Esther! Was it a Gnome?
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Bill
Apr 21, 2009, 10:05:43 PM4/21/09
to NORTH AMERICAN FORTEAN SOCIETY
Yo, Esther! More booger tales for you !
When I talked about the Rook game and the ghostly noises, I mentioned
that I had 2 uncles away in the Navy at the time. Well,years before
that, when those uncles were "young'uns" of about 7 and 9,
respectively, Fred and Frank Johnson had a "night visitor" that came
around every now and then and watched them sleep. The boys shared a
bed upstairs (my grandparents had
a "passle" of kids and there was a lot of doubling up). Anyway, one
night Fred, the younger one, woke up and saw "a little man" standing
at the foot of the bed, watching them. Fred said he
was dressed like "elves an' stuff in fairy tale books" and had on a
cap "like Santa Claus wears"
except it didn't have any furry ball on the tip end of it (and, no,it
didn't stand up like a cone).
This little bright-eyed fellow just cocked his head and watched Fred,
who nudged Frank awake.
Frank saw him too and both were amazed. Then both hid under the covers
for a while and, when one poked his head out at one point the little
man was gone.
Both boys got told they were dreaming the next morning---and had over-
active imaginations.
Maybe so, but the boys saw the little man again and again from time to
time---always just watching them sleep---and later on, even as adults
and Navy Chief Petty Officers----would swear
on Bibles that they'd actually seen that little man. Eventually, they
seemed to "outgrow" him
and he ceased to be seen, and none of the other Johnson children ever
set eyes on him.My
uncle Frank told me he was dressed like the dwarves dressed in
Disney's "Snow White" feature cartoon. Neither brother was ever
seriously frightened by the little man. He seemed totally
benign.
Next time: The Scratchings
When I talked about the Rook game and the ghostly noises, I mentioned
that I had 2 uncles away in the Navy at the time. Well,years before
that, when those uncles were "young'uns" of about 7 and 9,
respectively, Fred and Frank Johnson had a "night visitor" that came
around every now and then and watched them sleep. The boys shared a
bed upstairs (my grandparents had
a "passle" of kids and there was a lot of doubling up). Anyway, one
night Fred, the younger one, woke up and saw "a little man" standing
at the foot of the bed, watching them. Fred said he
was dressed like "elves an' stuff in fairy tale books" and had on a
cap "like Santa Claus wears"
except it didn't have any furry ball on the tip end of it (and, no,it
didn't stand up like a cone).
This little bright-eyed fellow just cocked his head and watched Fred,
who nudged Frank awake.
Frank saw him too and both were amazed. Then both hid under the covers
for a while and, when one poked his head out at one point the little
man was gone.
Both boys got told they were dreaming the next morning---and had over-
active imaginations.
Maybe so, but the boys saw the little man again and again from time to
time---always just watching them sleep---and later on, even as adults
and Navy Chief Petty Officers----would swear
on Bibles that they'd actually seen that little man. Eventually, they
seemed to "outgrow" him
and he ceased to be seen, and none of the other Johnson children ever
set eyes on him.My
uncle Frank told me he was dressed like the dwarves dressed in
Disney's "Snow White" feature cartoon. Neither brother was ever
seriously frightened by the little man. He seemed totally
benign.
Next time: The Scratchings
Bill
Apr 22, 2009, 3:03:49 PM4/22/09
to NORTH AMERICAN FORTEAN SOCIETY
Look out, Esther! Here come "The Scratchings"
Same house: maternal grandparents (Vardry & Mary Myers Johnson)
Heard about this one from some aunts and cousins----
One night in the 1940s Mary Johnson ahook her husband, Vardry, awake
from his sleep.
"Vardry," she said. "I think I hear a mouse scratching in here."
Vardry Johnson turned
over and listened, still half asleep,but listening. He heard it then
himself.
Scratch, scratch, scratch.
Sounded indeed like maybe a mouse scratching on wood.
Vardry raised up, reached over, and switched on the nightstand lamp.
"Get out of here!" he barked at the room.
He saw nothing in the room. No movement. No scurrying grey mini-pest.
Vardry switched off the light and lay back down.
"May be in the closet," he told Mary, "or behind the wall. I'll put
out some traps and poison
tomorrow."
The Johnsons then tried to go back to sleep.
Scratch, scratch, scratch. The sounds came again, this time louder-
seeming,and closer to
the bed----almost AT the bed.
"Git!" Vardry Johnson snarled, and switched on the light again, this
time jumping up out of bed.
He looked all around the bed and around the room but could find
nothing.
"That sounded bigger than any mouse," Mary said."Sounded more like a
field rat. And almost like
it was scratching around the bed."
"Beats me," her husband answered. "I don't see a thing."
The Johnsons went back to sleep,but were awakened by the scratching
one more time.
Same result: nothing to be seen.
Come daylight Vardry set traps and put out rat poison pellets.
That night the scratchings returned. Again, they were loud and
"determined".
And again no "culprit"was discovered-----and nothing came of the traps
or poison.
This went on for several weeks, reaching a point where the Johnson's
came to pretty much ignore
the "visitations".
Then, one night, the scratchings came louder than ever---almost
furiously. And this time Vardry Johnson
was up and down with them,angry---and more than a bit unsettled and
"antsy". This had reached the point
of being STRANGE.
Next morning things were even stranger. Along the wooden bed
frame,along the two side rails and the
end piece, there were found scratch marks; scratch marks that had
never been there before.
After this, the scratchings ceased. It was like the "whatever" had
made its "statement" and departed.
Years later, when I was a small boy, this subject came up in a
conversation between relatives when the
then upstairs border, Ethel Cox, claimed she got up to go downstairs
to the bathroomin the middle of the
night and beheld a giant----6 foot?????????-----upright,BI-PEDAL RAT
in the downstairs hallway.She said
it glared at her with red "hateful" eyes and she ran back upstairs to
her room.
A caveat to this account ius that Ethel Cox was a pretty dedicated
boozer and was known to "knock down
a few" in her fondness for bourbon. It was pretty much decided by all
concerned that she was having "DTs"
(delirium tremens hallucinations) that night and seeing bi-pedal giant
rats rather than pink elephants----in
much the same way James Stewart saw the invisible 6-foot
rabbit ,"Harvey" in the play and movie. It should be noted,
though, that Ethel Cox was having NONE of that "consensus opinion",
and she and her husband, Bill, moved out shortly
afterwards. I suppose Ethel either thought she'd made a total fool of
herself, or.........
Anyway,nothing more of this scratching business was heard about for
some years thereafter.
Go figure.
There in the early 1950s, in short order, my grandparents died. The
old house largely sat empty for several
years. It was technically owned by all 12 Johnson children and nobody
wanted to do anything about selling
it. Then in 1956 my mother bought it from the other 11 and set about
to remodel it and make it our cozy home
in the country.
She only was able to enjoy bringing the "homeplace" back to life for a
short time, though. By Thanksgiving
of 57 she'd been diagnosed with lung cancer and on December 3rd of
1858, not long after I had just turned
11,she died. Worst Christmas of my life.
For nearly a year mother had lived in a hospital bed in our den (where
she could receive visitors). I slept in there with her on a roll-away
bed so as to be able to fetch daddy from across the hall if any
emergency came up in the night. After
mama died, though, I moved into the master bedroom and daddy and I had
twin beds set up. He was a letter carrier
for the Post Office and had to get up at 5:30 every morning to be out
and gone, while I gotup at 6:30 to get ready and go to school. In
those days we lived a half mile from my school and walking there was a
breeze.
This master bedroom was the same one in which my grandparents had
slept.
One morning in the Spring of 1959, just after my dad had left for
work, my sleep got interrupted by a scratching noise.
It sounded like a mouse or something scratching on wood in the room
somewhere. I yelled at it to stop and it did
get quiet for a while. Then it started back up.
When it did, that old family story popped into my mind and I was up in
a FLASH and out the door. Went to the kitchen and got a big butcher
knife and took IT to bed with me, leaving the light on the whole time.
The next night the noise was louder and sounded like it was coming
from all around my bed. I had already sneaked my butcher knife in
there without my father's knowledge, and was armed with a Bible as
well.so I felt ready to deal with this booger if it wasn't really a
mouse or rat. I sat up in bed when the "fun"started and, switching on
the light, started quoting the 23rd Psalm to this "whatever" and told
it to hit the trail "...in the name of God".
It went. The next night it returned and tried again.
It got the same response from me, and , this time, when it hit the
trail it did so for good.
Never to return.
Guess it learned not to mess with the "God-fearing, Halloween C-
Section Zombie Witch Baby" ! LOL !!!!! Take THAT, poltergeist
scumbucket!!!!!
More to come later----------
.
Same house: maternal grandparents (Vardry & Mary Myers Johnson)
Heard about this one from some aunts and cousins----
One night in the 1940s Mary Johnson ahook her husband, Vardry, awake
from his sleep.
"Vardry," she said. "I think I hear a mouse scratching in here."
Vardry Johnson turned
over and listened, still half asleep,but listening. He heard it then
himself.
Scratch, scratch, scratch.
Sounded indeed like maybe a mouse scratching on wood.
Vardry raised up, reached over, and switched on the nightstand lamp.
"Get out of here!" he barked at the room.
He saw nothing in the room. No movement. No scurrying grey mini-pest.
Vardry switched off the light and lay back down.
"May be in the closet," he told Mary, "or behind the wall. I'll put
out some traps and poison
tomorrow."
The Johnsons then tried to go back to sleep.
Scratch, scratch, scratch. The sounds came again, this time louder-
seeming,and closer to
the bed----almost AT the bed.
"Git!" Vardry Johnson snarled, and switched on the light again, this
time jumping up out of bed.
He looked all around the bed and around the room but could find
nothing.
"That sounded bigger than any mouse," Mary said."Sounded more like a
field rat. And almost like
it was scratching around the bed."
"Beats me," her husband answered. "I don't see a thing."
The Johnsons went back to sleep,but were awakened by the scratching
one more time.
Same result: nothing to be seen.
Come daylight Vardry set traps and put out rat poison pellets.
That night the scratchings returned. Again, they were loud and
"determined".
And again no "culprit"was discovered-----and nothing came of the traps
or poison.
This went on for several weeks, reaching a point where the Johnson's
came to pretty much ignore
the "visitations".
Then, one night, the scratchings came louder than ever---almost
furiously. And this time Vardry Johnson
was up and down with them,angry---and more than a bit unsettled and
"antsy". This had reached the point
of being STRANGE.
Next morning things were even stranger. Along the wooden bed
frame,along the two side rails and the
end piece, there were found scratch marks; scratch marks that had
never been there before.
After this, the scratchings ceased. It was like the "whatever" had
made its "statement" and departed.
Years later, when I was a small boy, this subject came up in a
conversation between relatives when the
then upstairs border, Ethel Cox, claimed she got up to go downstairs
to the bathroomin the middle of the
night and beheld a giant----6 foot?????????-----upright,BI-PEDAL RAT
in the downstairs hallway.She said
it glared at her with red "hateful" eyes and she ran back upstairs to
her room.
A caveat to this account ius that Ethel Cox was a pretty dedicated
boozer and was known to "knock down
a few" in her fondness for bourbon. It was pretty much decided by all
concerned that she was having "DTs"
(delirium tremens hallucinations) that night and seeing bi-pedal giant
rats rather than pink elephants----in
much the same way James Stewart saw the invisible 6-foot
rabbit ,"Harvey" in the play and movie. It should be noted,
though, that Ethel Cox was having NONE of that "consensus opinion",
and she and her husband, Bill, moved out shortly
afterwards. I suppose Ethel either thought she'd made a total fool of
herself, or.........
Anyway,nothing more of this scratching business was heard about for
some years thereafter.
Go figure.
There in the early 1950s, in short order, my grandparents died. The
old house largely sat empty for several
years. It was technically owned by all 12 Johnson children and nobody
wanted to do anything about selling
it. Then in 1956 my mother bought it from the other 11 and set about
to remodel it and make it our cozy home
in the country.
She only was able to enjoy bringing the "homeplace" back to life for a
short time, though. By Thanksgiving
of 57 she'd been diagnosed with lung cancer and on December 3rd of
1858, not long after I had just turned
11,she died. Worst Christmas of my life.
For nearly a year mother had lived in a hospital bed in our den (where
she could receive visitors). I slept in there with her on a roll-away
bed so as to be able to fetch daddy from across the hall if any
emergency came up in the night. After
mama died, though, I moved into the master bedroom and daddy and I had
twin beds set up. He was a letter carrier
for the Post Office and had to get up at 5:30 every morning to be out
and gone, while I gotup at 6:30 to get ready and go to school. In
those days we lived a half mile from my school and walking there was a
breeze.
This master bedroom was the same one in which my grandparents had
slept.
One morning in the Spring of 1959, just after my dad had left for
work, my sleep got interrupted by a scratching noise.
It sounded like a mouse or something scratching on wood in the room
somewhere. I yelled at it to stop and it did
get quiet for a while. Then it started back up.
When it did, that old family story popped into my mind and I was up in
a FLASH and out the door. Went to the kitchen and got a big butcher
knife and took IT to bed with me, leaving the light on the whole time.
The next night the noise was louder and sounded like it was coming
from all around my bed. I had already sneaked my butcher knife in
there without my father's knowledge, and was armed with a Bible as
well.so I felt ready to deal with this booger if it wasn't really a
mouse or rat. I sat up in bed when the "fun"started and, switching on
the light, started quoting the 23rd Psalm to this "whatever" and told
it to hit the trail "...in the name of God".
It went. The next night it returned and tried again.
It got the same response from me, and , this time, when it hit the
trail it did so for good.
Never to return.
Guess it learned not to mess with the "God-fearing, Halloween C-
Section Zombie Witch Baby" ! LOL !!!!! Take THAT, poltergeist
scumbucket!!!!!
More to come later----------
.
Destinys...@aol.com
Apr 23, 2009, 9:38:27 PM4/23/09
to NORTH AMERICAN FORTEAN SOCIETY
Wow Bill thats an awesome recount there..I have heard that the Irish
and the Scots "brought" their little people with them when they
immigrated here from their Mother lands..much to their chagrin mind
you. The way it showed themselves to your uncles, the dress
etc..reminds me of some of the little people seen on the British
Isles..usually these types ARE benign in nature but I HAVE heard of
some instances of "kidnapping" taking place by these beings of
children who are sleeping..soooo perhaps its best that they woke up
when they felt his presence in their room!
Esther
and the Scots "brought" their little people with them when they
immigrated here from their Mother lands..much to their chagrin mind
you. The way it showed themselves to your uncles, the dress
etc..reminds me of some of the little people seen on the British
Isles..usually these types ARE benign in nature but I HAVE heard of
some instances of "kidnapping" taking place by these beings of
children who are sleeping..soooo perhaps its best that they woke up
when they felt his presence in their room!
Esther
Destinys...@aol.com
Apr 23, 2009, 9:41:32 PM4/23/09
to NORTH AMERICAN FORTEAN SOCIETY
Whoaaa..giant bipedal rats aye? Grrroooovvvyy! Sorry to hear about
your Mom passing away when you were at such a young age Bill..its
always hard losing a parent, let alone when one is so young.
That thing stopping its noise when you read from the Bible only tells
me that this thing was something from the Demonic plane..glad it didnt
get ya buddy!
Esther
> > Next time: The Scratchings- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
your Mom passing away when you were at such a young age Bill..its
always hard losing a parent, let alone when one is so young.
That thing stopping its noise when you read from the Bible only tells
me that this thing was something from the Demonic plane..glad it didnt
get ya buddy!
Esther
>
> - Show quoted text -
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