Freaked Out

I have a story to tell you about what happened last night. It was after midnight and I really should have been in bed. My husband was sleeping as he had to be up at 5am to get to work. My children were all sleeping soundly. And me? Well, I was on the computer...just doing stuff. The TV was off and it was just me and the computer screen.

Suddenly I heard the piano. We have a piano in the basement. It's old but is in tune and sounds pretty good. It was given to us a few years ago by an elderly friend who was downsizing into a seniors residence and no longer had room for it. I was thrilled as I grew up playing piano and had missed having regular access to one.

Back to my story, yes, I heard the piano. 12:45am, no one in the basement. Just one note, a high E. Pling. I stopped reading and looked around. What the heck? Nothing. Maybe I was hearing things, so I went back to my computer screen. Then I heard it again. Pling. Uhhhhh. By now I was freaked out. So, I sucked it up and went downstairs to look around. Nothing. The piano was closed, so I opened it up and looked inside. There were a couple of ribbons that my boys obviously dropped inside, but other than that, nothing to explain the sound. Whatever...I'm going to bed!

So I was back up in the living room, turning off lights and stuff and I HEARD IT AGAIN. Pling.

HOLY CRAP.

I walked upstairs as calmly as I could and woke up my poor husband (who was only half asleep, I think). Brian, the piano's making noise. He thought I was crazy, but humored me and came downstairs to look. We were in the living room and heard it again. Pling. You should have seen his face, now he was freaked. Then my baby started screaming in her bed. Oh she was so upset. So, I went upstairs to get her.

Meanwhile, Brian had gone downstairs to check it out for himself. Still nothing. So, now we were both freaked. But, it couldn't be, could it? Was our piano, that we've had for over 5 years, be haunted? Not that we believe in ghosts. There had to be some other explanation.

So, Brian told me to go up in the living room and listen for the sound again. He'd stay in the basement and and see if he heard it when I did. Oh my brave husband.

Up in the living room again, cuddling my baby close. Not sure if I was protecting her or she was protecting me. And then I heard it again. Pling. I heard it, I called down. I didn't, he said. But it sounded exactly like a piano note. What could it be? I looked around.

My cell phone? Yes, it was in my diaper bag. I pulled it out and sure enough, the battery was dying. We watched it for a minute and then heard it again. Pling. Kind of a dying, sad, cell phone warning that even sounded like a piano note when we were holding it in our hands.

Oh the relief. We weren't crazy and we weren't haunted. I immediately plugged in the stinking phone and we both headed back to bed...a little shaken and feeling extremely silly.

The moral of my story? Staying up late is bad...I should just go to bed. Oh, and don't let your cell phone die.