Let Me Sleep, Please!

          By Patricia Cooney

When I agreed to go to Gettysburg with Tom, we each sort of knew that the other was going for different reasons. Tom, of course wanted to get new pictures and fortify his website. I wanted to experience the battlefield and the monuments. I must have missed this chapter in history because I felt that I was learning it for the first time. To go to the very place that Chamberlain and Longstreet fought for freedom is an opportunity I didn’t want to miss. If I experienced any “paranormal” stuff, I felt safe having the expert, Tom with me. Little did I know that I would be depending on all he taught me about spirits.

After a five-hour drive through construction and tired eyes I was pleasantly surprised with the hominess of our room. General Heth room #4 as it was known, had a double bed a small dresser and a period chair with footstool. The bathroom had a large shower stall and a pedestal sink. It was a very comfortable room. And the first thing I did was plop myself on the bed. Tom began to unpack his gear when I asked him to use his Gauss meter on the bed. I wonder if there were any “spirits” waiting to greet us. To my surprise the damn thing was screeching when Tom brought it next to me. It was very unnerving. I went to the bathroom to give “it” room and when I came out I asked Tom to check to see if there was an electrical problem with his “stuff”. I smelled a strong odor of something burning. Tom didn’t smell it so I got another unnerving feeling. “It must be from the spirit I frightened on the bed,” I told Tom. So I went back to the bed and apologized if I squished it. We went out for dinner and I couldn’t wait to go to sleep. I did all the driving and I was exhausted. I slept for about two hours when the bed started to heat up like and electric blanket. I was so hot that I pulled all the covers off and tried to go back to sleep. I knew the thermostat was off because I turned it off when we came into the room hours ago. I checked it again and it was still off but the bed was so hot. I went to the bathroom and when I returned a peculiar smell was over the bed again. It didn’t smell like fire but more like moss or a basement. I woke Tom up but he was out cold so I just said a quick prayer and the smell was gone for just a moment. It returned again but it seemed to come from my pillow so I through it to the floor. I was too tired to try and decide what was going on. I fell into a deep sleep for about another hour until I was suddenly awakened by the feeling of shoes being placed on my feet. It startled me so much that I jumped in my sleep and woke Tom up. I told him what happened and he told me that whatever it was it wasn’t going to hurt me. Even though I believed him, I still asked the spirit to please leave me alone and let me get some rest. Just before dawn I felt the mattress start to breathe. By this I mean it felt like it would sink down then blow up. Like it was breathing. At this point I turned the light on and wasn’t going to turn it off. I was very frightened but I didn’t want to wake Tom because he was as exhausted as I was. Besides, I knew there was time tomorrow to investigate these things and all would be explained. Well none of the phenomena had a logical explanation but by this time I didn’t care: I wanted to start my Gettysburg experience and the spirits would have wait their turn. That night as soon as I entered our room I knew I wasn’t going to have a peaceful sleep. The room was cold and I needed a nap before dinner. I ask the spirit to turn up the heat on the bed while I was resting there and it did. Tom was reading beside me and he commented that the bed felt very warm. I actually thanked the spirit because it had been raining very hard and we were soaked to the bone. Later on that night I was not as grateful. Of course by now my imagination was running wild when I had to go to bed and Tom sat in the chair and watched as I fell to sleep. Nothing happened so soon enough he went to bed. The bed heated up again and I was soaked with sweat. I ask the spirit to please let us sleep that night and so we did. The rest of the night was uneventful except for my imagination. I slept with one eye open so I popped up at dawn and awakened Tom for breakfast.

The rain had let up and we were able to appreciate the town of Gettysburg a lot more. The cloudy whether wasn’t going to dampen my spirit. Tom was getting more and more frustrated because he wasn’t getting any anomalies in his photos. It seemed as if our roles had switched without our consent. I was suffering from paranormal phenomena and he would have to ingest the historic part of Gettysburg, which he also loves. You should see his den: hundreds of books, gargoyle statues and civil war items.

My last night in that room was by far the worst. We were the only guests left so we had the whole house to ourselves. Tom went to “sit” and “feel” the other rooms while I read my book in bed. I thought the spirits were playing with the wine decanter when I started to hear them tinkling but that was only Tom pouring himself and me a glass of port. As soon as I saw Tom, my heart started beating again. I drank the port and went to sleep. Tom stayed up and I awoke later to a sleepy tom with a book on his chest and his glasses on. I tucked him in and I cursed myself because I knew I wasn’t going to be able to go back to sleep. Surprisingly I did but what woke me up scared me very much and as I write this I swear I feel uneasy. I thought the rain had started to fall very hard and I had left a window open so I opened my eyes to try to see where the water was coming in. I turned on the light and I screamed for Tom to get up. He was startled and said, “What’s the matter? Are you all right?” No Tom, the bathroom faucet was running full blast in the sink and there was no way it was left like that. Tom tried to calm me down but I just left all the lights on in the room and decided to be the first person up when it was light.

        As I stared to pack for our trip back home the sun came out and it had stopped raining. We had breakfast and thanked the innkeeper for his graciousness. I told Tom that I would never knowingly stay in a haunted inn again and I hope he has more luck next time. As for me I just want some sleep.

© 2004 P. Cooney 

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