Story Time

So 4-5 years after I moved into my home, I had a friend that I met in school. She came home with me one evening after class and coffee to study. I don’t remember what time, but it was dark, so after 9 p.m. As we walked onto my porch, I was in front of her trying to find my key and she began to kind of lean against my back and telling me to “hurry up”, repeatedly. I finally found the key, got it in the lock, right as she pushed me inside. Of course I was kinda like "wtf?", and she said, “there are two teenagers and an old man on your porch, I could see the old man’s hair”. 

My house has a wide front porch and two evergreen-type (I don’t know what they are exactly) trees on either side of the steps. You can’t see my entire porch from the street, just the path up the steps and to the door. At this time I was working the 3-11p.m. shift at work and every night when I would come home I’d sit in my car and have to work up the nerve to walk up because I was *sure* there was someone on my porch. In fact, I was SO sure there was someone there, that when I got to my door and nobody was I was more surprised that nobody was there than I would have been if there had been. That was likely 9-10 years ago or so and I still feel this way, only not as strongly. My back porch, though.. 

I have an enclosed back porch where my water heater, washer & dryer are, and it has windows across the back and the left side (I never put up curtains). I can go in my back yard at night without concerns, but I *can’t* leave the door open from my back porch to my kitchen, or my back door open. Whatever was on my front porch, is in my back yard. I can feel it looking in when I’m doing laundry. Not so much during the day, but definitely at night. I feel something when I go outside back there at night, but it’s not ominous, it just “is”, but when I’m inside it’s ominous. That’s weird to me, but I don’t know how to explain it. The tree is right outside these windows.

My best friend (not the above mentioned girl) of 12 years told me a few years ago, out of nowhere, that “I’ve always hated your porch. It always gives me the creeps.” It should be noted that this girl is religious (structured religion) and does not believe as I do.

There was a stray cat that I fed for about 9 months but couldn’t catch. Gorgeous brindle kitty that I named Ginger. Ginger turned out to be FIV+ and went to a good home in Nebraska after I finally caught her. And I caught her because…

A black cat (I don’t believe black cats are more evil than any other cats, this cat just happened to be black) showed up one day and for days when I’d come home from work he’d be sitting on my porch howling. Howling this god awful whining noise that wasn’t like I’ve heard cat fights or cats in heat, unlike anything I’ve heard again to this day. I never saw him during the day, only at night. My mom was actually afraid to come to my house because she was scared of him guarding the porch. One night I came home and he was out there, howling, and as I got to my porch Ginger ran up and planted herself between me and the door, with me between her and Devil Cat. She was clearly scared of him. I picked up a rake on my porch, not to hit him with because I hope I never have to hurt an animal, but to keep him at a distance. The Devil Cat began half-circling me, back and forth in front of me, hissing. I don’t scare easily, but this cat.. I couldn’t let Ginger in because I have dogs. So I went inside and grabbed a crate, threw some food in it, went back out and planted it between Ginger and Devil Cat and as she crept in to eat I shoved her furry little ass in the crate. (Another side note, I tried to put Ginger in a crate before and she tore my arms up.) I never saw Devil Cat again. 

Later, and this isn’t particularly weird, but I also had a steel gray Mama kitty attempt to give birth on my porch. The first baby was breach. (Another side note: Mama had hung around for awhile, obviously pregnant, and I came home to her laying in the middle of my sidewalk. I believe she was waiting for me, because she needed help. I couldn’t get the dead baby out. I called my vet at 1:30 in the morning, insisted he come in - bless this man - and he got out the dead baby. She later delivered 4 healthy kittens. All found homes, including Mama who went to a friend of my mom.) 

The aforementioned evergreen-type trees? They’re dying. If I ever sell this house, I’m going to have them removed. Sparrows used to live in them, I thought, but I think the sparrows just lived in the trees around and not specifically in them, because..

They have nail strips in them. I didn’t realize it for years, until their branches started thinning. There are nail strips in my trees. I have no idea why, but I can’t imagine they were effective against keeping birds away because they used to be full, fluffy trees. Deep inside by the base of the tree are nails. I can’t figure out how to get them out. 

I want to *right* the wrongs that have been done here. I owe it. 

𝒩𝓎𝓍 ☆☽〇☾☆