On Poplar Street at the foot of our bed, we feel it pressing on the mattress, like a cat kneading. We sit up to brush the cat off the bed, only the door is shut. No cats. We remember that insistent push and the next one, too. There is no denying that it happened. We don't even speculate on what it could have been. Who.
No cats in the room, too, when our roommate feels the tap-tap-tapping on her head. Like water dripping, she says. Only, no water. No cats. What happened in this apartment? We don't speculate.
In a dream he beckons, outside my bedroom window. Two stories up he floats in his gray corduroys, gesturing with his hand for me to come. Tossing his hair off his forehead in that certain way and that small smile. His crooked teeth.
The cats hiss, fur like porcupines and tiny sharp teeth. They see what we can't, and we laugh uneasily. Crazy, we call them. Psychotic fur balls. We shiver and toss those thoughts away, although we are not bold enough to say, "There's no such thing."
I can't come now, I tell him in my mind. I shake my head and will myself to waken. In my sorrow, I banish him. Like a proper ghost, he sinks, bare feet on the soft brown soil.
(Need a writing prompt? Got something to say about ghosts in your life? Check out Sunday Scribblings.)
7 comments:
Ooh! Creepy and fun and lovely!
Spooky and a bit sad. Living in California, I attribute most strange happenings to earthquakes subliminally felt. It wouldn't account for all of these though.
Very spooky! I love how we're not quite sure what his motives are-or even waht you think they are. Nicely done!
spooky and unnerving, nicely written too. I often think that cats have extra sensory abilities...
This reads like a prose poem! Hauntingly beautiful!
lots of spooky things for sure, but seemingly all benign --- funny how animals pick up those vibes like small children do sometimes - very well written and very enjoyable piece!!!
I like Sunday Scribblings too. Didn't get it done (yet) this week. Might cheat a bit and post one today.
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