Living Room Moments

My family is very close. When I was young we would spend much time together talking, eating, playing games, singing and dancing, and planning in our living room. I have several stories to share that have occurred right there in my old living room.

When my family first moved into this house it was very exciting. We spent many late nights enjoying each others company. From the living room you could see straight through the kitchen into the family room. Every once in a while, mostly at night, you could see human figures passing by the door way of the family room. Shadows would unexpectedly appear from one side and disappear in the other. No sound of opening or closing doors.

I would always think that the shadows were an optical illusion or some reflection of light, but one night I turned to look just in time and saw, straight on, a figure move from left to right with no face. It would help me cope when we would have extended family visit and say they saw unknown people, passing by, out in the empty, unlit room from time to time. I still see it happen to today when I visit my Dad.

One night, years ago, my Moms whole family came to talk about my Grandfather, who just passed away. We were reminiscing about him when the television popped on to my Grandfathers favorite show and the smell of his Winston cigarettes filled the air. No one else smoked that brand in or around our home. We took it as a sign that he was happy we were all together talking about him, I still miss that man.

All families have their ups and downs. One evening, while in the living room, we were discussing some items that didn't sit well with the majority. As we were arguing we witnessed a group of containers lift from our kitchen table and fly across the kitchen slamming into the cabinets. I tried to rationalize what just transpired by recreating it. Our dining table sat lower the backs of the chairs, which would have made it impossible to fall off the table with out being lifted. The force of the slam would also lead me to believe that the containers themselves would have cracked, which they did not. In the end we settled our quarrel quickly and moved on to a happier subject.

Last Halloween I visited my Dad, Sister and Nephew at the house. (I moved after getting married.) I wanted to escort my Nephew around the block to gather candies. The whole evening I was there I witnessed what looked like black arrows darting around the house. They were in the kitchen, in the living room, in my Sisters room. They were driving me nuts!

We left the house to go "Trick or Treating" and had a blast walking around admiring all the costumes. When we came home we sent the boy to wash up for sleep and checked his candy. The shadow arrows started up again. I finally told my wife I was seeing them, she however didn't. A couple hours later, around midnight, I cleaned up my mess; put away my Ukulele, and Dads Bass to get ready to go home. I finally mentioned what I was seeing to my Father.

The living room lights were turned down, the only lights on in the house at the time. "Dad, I keep seeing these flying shadows! Look like arrows moving fast like bugs." He replied with. "It could just be your shadow playing off the walls in the room!" I wasn't too sure about that, but the shadows all of a sudden stopped and from the kitchen door my Father and I heard what sounded like a vibrating growl!

Grrrrrrrr... GrrrrrrrrRRRRR! We stared at the door way and then looked at each other in confusion. The sound didn't come from the darkened kitchen, or from in the living room. It came from right inside the archway of the door, about five feet up from the ground. It was plain as day. A growl which stopped my heart and gave my Dad "Chicken Skin" or goose bumps, whatever you prefer.

We never figured out what it was or what it was meant to be. I'm just happy I never heard it again!