Anyone who has lived in a haunted house will probably tell you that their animals often acted strange. Such was the case with us. We had a small dog named Tippy and he was constantly bothered by the spirits. Poor little thing. Tippy was a toy-poodle/chihuahua mix.  He was really small but had a big heart and a big personality. I loved him very much. He was my little companion. My protector. I knew I was safe when Tippy was calm. When his hackles rose (for no apparent reason) then I KNEW something was about. Not a great sign in any case and moments that I totally dreaded.

Once we accepted that our house was haunted, we started looking at things happening there with “open” eyes. No longer were we trying to reason away strange events. We accepted that “the ghosts did it” and that was that.  We (my mother and I) soon began digging around for information on the paranormal, determined to learn what we could about spirits, hauntings and the like. It was during this phase that I had one of my scariest moments.

I was in eighth grade at the time (about 13?) and had walked home from school (a 3 mile walk!) for it was a gorgeous day and I did not want to wait around an hour or so for the bus. I was hoping my mom would be home from work when I got there but alas, she was not. I opened the front door and let Tippy out. Together we sat on the step as I made up my mind what to do…go in the house for a drink (I was VERY thirsty) or wait and do it when my mom or my siblings got home.  Now aware of the ghosts, I was more than ever reluctant to be in the house alone. Never comfortable in any case, it was worse KNOWING unseen people were floating in the air around me!

Finally I did a little pep talk and convinced myself that the ghosts were not going to hurt me and I needed to stop being afraid. Besides, I had Tippy with me and he would know if “they” were around or not. So, feeling some trepidation but determined to overcome it, I stood up, turned around and looked into the dark interior of the house. It was always dark in there…even in the middle of the day in bright sunlight! And it was always cool, regardless of the summer heat. Shoring up my nerves, I walked into the house.

I remember my back crawling with the uncomfortable feeling that someone was right behind me but since Tippy seemed okay, I decided to be okay too and ignored the feeling.  I went down the hall into the kitchen and through to the pantry where the refrigerator was and thus the drink I intended to get. Tippy didn’t come in the pantry with me. He didn’t like it in there and rarely entered. He plunked down on the kitchen floor a short distance away and watched my every move with dog-like curiosity. He always seemed so interested in what I was doing. I loved that dog. He lives in my heart to this day and always will.

So anyway. I open the fridge, pull out the pitcher of Koolaid, turn to the counter and grab a glass from the cupboard. So far so good. My back still continued to crawl with that uncomfortable feeling and the house was cool (scary old house kind of cool but then, I was used to it at this point).  I felt safe. My confidence was building. No ghost was going to scare me. No sirree, I was fine. Just fine.

As I started to pour the Koolaid into my glass, Tippy began to growl low in his throat. I literally froze. I’m not even sure if I could breathe at this point. Tippy’s growl turned almost instantly into a snarl as he scrambled to his feet. Something was about. Great. Just freaking great! I tell you, I wanted to turn around and look but I was scared to death and couldn’t move even if I wanted to. That whole “frozen in fear” thing? Totally real. In all honesty, I didn’t WANT to see what Tippy saw. Finally, somehow, I managed to turn my head and look at my dog. His eyes were focused on the corner of the kitchen to my right of the pantry doorway. Okay, good. Whatever just joined us, it wasn’t in the pantry with me. For that I was rather grateful. I set the pitcher down and turned around. Of course I saw nothing.

Tippy was now snarling quite viciously, his little teeth bared, his ears flat back, his tail between his legs. His entire body shook so bad his toenails clicked rapidly on the floor. I knew I had no choice but to step forward and look around the doorway into the kitchen. I HAD to look. No way around it. My heart pounding in a furious beat that actually hurt, I took a step and leaned just enough forward to look at the corner of the kitchen Tippy was fixated on. My terrified brain imagined all sorts of gruesome scenarios. Would something jump out and grab me as soon as I leaned far enough forward for it to do so? It was, I must say, one of the worst moments of my life. However, I saw nothing. Thank God. I was ever so GLAD I wasn’t one of those people who saw the dead (or whatever…for one part of me always worried it wasn’t a ghost in that corner but something worse)!

Of course I was hoping an animal had somehow made its way into the house and that’s what Tippy was growling at. The corner he was focused on had three items occupying it. The washer and dryer and a chair. No animals, no dark shapes, nothing to account for Tippy’s ferocious snarling. Then he began to retreat, moving backwards toward the kitchen table. Worried he’d hightail it out of the house and leave me there alone, I scooted down and called him to me. He glanced my way, whined as if to say he’d like nothing more than to be in the safety of my arms, then returned his focus to the corner.

Praying to God while pleading with my dog, I can tell you I was pretty occupied in self-preservation. Tippy started to come to me, actually taking a few reluctant steps out from under the kitchen table, but then he suddenly scrambled backwards as if something had charged at him. His snarls turned into yelps of fear, his high-pitched cries scaring me even more than the snarls because it meant he felt highly threatened. He moved under a chair and obviously felt a bit safer for his pitiful cries turned into earnest barking. I can’t tell you how desperately I wanted out of that house. But I was scared to leave the pantry. What if IT came after me?

It took some tearful pleas but eventually Tippy tried again to join me. He got about half-way across the kitchen floor, moving nearly on a belly crawl, when he suddenly made a terrified scramble back to the safety of the table, yelping the whole time as if something were hurting him. Since he wasn’t writhing around, I figured it was more fear that made him cry that way than actual pain. At this point, I was pretty much in tears and I think Tippy realized my desperation. His snarls lowered into whines and it truly seemed to me that he was trying to figure out a way to get to me. Though he looked at me from time to time, his focus remained fixed on the kitchen corner.

It was only a matter of seconds, but it seemed an age had passed before he finally left the kitchen table and ran behind the big cast iron stove that took up most of the wall space to his right (my left).  Keeping close to the wall (actually rubbing his body against it as he moved along), Tippy slowly made his way to me. He kept his head lowered so he could see under the stove (it stood off the floor on thick cast-iron legs about three inches). His attention never wavered from that corner. When he got to the end of the stove, there was about three feet of floor space between him and me, Tippy stood there and whined pitifully. He wanted me to come get him and I wanted to do that. But I didn’t dare. He had to be the brave one. Poor little bugger. I loved that dog.

I  inched over as far as I could go in the doorway and leaned forward. A quick glance at the corner to my right continued to show nothing there (thank GOD for small favors!). I turned to my left and focused on my dog, stretching my arms forward and praying to God the thing in the corner wouldn’t attack them! Tippy glanced from me to the corner and then made a run for it. He jumped up into my arms and I was SO RELIEVED. I knew he couldn’t save me if the entity decided to get nasty, but at least I would know if it were coming after us and where it was.

Tippy twisted about so he could keep an eye on that freakin corner. His tail was tucked between his legs, his shivering still out of control. His front legs were wrapped right around my hands! Thankfully, he wasn’t growling anymore.  Instead, he was making low whining sounds deep in his throat. We HAD to get out of the house and there was only one way out. I said a prayer asking for God’s protection and that helped a lot. Thank the good Lord for my faith. Otherwise … well, there is no otherwise.

Holding Tippy in front of me like a shield, I stepped out of the pantry and made sure to face that corner the entire time. This meant backing out of the kitchen but so be it. I was NOT going to turn my back on that THING…whatever it was. Tippy continued his low whining and that helped my bravery somewhat for it meant whatever he saw was keeping its distance. We nearly made it to the open space between the table and the stove (just a couple feet more and I’d be in the hallway leading to the front door!) when Tippy began to growl. My heart did a little lurch of fear and I stopped moving for a moment. There’s nothing worse than having your body disobey your brain, especially when you want to run and your feet refuse to budge!

Tippy started snarling and then lunged forward repeatedly as if attacking and biting something! My God, I was so darned scared. I truly feared for my life. As Tippy continued to snap at the air and snarl viciously, my feet finally started moving again. It’s hard to walk on shaking legs but I did it!

Once I made it into the hallway, I knew I was going to have to make a run for it. So, with one final plea to God for protection, I turned and ran as fast as I could for the open doorway. Tippy twisted his way out of my arms and hit the floor running. We both flew out that doorway as if the hounds of hell were after us. The skin on my back cringed with fear but there was no stopping me now. I jumped off the step onto the dirt and literally hit the ground running. Tippy was ahead of me now and yelping in fear. Together we ran out of the yard and up the road. I ran until I couldn’t catch my breath and had to stop. When Tippy saw that I was no longer running with him, he came back to join me. I collapsed on the ground and he jumped into my arms and licked my face. He was as happy as I was to be free. And alive!

I’ll never know what Tippy saw that made him react that way and I’m pretty sure I don’t WANT to know. There were other incidents with our dog but I’ll save them for another post. This one has brought back enough memories.

Have any of you experienced anything like this? I’d love to hear your stories! Thanks so much for stopping by my blog! Until next time…blessings to all and Peace Out!

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