I want to preface this discussion with a few comments about non-alien-related (at least I think so) events. The core of my house was built in the early to mid 1700s and includes an unusual stone structure in the basement that almost certainly predates the house. There has been a ghost dog living here since I moved in in ’88, but I’ve not been aware of his or her presence in the last 10 years. Last Sunday when Fric was just starting to experience contractions, I heard the distinct bark of a dog from the corner of the office. Not only were there no dogs in the area, it was a bark unlike that of any of mine.
Fast forward to last night. I’d was just in that presleep state when I heard a distinct whistle coming from the area near the doorway between the bedroom and the office. Fric was on the bed and she immediately jumped off and went to the puppies. Watson, the old hound, didn’t respond nor did Bee the deaf corgi. I got up and checked on the puppies and, aside from them seeming restless, all was fine. However, I did add a warming pad to their box at that time, just in case.
This morning while I was working at the kitchen table, I heard two distinct bursts of low, more woofing than barking. For reasons unknown, the image of a large hairy female dog (husky, Samoyed type) with a pup filled my mind. I immediately jumped up and looked outside. Nothing. Nor did any of the dogs react. On all three occasions, I never got any sense that there was any negative intent involved. More like a “heads up” or touching bases. Could be I’m losing my mind, but interesting nonetheless.
Later: Just as I was about to send this, there was a loud crack from the doorless old piano roll cabinet and use to store bigger books. It was loud enough that when I looked over, the plant on it was vibrating. Then one of the pups started vocalizing and Fric moved from the rug back into the box with them. Hmmmmm. Maybe she and I are being nagged by paranormal forces. 🙂
Back to the aliens. I decided to compromise yesterday and only cleaned out the bottom of the closet. Alas, no mother ship. In the back I did find a wind chime that consists of several hopelessly entangled fish, a pseudo-suede bag from god knows where, miscellaneous aquarium paraphernalia, the top to the expensive birdfeeder the bear killed many years ago (must have saved that for sentimental reasons), some old muck boots rodents eventually chewed on for bedding, a stainless steel bowl (?), a small plastic flower pot, and some pieces of whatever you call that sticky cloth you put under light-weight rugs to keep them from sliding. Oh, and a commemorative bag from some dog event. The Big Find was the little knobby thing that is one of two that keep my broom from falling out of its holder on the door. I’d wondered where that went. Now I don’t have to hold the broom in the holder with rubber bands any more. The only other thing in there were empty sunflower seeds leftover from the pre-bear years when I used to feed the birds and stored birdseed there in addition to dog food (which I still store there now). This collection was so uninteresting that even BeeBee, the nose on legs, made one quick check and went off to chew wood in the wood holder.
I swept up all the seed, put all the sticky cloth things in the dog event bag, and got rid of the junk. Fric came down once and didn’t seem to care one way or another.
After dinner I looked up the stairs and noticed her lying outside my bedroom door. Knowing the pointy headed purple alien and the fleece ring were on my bed, I opened the door. I’d planned to watch her, but as soon as she saw me looking, she sat down and looked back so I left. When I came up later, the alien and the ring were right at the top of the stairs and I moved them further into the office so I wouldn’t step on them if I got up in the middle of the night to go down to the bathroom to pee and scare myself witless when I stepped on them. The yellow alien was back in the box. I don’t recall seeing the other purple one.
Last night I heard Fric digging at the part of Watson’s big puffy bed that extends under my bed. She’s done this before, but it didn’t dawn on me until this morning when I found the pointy-headed alien nearby that she’s been trying to make a nest for him and put him to bed there. (He’s still there as I write this.) I had this brilliant revelation because sometime during the night, I woke up to her digging up all the covers next to me. When she reach sheet level, I heard the distinct sound of an alien being dropped. When I awoke, the yellow alien and the fleece ring were in bed with me and the short fat purple one was in the office near the pen. When I went downstairs to feed the dogs, shower, and do morning stuff, she brought the yellow one down with her, but then brought up it again later. So now there are two aliens on the rug in front of the pen, one under my bed, and a fleece ring on top of it. That the ring has been added to this raises the possibility that the toys are a shadow litter of the real one that she farms out at night to Watson and me for care.
Or maybe not. 🙂
Later: She’s moved the yellow alien back in with the puppies.