I think we have a ghost. Not in the white sheet, Casper the friendly ghost sense of the word. But a ghost ghost. And I think it's a she. And I'm pretty sure she is what my grandmother would call elderly.
Now when you live in a town as haunted as Savannah, you have to come to terms with the idea of ghosts. You don't have to go around believing every story you hear about an old woman staring out the top window of the steeple, but you have to at least acknowledge the idea that there may be some weight behind these sightings. I have had my fair share of goosebumps and unexplained uncomfortable moments. I even lived with Charlie in my last apartment (Ricky was the squirrel, Charlie was the ghost - not to confuse anyone). Charlie liked to play with my pendant lighting. After living in the apartment nearly a week, one pendant began to flicker. Before long the second pendant blew out completely. Charlie seemed content with one blown out fixture and one flickering one until a few days before the end of my lease. Having gone months with only this dim lighting, I opted to replace all three lamps before my move-out inspection. The wattage was correct. The bulbs were correct. I screwed them in. I turned them on. The room was blindingly bright. An hour later the room was dark. All fixtures had blown. Charlie was determined to say farewell. I didn't bother replacing them again.
And so my ghost and I parted ways.
Two weeks ago, I realized that although Charlie had not followed me down the six blocks to our current house, there was a new resident ghost in my life. I like to call her Mildred. She smells like a Mildr3d. Yes, I said smells. Just for the record, I don't wear much perfume. In fact, the perfume I do wear smells like baby powder. So, when walking into our bedroom two weeks ago and distinctly smelling the strongest perfume I've ever smelled, I knew it wasn't mine. It was floral with a hint of moth balls. By the time Jason came into the room, it was gone. But I know what I smelled. And I know it was Mildred.
So far we're on friendly terms, Mildred and I. I'm hoping, with 8 months left on the lease, that it will stay that way.
