Of ghosts and cat-clapping--a true story

  There are tons of "true" stories about ghosts in books, on websites, essentially everywhere. Most personal accounts are bone chilling, leave your spine quivering, and can make your blood run cold in fear. On that topic, I actually have a story of my own! Though, it's not recent (I was about 10). And it does not embody any of the aforementioned awesome qualities most ghost stories have. I've been thinking about the paranormal a lot this week though, so I thought I'd share it.

  One afternoon, I was left home alone. For a ten year old, this was kind of a big deal. I celebrated this by going into my room, blasting my radio, and drawing with a mouse on my computer.

Now, I should give a little backstory/context on what's going to happen here. Yes, it really happened. But the main thing is, I used to have this cruel habit where I'd clap my hands together once to wake a cat up and see their reaction. Our cats would normally jerk awake, glare at me, or run away. In all honesty, I could be a real nightmare to these cats because I would do this so often.

  As I drew on my computer, and my Hannah Montana CD belted True Friend, I suddenly became acutely aware of how alone I truly was. Hannah was not there and I was not her true friend. I was a quiet fifth grader alone in an old house we had moved into two years ago.

  It was then, that I heard the huge smack of two astral, invisible hands from no discernible source. I jumped out of my seat, bolted down the hall never looking back, clambered to open our front door, and stood on the front stoop, shaken.

  I refused to go back in and stood out there for quite a while. Now it had not occurred to me then, but now I feel extremely foolish: This ghost had gotten back at me. Had I annoyed a deceased cat lover? Maybe a dead furry had felt mildly offended? Had my cat arranged a deal with a ghost in return for his soul? Regardless, I learned my lesson and I don't think I ever clapped at my cats after that.

  You know, I actually told this story to a school friend and he laughed at me. Let this be a lesson to all you cat-clappers out there, though: don't cat-clap. No matter how much you want to disturb their sleep and screw with them to see their reaction, it's just not worth it, dude. You will end up with a ghost clapping in your ear. And they won't just be clapping in defense of your cat, they'll be applauding at the fact that they just did it to you and got away with it, making you look stupid.

  Don't be that guy.