Coffee Time? 2

The Ghostie hasn't offered me any coffee in awhile, but I have noticed some other activities, and thought I would share them.

I've begun hearing sounds that I had previously contributed to the downstairs neighbor's dog or her visiting grandkids. Nothing scary: the sound of a hard ball or similar object being dropped and rolled across a hardwood floor, foot steps crossing the room, and now and then a muffled voice that sounds like a young man. I've only clearly heard one word, "Mom". Like I said, I had contributed these to the downstairs neighbor: problem? I'm hearing them, and she has moved out and the new tenants were still on the horizon. Since she left a key with me, in case of an emergency (burst pipe, etc.) I decided to investigate.

I should note here, that the sounds seem to originate in my apartment but because of accoustics and logic, I was more than willing to believe they came from downstairs. The only uncovered hardwood floor in my apartment is my bedroom, her living room (hardwood) is directly beneath. Since I hear these sounds mostly from bed, and they seem a bit 'echo-ey' or coming from a distance, downstairs seems logical. It had also occurred to me that a homeless person or someone had gained access to the apartment below, but I had not heard any 'break-in' sounds.

So, down I went and discovered - nothing. My neighbor hadn't left so much as an over grown dust bunny in her wake, let alone something that could replicate the sounds I heard. There's been other times when I was the only tenant here during the past 10 years, so I'm well acquainted with the house's sounds, and these sounds were definitely NOT of the house's making. I even ventured down to the basement, that too was vacant. I locked up and returned to my own apartment, scratching my head.

I've begun making notes of when I heard these things; the time, date, weather, how I was feeling, where I was in my apartment, to see if there's a pattern, but there doesn't appear to be. Although new neighbors (a father and 3 young boys) have moved in, I still hear these sounds now and then. I plan on perhaps approaching the subject once we're better acquainted. No sense in scaring anyone, or being written off as a 'looney'.

Another thing is the door to my bedroom. I generally leave it open or ajar so that Kirby, my cat can come and go. Lately, it has been shutting itself - tight. I mean all the way shut. I've watched it close, and it doesn't 'swing' shut, but more like someone is closing it softly. Very weird. This seems to happen only on nights when I am having difficulties sleeping. I think I've mentioned before, work requires me to get up at 4 AM, which means bed by 9 or so. Sometimes J (the roommate) is still up and watching TV. The living room is just off my bedroom and I can clearly hear it. J is, well somewhat disabled, a bit hard of hearing, and talks to the shows' characters. TV is one of his few joys, so I tolerate the TV being a bit on the loud side. But there are times, even though he's turned it downed, it still disturbs me. This is when I've seen my door close. It's exactly as if something is saying 'nite' to me. The first few times, I was a bit freaked, but there's a sense of comfort that comes with it. I don't worry that Kirby can't come in (his litter box is in the corner of my room - lucky me...) because there's times I've heard him pawing at the door and have heard the knob turning, when I open my eyes the door is ajar. There are times, Kirby acts as if he 'sees' something, or as if he's being petted or played with. And if he isn't skittish, then I know there's nothing to fear. Even if he is a weird cat.