The View from a Drawbridge

So in those halcyon days when I was actually a homeowner, my new boyfriend at the time was sitting with me on the couch when he heard the water turn on in the bathroom sink.

“Uh… who’s that?”

Oh, God, he’s going to think I’ve lost my mind. I let out a sigh and looked down and said, “Well… it’s nobody.”

“What do you mean, nobody?”

I urged him to go look. Sure enough, there was nobody else in the house. I could have told him that.

“Do me a favor and turn off the water while you’re in there.”

He did, and then came out looking mildly freaked out. Can’t say I blamed him. It takes some getting used to.

I explained to him that I was never a strong believer in the paranormal. Facts and evidence are my friends. But that bathroom sink turns itself on every once in a while. It had been doing so for years.

At first I thought maybe it was some problem with the plumbing or water pressure or something. No one could ever find anything wrong with it, though. I even replaced the sink during a remodel once, and that made no difference. And if it were purely mechanical, surely I’d sometimes come home to find the water running, wouldn’t I? But no. Not even once. It always happened when I was present, about once or twice a month. No particular time of day. It was especially annoying when it happened at 3 am.

I said, “Look, I know it’s weird, but I’ve never gotten a bad or scary or hostile feeling from it, for what it’s worth. I just acknowledge that I’m sharing the house with something, and as far as roommates go, I’ve had worse.”

A couple months later, my boyfriend came out of the bathroom and said, “Her name is Sarah.”

I knew exactly who he was talking about. “How do you know?” I asked.

“She just told me.”

Well, that was really interesting, because the lady next door who died at home decades ago was named Sarah, and he didn’t know that. Coincidence?

From then on, whenever I went into the bathroom, I’d say, “Hey there, Sarah, how you doin’?”

Oddly enough, the water stopped turning on as often. I guess sometimes you just want to be acknowledged.

Happy Halloween.