Things that Go "Woof" in the Night

My house is haunted -- I've told you that before. We hear sounds, bumps, a voice and sometimes footsteps. It's the footsteps that are the creepiest.

Some of these sounds have been confirmed by house guests -- and usually the most skeptical ones, like my father.

"Did you come downstairs last night?" my Dad asked on one visit.

"Nope. Why?"

"I heard someone walk down the hall and then I saw someone standing in the doorway."

Wasn't any living soul in the house who did that.

A few weeks ago I thought I saw Ranger, our dog who died two months ago. I was walking down the hall to the kitchen early one morning and she passed my going the other way. When my mind caught up with my eyes, I turned around and, of course, nothing.

Now, I was groggy, just waking up and the house was dark. It could have just been shadows and a sleep addled mind. Right?

Last night -- or early this morning, rather -- I was awoken by the usual night sounds, some random thumps and bumps from the second floor. I was just about back to sleep when Ranger barked.

"What is Ranger barking at" I thought as I came back to a more alert stage of consciousness. Oh, I then realized. Must have just been a dream. Right?

But wait. There's more.

We have a white noise maker in the bedroom, to shut out street and, well, other sounds. It's one of those devices that can make sounds like waves crashing on a beach, or a rain storm. Last night it was set on waves on a beach. Shortly after I heard Ranger bark I began to hear a faint voice on the beach..."help me..." Repeated over and over. I'd never heard that before.

Now, I realize I'm quickly slipping into parody peril here...with thoughts of the Vincent Price version of The Fly and the little voice going "Help me..." This was more of an alto voice...soft, faint, as if carried by the wind.

I tried to ignore it, thinking it was just some trick of my spooked-out mind. It wouldn't go away. Finally, I switched the thing to sound like a rainstorm. No voices there.

So friends, I'm either losing it -- seeing things and hearing voices -- or there is more to life and death than we know. I'm not sure which I choose to believe. And despite the creepy nature of these things, I don't ever feel threatened (if the little voice in the white noise maker had been saying "get out" that would be a different story).

It's just the occasional nights of lost sleep that I mind.