Stories from the Stringam Family Ranches of Southern Alberta

From the 50s and 60s to today . . .



Friday, October 14, 2016

Tell-Tale Sneeze

“Norma. Watching you sneak around like that is just really . . . creepy.”
She looked at me. “For your information, I am not sneaking!” She lifted her nose into the air with attitude. “I’m tiptoeing.”
Should I say it? My sister is, for want of a better word, bulky. Yeah, I’m going in. “Well, when you do it, it’s creepy.”
This time, I got a glare.
I grinned. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to trap our ghost!”
I should probably mention to any first-timers out there that my sister and I have a ghost. Well—our house has a ghost. Or some sort of resident.
One that smells nice.
I introduced you to him or her (I’m going with her) here.
I felt my eyebrows go up. When I’m talking to my sister, they do it a lot. “How are you planning to trap our ghost?”
“I’ve figured out what she (my sister agrees on the sex of our secret inhabitant) has a weakness for. And I’m going to bait a trap with it.”
My eyebrows went higher. “And the tiptoeing?”
She looked at me. “I’m trying to keep her from finding out about it until it’s too late.”
“Norma, do you honestly believe that our ghost can’t see everything you’re doing right now?”
She thought about that for a moment. Then, “I’m going to go with no. For one thing . . .” she stepped into the tell-tale spot “. . . I can’t smell her perfume.”
“Oh.” I thought about that one. Maybe she had a point. “Ummm . . . so what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to put down this handful of hay.” She held up some dull green grass.
Okay. Eyebrows again. “Hay?”
“Yes. And when she sniffs it, she’ll sneeze. Then I’ll have her!”
“Norma. When you sniff hay, you sneeze.”
“Yeah. So?”
“I don’t.”
She just kept looking at me. “And?”
“Norma,” I said patiently. “Not everyone is allergic to hay. And besides, she’s a ghost. Ghosts don’t sneeze.
“But when I wave it . . .” Norma did so. And sneezed violently.
It echoed weirdly around the room.
I suddenly felt something go creepy-crawly down my back. “Norma,” I said quietly. “Do that again.”
She waved the hay. And sneezed.
This time, the echo was a little behind.
And a little to the right.



Each month, Karen of Baking in a Tornado gives her blogosphere friends a challenge to Use Your Words.
Each blogger is given words from another blogger.
It's totally fun.

18 comments:

  1. Loved it! Kinda wishing the story continued :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Replies
    1. Thanks, Karen! As you know, there's more where that came from! :)

      Delete
  3. So, next month you are going to catch the perfume ghost, right?
    Achooooo!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hmmm . . . Or maybe tease everyone a little bit more . . . ;)

      Delete
  4. Wonderful.
    Though I am also thinking how miserable life (or death) would be if allergies followed us beyond the grave.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ugh. Isn't that true?! Death would take on a whole new meaning . . .

      Delete
  5. Okay, I'll admit it's nippy here tonight, but that does not fully explain the chill I got reading this! Well done :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have hayfever but oddly enough I don't sneeze around hay.
    Interesting way to attempt a ghost trap though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She still didn't explain HOW she was going to catch the ghost. After she had 'exposed' the ghost . . . Maybe next time.

      Delete
  7. Oh goodness! A ghost who sneezes! What a great story. I love what you did with your words!

    ReplyDelete
  8. OK -- you got me. You better continue this, even if it is creepy. And knowing you a 'little bit' over the years, I never would have guessed your sister was related to you!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oooooooooooo. Loved it. You've got me intrigued and on the edge of my seat. Cannot wait for more!!!

    ReplyDelete

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