in hospital a few nights that I wouldn't sleep without a light and music. This may have just become habit and an over-active imagination as I grew up, but whenever mum would get fed up and try and break the habit I would spend all night nearly awake feeling as if something was staring me down and lurking around my room.

I would hear and sometimes feel breathing near my bedside, often hear my name only to find no one had called out to me and later my found out my older brother (3 years' difference) had felt the same even to the point of changing rooms with mum and finally into the rumpus room.

Mum never reported hearing or knowing of any of this until my brother brought it up that it was happening again. He was having issues with drug use at this point and I wasn't game enough to see for myself. (It only seemed to have stopped for me because I started sleeping with my tv on when I was around 8 or 9.)

The only other "major" thing that happened while I was younger was around the same time I started sleeping with my TV on at home. My dad lived in a beach town near Hobart and I would go and spend the weekend sometimes. When you walked into the bedroom, my bed was against the opposite wall so that only one side was accessible and the other was hard against the wall (they were bunk beds but I always slept on the bottom). Hard against the foot of the bed was a large tall boy which, on the other side, was hard against the window. The wall opposite the bed with the door had built-ins all down it. A lot of explaining I know but it shows that the light wasn't coming from the window which faced the side of the house next door anyway. The light itself looked like the round light from a torch being shone onto the tall boy's side that was against the foot of the bed. The door was fully closed and I had no torch with me. I hid under the covers until I fell asleep and never saw it again.

The only time I ever slept in the top bunk was when I took a friend down with me a few months after. A couple of years later I asked if she had seen it while comparing ghost stories at school and she too had seen the light and assumed it was a torch I had on, but again there was no torch in the room.

The next strange events happened the week my Pop passed away. I was 14 and it was 2004. He spent most of his time in what we called the den, it was a small room off the garage with a desk and fold out couch. (He slept here too as his snoring kept Nan awake.) And it was here he passed away in his sleep from suspected heart failure one evening. That week, while mum and Nan were clearing out the den, a shelf that was sturdily attached to the wall with brackets fell down unprovoked, and the bird feeder he looked after on a branch on the tree in the front yard suddenly fell down after years of being there. No sign of damage on breaking was evident on the chain though. Also Nan's favourite mantle clock kept getting moved to the front of the mantle piece, when she has always kept it hard against the wall. Small things that could be explained otherways yes, just strange that so many "sturdy" items were moved or fell all in that one week.

Nan has reported lots of times of feeling "Pop" sit down on her bed next to her, and can see an indent of where he was when she turns the light on. Pop also had a habit of pulling the cats' tails while alive, and seemed to keep doing afterwards too. Our 3 cats would often jump with a fright, looking behind them and at their tales like something had spooked them. Mum always joked it was pop tormenting them still.

A few years later when I was 19, I moved out and adopted a puppy but had to move home again taking the dog with me. I should now mention we lived in a two story house. Granny flat (for Nan and Pop) and garages downstairs and a 3 bedroom house upstairs for mum, my brother and myself. We had a lounge room that ran onto the dining/kitchen separated by glass sliding doors. The lounge was rarely used once we were older and mum set the dining room up as her lounge room instead, often closing all the doors to keep the heat in. She started telling us that every few nights around 9pm she would catch a glimpse of a head at normal head height pop around the corner and look through the glass door, as if it were just taking a quick peek. We don't actually know what time Pop passed and she seems to feel it's him checking in.

I have since moved out again but often visit, taking the dog with me. (Mum opens the glass doors to give him more room to run around.) A few times it's been when she's been looking after him for me and others when I have been there as well. The dog will go to the doorway of the two lounge rooms and start barking and growling at the bottom right corner of the room... Again often at around 9pm. The very first time I witnessed this in full, I walked him down to that end of the room. Although he stopped barking, he was very wary of a small spot near the wall. He kept giving a small circle's worth a wide berth. I even tried dragging him closer and to walk through it but he reacted as if something or someone was standing there in the way. My dog normally only barks at things like someone we don't know coming down the drive or knocking at the door to alert you someone is there, etc and also isn't too fond of men and never got to meet my pop alive.

Mum also told me one night she had my dog in her room while I was out partying. He was content laying on the bed when he started tracking something around the ceiling, growling deeply the whole time, apparently it last somewhere between 5 or 10 minutes. Normally he will settle down when you tell him it's ok, nothing would stop him this time though.

Another night I was out, mum said one of the silver mixing bowls stacked neatly in the pantry (often used as water bowls for the dog) were knocked down while she was on the couch home alone. She checked the pantry, which was a walk in one, to find the largest bowl spinning quite dramatically still on the floor. The other bowls were still stacked and it took her awhile to get up from the couch.

The newest thing is my great grandmother passed away this year, and my mother inherited her favorite recliner chair which now takes pride of place on her lounge. She keeps a blanket folded over the top of the chair loosely. Most mornings she will get up and find it's either pressed in like someone has been sitting there, or the sides of the blanket have been tucked into the sides of the chair, which is how my great nan always kept it. Both me and my brother were both living out of home during this one and nan can't make it up the stairs any more without help.

As I said, lots of little things, none overly exciting or scary just interesting. They may be Pop and my great Nan or may just be imagination and coincidence. Thanks for reading sorry it's so long and may be disjointed. Ask any questions if needed:)