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It's A Fox!

 

As if!

This takes place Christmas (2015), the exact date I can't be sure. Somewhere around then, but not the actual 25th. Anywhoo, let's get cracking with the Christmas spirit!

Turns out my Dad has become the biggest denier of anything paranormal. This has no doubt rubbed off from my Stepmum, wonderful woman and biggest nihilist I know. They've been together since I was a kid.

Frustratingly Dad, in my opinion, has had one of the best ghost encounters of all time. That was many, many years ago and, although he used to believe in ghosts, no longer does. When I ask him about his ghost encounters these days (he's had a few) he replies: "Yeah, that happened, I don't know who or what it was, BUT IT'S NOT A GHOST THERE'S NO SUCH THING'. Super short fuse on the subject. My Stepmum, as I've mentioned before, loves talking about ghosts and how much she doesn't believe in them.

If anyone brings up anything remotely out of the norm in their presence it turns into a 20 minute lecture on why it ain't so, and this can go on all night. No really, it can, and there's no getting a word in edge ways.

Are you feeling all Christmassy? I know I am.

This is about Dad's mate H. This dude was tough, I mean 'They call him, Machete', tough. He even looked like Danny Trejo, same build and height even. Had a crooked nose, broken in fights and tips of a couple fingers missing from goodness knows how. Despite all this he was really a very gentle guy with those he loved. But would easily floor blokes twice his size in the blink of an eye if they mistreated anyone, especially women. He hated violence towards women more than anything else in the world. H passed in 2009.

H and Dad used to bicker about music a lot. Dad's a massive Frank Zappa fan and pretty much any music that isn't Zappa is inferior by default, according to Dad. H loved his Rush and bands like that. So...

Must've been around 7 at night, sun still up, summer in Oz. There were about five people in the lounge and everyone was talking. Multiple conversations, pretty noisy room. Dad was telling me all about how crap the guitarist from Deep Purple is. Yeup, take it away Dad! In my opinion he's bagging out this guy on the basis of not being Frank Zappa. Then...

"THUMP THUMP THUMP... THUMP THUMP"

It's Thumper from Bambi! Not really, but a lot of thumping on the carpeted lounge floor. Myself and another guy, L, who was talking in another conversation were the only ones to look around at what was thumping.

Now, when H got excited about something he'd usually stomp his feet as he was either, agreeing, laughing, or disagreeing with something. I'm going to bet H disagreed with Dad's Deep Purple rant. But, because I don't want to be lectured to on the finer points of why ghosts aren't real, I've learned to be sneaky. I asked "Is your dryer on? I think it's running away" I get a kick out of including non-believers in paranormal events. My Stepmum chimes in immediately "It's a fox under the house". It surprised me how quick she was to say this. The thumping stopped when I asked about the dryer.

They've had a fox, probably many foxes, in their yard over the years. At least one was getting under their house. Dad thinks so because of some digging around the base of the house. I hear about their fox regularly, so this statement wasn't obscure. Except it was this time, because only a few hours earlier Dad told me he'd blocked the fox from getting under the house. Not only that, he showed me his handy work. This was the latest fox update. This, and their fox had succumbed to a fire from when the local council had a burn off in a block over the road. None of this made sense to me, as I'm sure it doesn't to you now.

I then said, "We should go unblock the hole so the fox can get out." To which they said the hole had already been blocked. (Makes no sense to me either.) To which I said, "But there's a fox thumping under the house." Then Dad starts getting narky and said "No, I blocked the hole this time". To which myself and L both say "What's making the noise then?" and "Didn't you hear that thumping?" I mean you could feel it in the floor. Then they both 'explain' it was the fox knocking the pipe under the house. I know right, bonkers.

The atmosphere quickly returned to 'normal' and so too did the conversations. Dad continued on about Deep Purple. You guessed it, more thumping. I began pondering the ethics of talking out loud to H. If this was H he seemed to have a real handle on this thumping. The potential for communication was there. H was into supernatural subjects, so I think he'd be into that idea. I decided not to because of the 'fox'. Their resident fox has obviously become their safety net for moments like these.

On another day, shortly after this, there was more thumping in their lounge. This time it was much later in the night. We were talking about The Bill which was a TV show we all used to watch, including H. There was a lot of laughter and reminiscing about various moments. Together with the thumping it felt just like H had never left. He used to hate (character) Tony Stamp, and I almost expected to hear one of his hilarious, politically incorrect, observations about Tony Stamp's complete incompetence and lack of 'balls'. I wish I could quote some of H's diatribe but it's simply too rude to censor.

This time the thumping was ignored, or maybe left unspoken of is a better way to put it. Dad said, almost to himself, "There goes the fox again", but that was all that was said. I didn't count how many thumps happened, it wasn't very many during The Bill conversation. Maybe three in total, I remember two in quick succession, then another about a minute later. I wasn't ignoring the thumps, I was enjoying that they felt so normal, just like H.

When H visited Dad, for whatever reason, he always took one of the kitchen chairs into the lounge. No idea why he did this, there's plenty of arm chairs. He favoured a space just beside the fireplace. During the Deep Purple rant the thumps seemed to be coming from his fireplace spot. During The Bill conversation I didn't take notice of the thumping direction.

I'll be damned if this was all a fox running around banging under floor pipes. Especially since the hole had been blocked a month or so before. Even so, foxes are agile, quiet creatures, they don't jump around making lots of noise. Then there's the whole council back burning event. Yeah right, as if! Any fox would take off as soon as the workers arrived. It's not a very big block.

The only thing I still can't explain is my Dad and Stepmum's reasoning. They might not believe H drops in on them, but at least they believe in foxes.

Thanks for reading.

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Junglecat (2 stories) (56 posts)
 
6 years ago (2019-04-02)
Tweed,

It's too bad that your dad & stepmom were so hung up on this silly fox idea that they couldn't look for other possibilities. For instance, a water hammer can make a lot of pounding in your plumbing pipes if you live in an older house. Not all houses have them however. I believe that new construction has dispensed with this plumbing feature.
Tweed (36 stories) (2529 posts)
+2
7 years ago (2017-10-17)
Hi Jubeele, thanks for reading and glad you enjoyed them.

I love the idea of wombats running around, they're one of my Dad's fave animals. 😊 But it's deffo foxes. They've both seen them trotting about at night. Apparently one scurries effortlessly across the top of the fence, regular wooden fence that is! That sounds supernatural in itself lol, really speaks to foxes adaptability. They're marvelous creatures.

As for my Dad and Stepmum's beliefs. It's so difficult explaining to people who've never met them, just how unique their mindset is. My Stepmum doesn't believe because she says she doesn't want there to be anything, no afterlife, no heaven, no spirit world, she wants there to be nothing. Go figure, I really don't get that. But I think you're onto something about her being a little timid at least about the subject. She's adamant she's never had a supernatural experience, but I think she's afraid of the concept of it, overall. Perhaps the idea of ghosts wandering about freaks her out and is too much for her.

My Dad I really can't work out. I think it's one of those things where he enjoys giving religious and/or spiritual people a hard time. He enjoys confrontation. No wonder politics and religion/spirituality are his most verbose topics. 😆

Thanks again for your input, I read your profile and I've always been amused by those gross out teddy bears. I think they're the ones you mean, like the living dead dolls?, anyway I dig them.

I'm going to read your experiences. I've been away from this site for way too long!
Jubeele (26 stories) (899 posts)
+2
7 years ago (2017-10-14)
Hi Tweed, Machete? How cool - wish I could've met H too. It's quite likely, as the others have said, that your Dad believes, but just doesn't want to upset your Stepmum. Wonder if your Stepmum had an experience and it spooked her so much that she went into total denial?

Maybe it's not foxes, but wombats? We stayed at a B&B up in the Cambewarra Mountains, near Kangaroo Valley, NSW and we had wombats living underneath the cottage. Grandpa Wombat was HUGE - we've seen the tribe (what's the collective noun for them?) out in the fields at night. The cottage was built on raised posts on the slope of a plateau and would shake whenever Grandpa used one of the posts as a backscratch. The first time it happened I almost ran out into the night screaming: 'Help, it's an earthquake!'

We've cancelled Christmas for a while due to family dramas with the "out-laws". I've enjoyed all your accounts. Thanks for sharing them!
shelbyloree (5 stories) (285 posts)
+2
7 years ago (2017-08-03)
'Thou dost protest too much' is what I think of with those two relatives. They aren't trying to convince YOU - they're trying to convince themselves.

If she believes in no afterlife, she will never acknowledge a ghost. Your dad seems to follow suit for peace and harmony.

A mysterious world apparently seems to rock her to her core, so she ends up making up illogical mumbo jumbo to appear logic. But she ends up looking more rediculous, instead of just saying 'ghost' and moving on.

I'm assuming all of her rants are to convince herself rather than those around her. Have to feel sorry for her, it sounds terribly confusing.
Tweed (36 stories) (2529 posts)
+2
7 years ago (2017-08-01)
Biblio, I've tried to understand why she's so against supernatural anything. She's said that she can't imagine anything worse than being a ghost. This concept is somehow frightening to her. When asked why she says it's because you can watch those you care about, but they don't know you're there. She really hopes it's not real. This much I can understand and sympathise with. However, talking about ghosts nonstop without being prompted makes me think there might be more to it. I don't know. But like I've said before to her, it's like I don't like the band Coldplay or Ed Sheeran music, they annoy and bore me. So I don't think about them, problem solved. I can't understand why anyone would talk so frequently about a topic they find disagreeable.
She's also said that unless she has an experience of her own which she 100% can't explain, she'll be totally closed off to it.

Up until a few years ago the only topic to rival ghosts in her rants was lesbians. Because, according to her, being a lesbian is pointless. This drives everyone barking mad and, like the ghost topic, there's no reasoning with her. BUT she's OBSESSED with gay men, so much so that she asks any man she meets if he's gay. (I don't get it either) Maybe there's a connection between these two topics. She can't believe in ghosts because she can't relate, and she can't see a point in being a lesbian because she can't relate. Then, a few years ago, my cousin came out. She'd been out and proud for years, we never knew because of my bloody Stepmum's crazy lesbian rants!

Utter lunacy I tells ya!
Bibliothecarius (9 stories) (1091 posts)
+2
7 years ago (2017-08-01)
Greetings, Tweed.

First, a random "Rush" thought...
Have you ever watched the American spy-spoof cartoon Archer?
-Krieger: I have great news...
-Pam: You finally cracked YY"zee"'?
-Krieger: **It's YY"ZED"!**...And, no. Neil Peart stands alone.

I'm going to type in my response *before* I've had a chance to read everyone else's comments, as I'm getting ready for a a day at school, prepping for the semester. I apologize in advance if this seems a bit scattered and/or repeats other poster's observations.

I love watching foxes; they're beautiful, adorable, and calculatingly savage creatures. You nailed the truth, "foxes are agile, quiet creatures, they don't jump around making lots of noise" so I can presume that, 1) you've actually seen foxes, 2) you may have seen them on a nature program, 3) you have a circulatory system that reaches your brain with no difficulty whatsoever.

I really do a great David Attenborough impression (we're both from Leicester), but somehow, typing in the pauses, whispers, and enthusiasm doesn't do it justice. (Whispery: "It is here, near the main stream of the YGS forum, that our quiet quarry will slowly emerge... She looks, first, for danger: from trappers and trolls alike. And now --when she is satisfied that danger is at a minimum-- she leads her kits out of the protective camouflage of the tall grass. For her young, this is a moment of rambunctious play, combining the freedom of drinking the cool water with the mischievous joy of splashing each other. But for their mother, the evening's trek to the stream has been serious work. She encourages her kits to lap up the fresh, cool water, but does not yet drink. She stands ever-vigilant: the protective mother guarding her precious young. She will return to drink when they are safely asleep in their den.")

Serious Inquiry: I know --from this and from other conversations-- that your stepmother is adamantly opposed to the supernatural. Have you ever gleaned from her rantings exactly *why* this is so? Usually, people in that much denial have actually had an encounter/experience of some sort (and this does not pertain to ghosts alone, but to other facets of life) and cannot cope with the facts; to deal with this trauma, the brain flat-out rejects the facts.

I agree that her attitude and your father's attitude are closely linked in reciprocal denial; however, to attribute the evidence to a pair of contradictory declarative statements is not simple "cognitive dissonance" but "magical thanking." -- "Spirits don't exist" and "noisy foxes don't exist," but of the two impossibilities, questioning the viability of the second statement is preferable; "ghosts are not in here" and "foxes cannot get into the newly-sealed crawlspace," but given the persistence of noises, there must be a noisy fox sealed in the crawlspace, so we do not need to let it out, because it's sealed and the noisy fox cannot have gotten into the space where it, not a spirit, is making noise! It's an opinion predicated upon nonsensical, syllogistic reasoning.

No wonder you have to bit your tongue when visiting them.

A great read, and you managed to hit my "pathos" button (well, the "my sympathies" button) which is a rarity for me in the mornings.

Best,
Biblio.
Tweed (36 stories) (2529 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2017-07-31)
Lady Glow, H isn't the type to take being ignored lightly. I think their denial must drive him nuts. It's amusing to wonder just how often this 'fox' plays up. 😆

BeautInside, my patience with them reached it's limit over a year ago. Not because of the fox though. I had enough of the insanity. I'm glad you enjoy my style, I had a giggle typing it up.😊
BeautInside (3 stories) (326 posts)
+2
7 years ago (2017-07-31)
Hi Tweed,

The way you tell your experiences is so unique, I find it spectacular to read them! 😁

Well, what a denial! I think both your dad and stepmom know that H is still around, but it's hard to get away from denial once you got into it. I can only imagine how many patience you may need to deal with it. 😊

Thank you for sharing another amazing experience!

Blessings.
valkricry (49 stories) (3286 posts) mod
+1
7 years ago (2017-07-30)
lady_glow,
As far as I know there hasn't been any submissions for zozo in awhile. I'm guessing he just isn't 'hot' right now.
lady-glow (16 stories) (3197 posts)
+2
7 years ago (2017-07-29)
Tweed: It must be hard on H that your father and stepmom not only deny and ignore his attempts to communicate, but to blame it on a fox?! Oh, my!

Valkricry: It's funny that you'd say that. After reading some ZoZo stories a while ago, I began saying "it's ZoZo!" every time I hear an unexplained noise and, after that toothbrush story, I added a "get a toothbrush ready!" to this sentence.😊

By the way, what happened to the ZoZo stories this summer? Has he retired? Did the mods decide not to publish any more experiences about this pesky demon?

Tweed, sorry for using this thread to ask such a silly question and thanks for sharing this fascinating experience.
Tweed (36 stories) (2529 posts)
+2
7 years ago (2017-07-29)
Melda, I'd never really thought of his 180 being half for show. Which is odd because I often think he's telling himself this stuff in the hope he'll eventually believe it. Jeesh no wonder he's conflicted. I did the nonbeliever thing for shy of a year in the early 2000's. A short time by comparison, but it still screwed my thinking around. He's been doing it for a few years. Maybe nonsensical thought patterns have become normal for him in a way. 😕
Thanks for your comment, it really got me thinking. 😊

Lol Benny 'it's a fox' is something I say now. If something goes bump and there's a logical explanation 'it's just a fox'. 😉
Benny_Lundon (2 stories) (33 posts)
+2
7 years ago (2017-07-29)
Hi Tweed,Yep, the guitarist from Deep Purple is utter crap (Thump thump thump). Seems like H disagrees with Dad, letting his feelings be known. Pffttt, it's only a "Fox".
Keep these great real life stories coming.

Kindest regards, Benny.
Melda (10 stories) (1363 posts)
+4
7 years ago (2017-07-29)
Tweed - I bet your dad was fully aware of the fact that the thumper was H. I put myself in denial mode for a few years but it didn't work! I eventually decided well there's no point hiding my head in the sand, if it's there, it's there.

Your stepmum probably didn't want to acknowledge anything that wasn't physically whole and breathing and told your dad in no uncertain terms that she wasn't having anything to do with it and hammered away at him until he had no choice but to follow her cue. (I'm not being nasty about her, these things probably scare her.)

I think that outwardly he's done U turn but inwardly - that's hard to believe. He knows full well what's out there. How could he not?

One day out of the blue he'll tell you that he saw or heard H (or something or somebody else) and please not to tell your stepmum 😆

Regards, Melda
Tweed (36 stories) (2529 posts)
+3
7 years ago (2017-07-28)
BGP, I agree something must have happened. If it did, I feel sorry for him that he probably feels he can't talk about it. Fear of ridicule perhaps. He's always been afraid of the dark, he hates that he is and knows it's irrational, but can't help it. I always wonder if his fear of the dark is somehow linked to a fear of ghosts. I think both of them are afraid of ghosts on some level. We all are when we get down to it, maybe some people are better with their fear than others.

Whoah, Manafon I have NEVER heard of that side of Zappa. My knowledge, whether I want it or not lol, has only come from Dad. Who has, as you can no doubt imagine, painted him in a saintly light. I had no idea old Frank couldn't take a joke. But I'm glad you said that Richie bloke has a massive ego, because that's what Dad was telling me about, the guy's showy ego. So H was probably going 'stomp, stomp, So what about Zappa's ego!' A bit of a pot kettle moment maybe. 😆
Manafon1 (7 stories) (722 posts)
+2
7 years ago (2017-07-28)
Tweed--It really seems like H was trying to let your Dad know that Ritchie Blackmore is a great guitarist. An unlikeable guy with a massive ego but then again Zappa had a monstrous ego too. I'm with H on that one.

I suppose people often deny the paranormal because it's easier to choose to believe that everything is logical and neatly ordered. It just simplifies one's life to say that ghosts aren't real. Or does it? As your account nicely shows, denying a thumping ghost by calling it a fox that can't be where it would have to be to make the sound is classic circular logic.

As for Zappa, I always found it humorous that when Captain Beefheart needed a bit of a monetary boost, Zappa recorded and toured an album with him (Bongo Fury) but it didn't take long before Frank was driven nearly insane by the endless baiting and jokes Beefheart shoveled at him. For a guy who put so much humor into his albums poking fun at everyone and everything he sure wasn't that good at taking it.
babygoatpuller (4 stories) (432 posts)
+3
7 years ago (2017-07-28)
That's some pretty hard core denial for someone who doesn't believe Tweed. One would think that to be in that state of denial, something must have happened to to bring it about.

The psyche of these type of people intrigues me. For him to go from having actual experiences and believing in ghosts to flat out refusing to entertain the idea to the point of getting angry makes one go hmmmmmm...

That, or he's been hanging around your Stepmum too much and/or too long. 😆
Tweed (36 stories) (2529 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2017-07-28)
Wish Not! I haven't been online much lately, so I don't know if you've commented of late, but I'm glad you're still haunting the site!

Deep Purple are cool, Dad's just erugh, I don't know. I REALLY want to know why he did the paranormal 180 too. All I know is that it started years ago and slowly but surely got more and more intense. To the point it's quite psychotic at times. He can be so rude to religious folk too. It's totes embarrassing. Mum reckons he must have seen another ghost lol,
Tweed (36 stories) (2529 posts)
+2
7 years ago (2017-07-28)
Far out I just submitted this! 😲

Val, I think since Dad's new found hardcore non-beieverism they're both feeding off each others denial or something. I really want to know if they're aware of what they're saying or not. Can't work it out. It's just crackers. 😕
The way my Stepmum said 'it's a fox' so swiftly the first time makes me think they're aware of the contradictions but cannot/will not entertain any other theories. On the bright side they're a constant source of comedy. 😉
Wish-Not (16 stories) (534 posts)
+2
7 years ago (2017-07-28)
Tweet- Love me some Deep Purple. Grew up on them. 😆 Love this story as well! H sounds like a character.

I always find it comical what some folks will say or do to deny the paranormal. Curious why your pops had the "about face" on the subject.

Great story, definitely going to my favorites! Thanks for sharing. Gonna find me some "Space Truckin" 😆
valkricry (49 stories) (3286 posts) mod
+2
7 years ago (2017-07-28)
I wonder if yelling, "It's a fox!" would help when hurling toothbrushes at demonic spirits? Have to remember to ask lady_glow that.
Anyway, Tweed, part of me laughed and the other part got irritated with your parents. Do they listen to themselves? Talk about contradictions! If they don't want to believe that's alright, but faulty logic isn't going to help.

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