All's Quiet Again

I should have saved one of last week's stories for this week. But, as I've said before, we can't predict the paranormal. As I write this, though (Friday), there's a huge, pretty Valentine's moon rising in the east. I find myself wishing SRT had planned something for tonight. Perhaps Dry Creek would have been active under this full moon, instead of … well, dry, like the last time we went during the second new moon of January. But everyone is busy enjoying the evening with their loved ones, which is what Valentine's Day is all about.

Given I've been involved in the paranormal for so long, quiet weeks don't make it hard to come up with a blog subject. I'm able to fall back on some older tales, so this time I'll tell you about a neat happening a few years ago. It's one of those "different" things I so enjoy.

I've known my friend Mike for a long while, ever since I dabbled in screen writing. I call him my third son, because he's about the same age as my sons. We share a love of writing, so we always have lots to talk about. Mike is also interested in the paranormal, although only in discussing it, not actually prowling around chasing ghosts.

At my house, though, the ghosts don't like to be ignored for very long or by anyone. One evening Mike and I were sitting in the living room, which is directly outside my office, chatting away about something. Suddenly, there was a loud Crash! from my office. It sounded like it was right inside the door.

We both jerked around and stared. I said, "Sounds like one of the cats knocked something over. I better go see what they're into."

Mike followed me, and we didn't see anything out of place, nothing lying on the floor. But when I glanced at the wall behind my computer, I noticed a ceramic plaque with a wolf scene on it missing. I looked down at the small table in the corner … and there lay the plaque, about four feet beneath where it had hung. Even as delicate as it was, it was unbroken. That surprised me, since the ceramic should have shattered, given the loud crash we heard. Since it's an office table, there was no tablecloth or any other sort of cusion for it to land on.

The other thing that got my attention was the nail curled on top of the plaque,

I'm one of those horrible people who will put a nail up to hold something, because most of those sticky things don't last. I'm pretty good with a hammer, but if I do happen to bend the nail as I'm pounding it in, I toss it and use another one. So I know this nail was straight when I put it in the wall to hold the plaque.

Now it curled in a circle, or nearly one. There was a twist in it and about a quarter-inch gap where the ends came together. That plaque had been hanging there for several years, and there was no way it would have stayed on the wall with a circled nail in it.

Mike picked up the nail first and held it out for me to see. "How … what …?" He looked at the wall, then back at the plaque. "Wasn't that hanging on the wall earlier?" he finally asked.

"Yep," I said.

"But … well, where did this nail come from?"

"See that tiny hole up there in the wall? That's where that nail that's now in your hand was holding the plaque up," I told him gently, knowing he wasn't totally at ease with the paranormal. "You know I live in a haunted house."

"A ghost did this?" Mike asked as he dropped the nail back onto the plaque as though it had burned him.

"There's no other way that nail could have bent like that. And the plaque was secure in the wall. Plus it didn't even chip, let alone break."

"Why?" he asked. "Why did a ghost do that? And how?"

"They just wanted our attention. As to how it made the loud crash but landed the plaque softly enough not to break it …." I just shrugged.

Mike turned and left my office, and not long after that, he cut our visit short and went on home. I have that plaque and nail around her somewhere. One of these days I'll have to find it and take a picture of it and the nail.

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This week writing-wise, I've started formatting Living With Dead Folks, Volume Two. Angela and I had some setbacks in getting together for her photo shoot, so that's on the agenda for next week. However, she did do a beautiful cover for one of my back-list romances, which will be uploaded early next week.

Witch Angel is a book I have with Belgrave House, so their editor will be replacing the cover on it as soon as she can. This is another time travel, along the lines of Forever Angels, but a completely different story in a different time and state. In addition to the two angels, there's also a ghost! Imagine that. Here is a sneak peak at the gorgeous cover, but right now it's not up on line anywhere yet. My blog readers are special and get to see it first.

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Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day. I got some lovely red roses, and gave son and hub cards and cheesecake. Valentine's Day also heralded some beautiful weather here in Texas. It's now in the 70's and will stay there all next week. Sorry for those of you who have all that nasty cold, snow and ice. Stay safe and warm.

Boo!

T. M.