Fear the Crab

I woke up at 0230 with a very disturbing sensation. I thought I had heard my mother’s voice calling my name. My mom, however, is living in another house over two miles away, and there wasn’t that much volume to the call. I would have had to really fuck up big time in order for my mom to tap into those motherly reserves of righteous fury.

So if it wasn’t my mom, what could it have been? I did not hear it again, rather just the typical night-time sounds of splintering wood and rushing mists normally associated with old houses. The dog decided at that point to investigate the rest of the house, and when THAT happens it’s usually one of two things: she was hungry, or there was SOMETHING that attracted her attention.

I pushed that latter thought out, but my mind instead began to ponder if there was some psychic connection at work. Perhaps something happened, and I heard her calling me for help. I began to imagine my father, collapsed on the floor, whilst my mother was in bed helpless. I imagined the frustration and rising panic, my mom unable to call for help.

Oh hell, I hadn’t seen them in a week! What if something happened to them on the day after I was last there? My mom would be trapped for so long without anyone checking in! The worry set solidly within me, weighing my stomach down to the bed, freezing my head to the pillow.

I should call them, I thought. If they were okay, my parents would answer the phone. But if they were okay, they would not appreciate being called so early in the morning. I would have to wait until a more reasonable time, but how early is acceptable? Perhaps I could drive by the house and check at a glance, before I go to work. But, short of opening the door, it would be difficult to determine if things were okay from the street, and entering the house would ring the electronic doorbell, bringing me right back to the first problem.

No, I would have to wait until breakfast, and give my dad a call under the pretense of scheduling a birthday dinner. The earliest that could be was not for another five hours!

If there was nothing I could do then, I would have to try and go back to sleep. I sat up and read a book for another hour, before becoming tired enough that rest was possible again.

* * *

Maile called me at work, before I had a chance to check on my folks, and asked what happened to me that morning. After I explained the events that preceded my worries, Maile said she had also woken up at that hour, having suffered very unsettling dreams and brewing a rather creeped-out feeling.

Great. Now in addition to my fears of parents in trouble, I have fears of paranormal night-time visitations!

* * *

A phone call to my parents left me in relief, as they sounded quite well and busy with their daily lives. Tentatively scheduled a dinner for a July Saturday, and I left them to their thing.  I suppose, in hindsight, I could have driven up to the house and checked if there was a big pile of uncollected newspapers.  That bit of oddity would be grounds for house investigations.

Regardless. That bit of wonderful news scratches Theory One off, leaving me with the disturbing possibility of Theory Two – Ghost All Up In My Business.

Maile told me later that I had probably heard the siren song of soul-sucking freakishness outside our window, in its attempt to lure me into its gaping maw of hideous doom.

Great. Thanks.

Maybe it was good that I didn’t think to go out for that drive.