The Incident

After driving 10 hours from Asheville because of nasty rain in Georgia I arrived home at 11:30 Sunday night. Both of the roommates were gone. I wasn't too happy to be home alone, especially since the night I returned from my last trip I caught a peeping tom at my window, which is incidentally about 7-8 ft off the ground. I had the willies but I also had my cat Chloe so I figured I would be okay.

I didn't even bother to unpack my car. I gave Chloe some food, fresh kitty litter, and water then went to my room and tucked myself into my covers. Chloe wasn't far behind me in jumping onto the bed. I was still feeling tense so didn't think much of it when Chloe wouldn't calm down either. She spent all day in the car as well, after all. After a few minutes she settles down and starts to purr. Then thinks got damn strange.

My bedroom door is shut and my light is off. All the doors are locked. I am laying in the quiet emptiness when I hear footsteps coming down the hall past my bedroom. I try to rationalize it away, tell myself I am just tired- maybe even a little paranoid. But the thing is, Chloe sat up, stared out towards the hallway and stopped purring. Ok, no problem, I'll just turn on the lamp. My room is now well-lit, no shadows. Chloe moves to the end of the bed and stares at the door. I refuse to get creeped out. Close my eyes, convince myself it's not a problem, I'm just nuts.

Then I hear the whispers. Oh shit. I start thinking about who I could call at one in the morning the night before the first day of class and realize that I need to just suck it up and force myself to go to sleep. I move my head in little motions so that the sound of the fabric in my ear drowns out any other noises. Problem solved. Until...

Until the room goes ice freaking cold despite having the heat on, previously having been warm enough, and me being under a down comforter. This was the final straw. I grab my phone, put on necessary garments and head for the door. Quickly. Chloe actually beats me out of the house. I put her in the car and go to the Walmart parking lot where I call Wesley (sweet Wesley) and ask him what in the hell I should do. We run through the possible solutions that I have already ruled out and decide that I should go to his mom's house, an hour away. Wesley has had his own experience in the house and luckily does not think I've lost my marbles (any more of them anyways).

The past two nights I stayed with Wesley's mom. I contemplated places I could move, thought about how I could avoid staying at the house, so forth and so on. I finally realized that with being so close to graduating, and being so busy with school, wedding, traveling, et al that now was Not the time to move.

So.

Tonight I stay at the house. I waited until sunset and spoke out loud to It, which was only slightly strange. I said 'This is my house. You are not allowed here. I have nothing for you and cannot help you. It's time to move on. Go away.' I feel better about it all after doing that. We shall see tonight. Oh, and for good measure I have my rosary on my bedpost and I plan on sprinkling some holy water I happen to have from a church event a couple of years ago on my door frame. Here's hopin' the booger is gone.

Achoo

I've been sick the past few days and it hasn't been much fun (for me or anyone around me). Here is the email I sent to CVS about a positive experience that came out of having the funk.

I went to the CVS on Merrimon Avenue in Asheville North Carolina today, Feb 15th. I had nine dollars in my bank account and needed some cold/flu medicine, as I wasn't sure which one I had. I asked the pharmacist for his recommendation and he recommended the CVS version of Cold-Eeze. I asked him 'If I can only afford one medicine to get me through this, is this really what you would recommend?' I was holding a box of generic Day/Night cold medicine in my hand. He said 'What you've got there is pretty good too. I'll tell you what, let me go grab a drink and I will get the lozenges for you.' I really wasn't in a position to decline his very kind-hearted and generous offer. The ease with which he did something so helpful, however small it might have been, was amazing. I want this pharmacist, and everyone at CVS, to know my appreciation. It is care like this that makes the world go round, especially when one is feeling sick. I hope that this pharmacist will get the commendations he deserves for being willing to go the extra mile. Did I mention he came out from behind the counter just to help me choose from the array of cold medicines? I've never met a pharmacist who would do that.
A very satisfied- and slightly less stuffy- customer,
Eryn