Night noises and childhood memories

If you have ever had to be in your house alone, at least overnight, then you might know to what I’m referring. Houses are full of noises, but during the day when there are folks busy doing things like laundry, watching television, cooking, et cetera, those noises are normal sounds with which we are familiar, and we give them no thought.

However, at night when the lights are out and we are trying to sleep, we may hear sounds we can’t identify — noises like “groan,” “squeak,” “errrrr.” Heard any like those?

Many years ago when we kids were living in a big, old house, my younger brother was totally convinced the attic was haunted. Periodically, he would come flying into my room, scared silly, saying he heard the witch who lived in the attic trying to open the door (the attic door was in his room). He was soon curled up on the foot of my bed, snuggled under an old quilt and sound asleep. I let him stay there; at least he was quiet. Evidently, if the witch opened the attic door, she stayed in his room.

The truth is we kids loved that house. It had front stairs and back stairs, plus that attic, which had windows overlooking the front yard. We all got a little excited when one of my sisters said she saw someone looking out that window when she was playing in the front yard. It was a house with lots of nooks and crannies, and for kids, that made it great fun, if occasionally scary. Of course, we kids made plenty of night noises, but our house didn’t complain, though our parents did. They would find the source and end the noise.

Houses know when their occupants love them, and that makes them happy. And a happy house is a great place to live. The furnace and hot water heater, the AC, and all the appliances seldom have problems. The roof doesn’t leak, and the water pipes never get clogged. Living with odd noises or an attic witch or ghost is a fun place to live, as long as you aren’t there all by yourself at night.

Laura Moore can be emailed at lehmoore1@gmail.com.