Thursday, July 28, 2011

Jeepers Creepers!

I'm a sucker for a good haunted house story. Book or movie, scary stories that don't depend on gory slasher scenes or horrific devices of torture have always appealed to me. I remember reading the book AMMIE, COME HOME by Barbara Michaels a very long time ago and it scared the bejeebers out of me. I still love a great ghost story.

Last Friday night, it was yet another scorcher of a day. In fact, early last week my little hometown had the dubious distinction of being the hottest place in the USA with a scorching 'feels like' temperature of 137 degrees. All I want once I get home from work is to fill a large bowl with ice cream, sit down in my air-conditioned living room, put my feet up, and watch a movie.

I'd rented Insidious. One of the kids had heard it was scary so two-thirds of the triplets and yours truly sat down to enjoy some 'family time' and, hopefully, have the wits scared out of us.

We put the movie in around 8. We're sitting in the living room with all the lights off and the movie is at a rather critical part when outside the sky begins to darken and thunder rumbles in the distance. At first I don't pay it all that much attention. Then, more thunder. Closer, this time. The wind picks up. It starts to rain.

I pull the curtain aside to take a peak out, keeping one eye on the weather and one eye on the TV screen. Another crack of thunder--this time really close--and I look away from the telly just as both of my children let out a scream. At that moment, all hell breaks loose outside my window. Wind like you wouldn't believe sends sheets of rain against the windows, lightning flashes, and the lights blink. The sound of hail hitting the roof and windows is almost drowned out by a fierce, gale force wind. We hear a strange noise and my daughter rushes to the patio door and looks out into the back yard. And then I hear the words every mother dreads:

"Mom, you better come look at this."

I go over to the patio door off the dining room and look out--and see my utility shed being lifted off the ground.

We can only stare at the bizarre sight.

Lightning flashes and a great boom of thunder follows. The electricity goes out. More lightning. More thunder. And my shed is still trying to take flight.

Five minutes later the wind has died down and the rain is letting up.

We make our way to the shed in the back yard and this is what we see:

Fortunately, the shed got hung up on the garage or who knows where it might have ended up.

Have you had any bizarre or weird occurrences you'd like to share? A time when you had the pants scared clean off you? Near misses from scary storms?

And me? I'm thinking it will be awhile before I'm up for another scary movie family night.

Just sayin'.

~Bullet Hole~

4 comments:

Angie Fox said...

Dang! I'm glad it was just the shed. We don't want to learn if you or the kiddos can fly. I thought Missouri weather was crazy, but you Iowa folks win hands down.

Kima said...

Our town just survived a huge storm that uprooted 100+ year old trees on every single city block and moved the steeple on our church. No one got hurt and no one died. The one comment I heard over and over again was, "This is nothing. At least it wasn't as bad as Joplin."

As far as the thing that scared me the most lately....We just moved into a new house and I was downstairs in the laundry room when I heard footsteps. I was the only one home and I knew my husband locked the door when he left. I tracked the footsteps across the kitchen floor and down the basement steps as I stood frozen to the spot. Then my very fat cat, Fred, appearead in the doorway. Yep, the cat scared the crap outta me! He is enormous and walks down the steps just so and it sounds like a person. Even my sister thought it was her husband coming down the stairs days later and it was only Fred-Cat.

Kathy Bacus said...

The weather is just plain haywire, Angie. Yesterday northeastern Iowa received FOURTEEN inches of rain in a 24 hour period. Homes, businesses, CATTLE underwater. Unreal.

We could see more severe weather tonight. I'm just glad my shed has been removed and I don't have to worry about it taking off this time around.

Kathy Bacus said...

Wow! That's an incredible amount of tree damage, Kima. And LOL on your recent 'fraidy cat' scare. Hilarious.

I will say that a house we lived in when I was in junior high was inhabited by its very own 'lady in white'. Both my big sis and I had...encounters with the vaporous apparition. We never told each other until much later. After that, each creak of the old staircase at night took on ominous overtones.