I’m going to skip the part where I make excuses for my long absence and, instead, jump straight into the meat of things: It is time for HALLOWEEN!
That means it is time for stories and this all crept up on me, despite my watchfulness, so my first ghost story is going to be one that is short and sweet, though a little sad.
I’ve mentioned a time or two that ghosts and I don’t exist on the same plane. I can’t see them, feel them, hear them, sense them. They pass right through me (haunted humor – I’m hilarious) and I am unaware.
Except for this one time.
To back up: A couple of weeks before I was born, my grandmother’s Siamese cat had kittens, a whole litter of ’em. After I was born, my mom and I lived with my grandparents so the kittens and I were raised together. No joke.
Because these kittens were made to be sold, they all found new homes pretty quickly. One was kept for me. They named him Chopin. Apparently, he and I got on quite well and the household felt we should grow up together and so we did.
When Chopin and I were around 12, he came down with feline leukemia and was put to sleep. Well, not all in one day, but it happened in a short span of time.
I’d gone to school knowing my cat was sick and I came home to find no cat at all. That was a hard day, probably the worst of my life up to that point. It still rates in the top 10.
I cried myself to sleep that night. I was so lonely. My bed companion, a constant for my entire life, was gone. There was an empty, cold space where he would have slept. It was horrible.
But then, in the wee, dark hours of the morning, I woke up for no reason. The moonlight was seeping in, I could hear my sisters breathing in their part of the room, and I felt Chopin jump onto my bed. I looked for him and he wasn’t there but all the same, he walked up my side, sat down and purred. I pet him, pet where he was supposed to be and I couldn’t feel him but I could feel him. There was no warmth, no fur, no softness but I could trace his outline all the same. He purred. I cried. And then he was gone. Forever.
He came to tell me goodbye.
Not all ghost stories are scary.
Tonight, I am going to start my cider. I will figure out how to put my Halloween costume together. I will revel in the beginning of my most-favorite season and I think I’m going to take a moment to thank Chopin, my cat, for taking such good care of me.
Welcome to October, my friends. The fun begins!
006.7 EKGO 
This is such a heartwarming story, Erica – Happy October, my friend. I’m going to go do… something that totally doesn’t involve wiping my eyes, now.
You know, I was editing it (sort of) and I started crying. At my own post! OMG, can you say “sap”?? Ugh.
But, really, I loved that cat so much. And that’s the most ghost I’ve ever experienced.
Happy October back to you, my dear.
Yeah, I totally got some dust in my eye too.
Happy Halloween month! I’ve just started from your first post; if you’re sticking around I get to double dip… *happy dance*
Hahaha! Well, it’s getting witchy over here so there’s probably all sorts of noxious things in the air, things to make your eyes water. 😉
You’re reading the whole blog?? Wow. That is … impressive, flattering, and also crazy.
I get your posts emailed to me but I’ve put them all in their own folder for now. I hope to get back on the “Hey, I care about others!” bandwagon so I can start reading up on all that I’ve missed.
There’s one in particular that when I wrote it I kept thinking of you*. Will you be able to guess which one?
(*Not in a weird way of course. Like I’ll come out and say right now it was NOT the twerking post. And yes I did write a twerking post.)