Three Scrathes in the Night


by Michael Liggio (mikel@bluestone.com)

This is a story related to me by my 12th grade English teacher. When my teacher, we'll call him John, was a young boy of about 8 or 9 his grandfather passed away. His family immediately went to his grandparents' house to comfort his grandmother and take care of funeral arrangements and the like. Since the house was so crowded with people John and his brother were forced to sleep in the exact bed their grandfather had died in. As if that wasn't enough to freak them out, a strange sequence of events took place that night. John and his brother were woken late night by the sound of strong wind outside the window. Both were forced wide awake by the rattling of the shutters and the window pane. Then they both heard a distinct scratching sound from what seemed like the outside wood of the house (Scrraaatch, scrraaatch, scrraaatch). Three very clear and distinct scrathes in succession. The boys were about to pass this off as a tree scratching up against the house, but then they heard the same sound again (Scrraaatch, scrraaatch, scrraaatch). Before they could even look at each other the noise occured once more. John and his brother had no idea what the noise was. They later fell into an uneasy slumber for the rest of the night. It wasn't until years later that John realized what the noises could have been. He was reading a book on paranormal activity just for his own personal enjoyment when he came across some information that made him shuuder. The book suggested that when a person dies sometimes the person's spirit or soul will let the people it left behind know that it will rest in peace by scratching on some part of its house three times. John now believes that his grandfather was trying to signal him that everything was fine and that he could sleep soundly knowing his grandfather's spirit was resting peacefully.

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