The Haunted Mouse

I do not wear a tinfoil hat, nor do I see conspirators in every passing stranger. And just as I am an agnostic because logic will not allow me to be positive that there is a God, I also cannot believe without a doubt that the paranormal exists, though I admit to lean toward the belief that it does. There are just too many things we do not and cannot know to say “No, it does not exist.” There is, however, considerable evidence of it in my own life experience.

The most current example of this is in the fact that I seem to have a haunted mouse (computer variety). It is a wireless mouse, which necessitates turning it on and off via a switch on the underside. It operates like a light switch; physically move it up to turn it on, physically move it down to turn it off. Turning it off produces an audible click. The switch probably moves about an eighth of an inch.

Each night, when I turn the computer off, I also turn off the mouse. I physically move the switch down and hear the click as the blue laser light goes off. I set the mouse down and go to bed. But three or four times out of five, when I get up in the morning and pick up the mouse to turn it on, I see it is already on, and the switch has moved from the “Off” position to the “On” position. Since I know…know…I physically moved the switch from “On” to “Off,” how did it/how could the switch possibly have physically moved from “Off” to “On”? I am truly and sincerely puzzled.

Over the years, I’ve written a number of blogs outlining my experiences with what might be considered the paranormal, from my first at the age of about 7. A brief recap is probably necessary to prevent your automatically hearing the “Twilight Zone” theme.

While lying on my back in my parents’ lawn, alone, watching clouds and looking for warships and cars and all sorts of wondrous things children so readily see in them, one large cloud split in two, and a man’s face appeared; a real face with ruddy cheeks and a full black beard. He was smiling and looking to my left. (I can see it vividly to this minute.) His gaze moved in my direction and when he saw me, he  stopped smiling. The cloud came back together, and he was gone. I immediately ran in to tell my mother who smiled and said “That’s nice, dear.”

Some time after this incident, I awoke in the night hearing footsteps in the kitchen. Thinking it was my parents, I called out to them. There was no response, and the sound of footsteps continued, approaching my door. I was for some reason terrified and called again for my parents, who came running. There was of course nothing there, and it was clearly and logically chalked up to being a nightmare, which it well may have been. But….

As a teenager, I sometimes baby-sat for my two young cousins. One evening, after they were sound asleep, I became aware that I could hear someone breathing. It wasn’t me, and I held my breath to be sure. My cousins were asleep in another room with the door closed. The sound continued and grew louder, and again I was terrified. I was not asleep, nor had I been. I finally awoke my cousins and took them to the apartment downstairs where their maternal grandparents lived. They thought my story was my imagination, and I could hardly blame them.

And then there is Robert, who first came to me when I lived in L.A. and of whom I have written frequently. I really like Robert. He likes bedrooms and classical music. He also hides things, and I actually saw him once, reflected in a window. I don’t think Robert is associated with whatever is going on with the mouse. It’s more his style to take it and hide it somewhere, and I hope I’m not giving him ideas.

I certainly don’t expect these apocryphal stories to convince you…or even me…that the paranormal exists. Just sayin’ that Hamlet was right when he said “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamed of in your philosophy.”

Dorien's blogs are posted by 10 a.m. Central time every Monday and Thursday. Please take a moment to visit his website (http://www.doriengrey.com) and, if you enjoy these blogs, you might want to check out Short Circuits: a Life in Blogs (http://bit.ly/m8CSO1), which is also available as an audiobook (http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?asin=B00DJAJYCS&qid=1372629062&sr=1-1).