Drip Drip

      Delores Fitzpatrick was an elderly lady who lived all alone in a huge two story Victorian-style house at the top of Pikes Hill. However, she wasn’t entirely alone. She did have the company of her dog Max�"a full grown Pomeranian. Delores would stay up until midnight every night. On this particular night she decided to turn in an hour early after listening to a news report on the radio. The newscast implied that strange disappearances of domestic pets were occurring throughout the whole town of Dalton. In lieu of this, an elderly couple was found dead. They were shredded apart like they had been attacked by a pack of wild animals. The authorities believed both crimes to be connected.

      Delores showed a small sign of concern; after all, Dalton was just two miles down the road. “Is there ever any good news?” Delores queried as she turned off the radio and called for Max to accompany her to bed.

      Delores was a very obsessive compulsive person. Each night before she went to bed she had a routine. Max would jump directly onto the foot of her bed and tilt his head as if he awaited her affection. She would rub Max with three short strokes behind the ear, crawl into bed, turn her bedside lamp off, place herself into a partial fetal position on her right side and quickly drift into a light state of slumber. Although Delores was a very light sleeper, it never took her long to fall asleep.

      It had been no longer than thirty minutes into the night when she was disrupted by a soft annoying dripping noise. Drip, drip.… “Where is that coming from?” she quietly squeaked as she turned her bedside lamp on and crawled out of bed. She wobbled down the stairs and peaked outside to see if there was any rain trickling on her window sill. “Hmm, there’s not a rain cloud in sight,” Delores convinced herself as she sealed her door and headed up the stairs to go back to bed.

      Entering her bedroom, she rubbed Max with three short strokes behind the ear, crawled back into bed, turned her bedside lamp off and quickly subsided.

      Again, Delores was aroused by the steady tap of dripping water. This time, it sounded a bit louder. Drip, Drip.… “What is that?” she questioned as she turned her bedside lamp on and crawled out of bed. This time she went downstairs to check her kitchen sink. She noticed that the aluminum basin of her sink was as dry as a bone. She felt the orifice of her faucet and even it was dry. But still, she was not convinced. She made sure that her sink knobs were very tight. “That should fix that!” she exclaimed with confidence.

      Returning upstairs to her bedroom, she rubbed Max with three short strokes behind the ear, crawled back into bed, turned her bedside lamp off and fell asleep.

      Drip!!! Drip!!! This time the annoying presence of dripping water revealed itself. It was so loud and obnoxious that the sound itself would lead her straight to the right location. She turned her bedside lamp on, nearly knocking it over, and stormed out of bed. With her head slightly tilted, listening with her good ear, she followed the sound straight to her bathroom. As she entered the door, she looked to her left to see if it was her sink. There wasn’t a trickle in sight.

      Drip!!! Drip!!! The sound adversely attracted her attention. She immediately looked at her shower curtain. She stood still just for a moment, taking extreme vigorous breaths. She grabbed the curtain with an ironclad grip and swung it open, tearing it from the hangers. She paused. She stood still while a cold chill slowly worked its way up and down her spine. Max, her Pomeranian had been hanged from her showerhead and steadily swung back and forth like the hand on a metronome. The annoying drip was Max’s blood splattering against her ceramic bathtub. Apparently, he had been there the whole night.

 

      Now, let’s discuss this paranormal apparition. If Max was hanged, swinging back and forth with his blood dripping the whole time, what was Delores petting on the foot of her bed throughout the entire night? Only one person could possibly answer that question. That person was Delores. Unfortunately, she was found the next day�"stone-cold-dead. Autopsy reports claim that she died of a heart attack when she discovered her dog noosed.

      Don’t even pretend that you know the answer to this question, or, can even fathom the logic behind this tale. You, just like myself, will never know.…