Tonight I had a bit of a shock. I was downstairs and I kept thinking I was hearing something upstairs. The washer was going, so I just assumed it was that. But every now and then I would hear something else. I wasn’t really sure what it was, just, well…something else.

In the 4 months I have been living in this apartment, I have been getting used to the sounds that it makes. There is the massive skylight that groans as it stretches and contracts with the warming and cooling of the day. There are the kids running up and down the stairs next door. There is the music that rarely comes through the floorboards. But it was a different sound tonight.

I decided to climb up the stairs to investigate, not exactly sure what I would find. The door to my home office was closed, though I always leave it open. The wind must have closed it. And then I thought I saw a shadow move. That gave me a fright. So I inched quietly back down the stairs so that I could clearly see through the crack at the base of the door. The setting sun allowed for a bit of light to come through. I then saw the shadow move the other way. I was pretty sure that wasn’t my imagination.  There was some rustling around in there too…boxes shifting, papers shuffling.

Now there should be nothing in that room. Well, nothing living. I live alone and I don’t have any friends staying with me, so I was at a bit of a loss when trying to come up with an explanation for what I was seeing and hearing. I inched the door open and watched out for an intruder to rush past me. There was nobody in the room…and then swoosh! A sleek black cat rushed from one corner of the room to the other and slunk out the window. Well, I assume that’s what it was. It moved so quickly that I can’t be certain, but I guess I shouldn’t leave that window open anymore…