I swear our house is haunted.
Honestly, there’s some queer goings on down Wexico way. Yesterday I came back from the playschool run to an empty house, ready to write up a storm. Or edit up a storm as the case was for me.
But no sooner had I a cup of coffee in hand with the laptop in position that I heard the sound of creaking floorboards upstairs. As in someone was up there.
‘Rog’ I whispered, half hoping that Mr H had come home from work for some mad reason.
Whispering his name rather than shouting it, I admit was a bit stupid, but it was like those ocassions when I was a young wan’ sneaking home to Mammy and Daddys after a late night out, only to realise that I’d no key. So I’d knock really quietly on the front door so as not to wake anyone up. Which kind of defeated the purpose of the whole exercise. If you get me!
Anyhow, back to yesterday, I was as I said afeared that someone was in the house. I quickly looked around me and realised that my iPad and laptop were exactly where I’d left them, so in fairness there was no sign of a break-in. I looked out our window for a quick sketch to make sure that there was noone wondering around outside and I caught side of our next door neighbours.
Now here’s the thing – we have slightly unusual neighbours, in that we live next door to a graveyard.
Huge advantages to this fact of course as they never throw loud parties and pretty much keep to themselves 😉
But as I looked at the grey headstones, two words came to my mind. The Returned.
Now I have once or twice tweeted about my obsession with this wonderful French tv show, which is currently being run on Channel 4. This supernatural series is in French with English subtitles, but honestly don’t let that stop you watching it, because it is simply compelling.
Picture courtesy of the C4 website
The premise of the story is about a town whereby loved ones rock back from the dead. And not in a zombie, ‘I want to eat your flesh’ type of way. In a ‘I’ve just popped out for a packet of cigs and have no recollection of the fact that I died’ kind of way. And I say cigs deliberatley because The Returned is wonderfully French where the whole cast are constantly smoking or shrugging their sytlish gallic shoulders, Mais non, bien sur. See I’m positively fluent now that I’ve watched this programme. All those years at the Loreto studying French not wasted.
I’m telling you, go watch this programme and you will be as enticed as I am with Jeromes sideburns, the two creepy kids Victor and Chloe, the not so identical anymore twins Camille and Lena, sinister fanatical born again Christian Pierre, the ever growing manic and controlling Thomas not to mention the cannibal serial killer Serge!
I keep thinking I have the whole shebang worked out and then another twist happens and I’m left guessing again. And what is it with the isatiable appetites the returned all share. If they are not scoffing down endless french sticks and brie they are doing the horizontal fandango with anyone and everyone! Told you insatiable appetitles!
So yesterday, as I stood in our sitting room with my mobile phone in hand, I had myself convinced that a ghost or two had called to our house and were upstairs. The Returned had come to Wexico. But I figured that I had less to fear from the dead than the living, so I closed the door, giving the ghosts some privacy (in case they were doing the auld horizontal fandango like the TV show) and got on with my writing. I’m good like that.
When Mr H came home, I told him of my earlier fears, waiting for my ever practical and cynical husband to laugh and tell me not to be so silly. No such thing as ghosts. Cos’ while I could be accused of being a little fanciful with a vivid imagination (ok maybe a lot fanciful!) Mr H is a rock of common sense. Plus he’s NOT been watching The Returned, so in fairness he would not be as jumpy as me about the whole back from the dead scenario.
But did Mr H allay my fears? No he feckin didn’t! He confessed that he had been hearing strange noises in our house too and had noticed things being moved inexplicably.
So as I said at the beginning of this post. I swear our house is haunted.
Have a lovely weekend in the sun all,
Chat soon, from a spooked and afeared Carmel x
