The Teacup Lady

I could hear my heart beating so loudly It sounded like it would jump out of my chest. I felt paralyzed like I was frozen in place laying in my bed. The sounds started about two weeks after I was transferred to a new job in a new city and new home. The transition had gone smoothly and life seemed good. Unusual and incomprehensible things started and ripped a comfortable life into living in sheer terror.

I’m Roxanne (Roxi) Sanderson, a 35 year old single mother working a full-time job as a Development And Training Manager for a large telecommunications company. Matthew is my eight year old son. Matthew’s father, Mike, divorced us when he couldn’t cope with the fact that I make almost twice as much money from my job monthly than he does. He runs a small, failing family tire store in the Midwest. Sad but true. We somewhat peacefully adjusted and set up a visitation schedule for Mike to have visits with Matthew.

Matthew and I recently moved into a new leased house. I rent rather than buy a house because I have been transferred for my job many times and don’t want to take on the burden of having to sell a home every time I had to transfer.

This new house was adorable. It’s an older wood frame house built in the early 70’s. Although a bit small, it has three bedrooms, one bathroom and garage which was a plus. To our delight, it also included a large backyard enclosed within a tall wooden fence. Our biggest surprise was a treehouse in a huge tree that someone had built with a lot of love and a basketball hoop hung above the garage door at roof level. My son fell in love with our new house immediately. We have a little Boston Terrier named Shorty that thinks he’s human. I could tell he was very pleased with “his” big back yard.

We set up Matthew’s room first. He has a twin size waterbed which is really a pain to set up, but he loves it so I agreed to set it up. I let him know that if we ever have to move again, he’s getting bunkbeds. Next I set up my bedroom, organizing and hanging my clothes. We moved on to the kitchen. I wiped down the cabinets, countertops, stove and refrigerator with antibacterial wipes before unpacking my kitchen boxes. It already appeared to be clean but cleaning all the rooms again is one of my move-in rituals. I broke down the empty boxes and Matthew took them to the third bedroom. He returned and commented about the strange odor. I brushed it off and told him it was probably the smell of some cleaning solution. We kept the door closed hoping it would eventually go away.

Matthew and I were both exhausted. Moving isn’t easy. He’s a great helper so after we finished the kitchen, I told him to go play and that I’d call and order a pizza in about an hour. I didn’t have to tell him twice. He and Shorty bounded out the back door and enjoyed some free time.

I ordered a pizza and found some paper plates. I called Matthew and Shorty in. We were starving. I asked Matthew what I should get for his school lunches. He would start the third grade in two weeks at a nearby elementary school. I had timed our move in order to get settled in before the fall semester started. He told me the first week he wanted to try the school cafeteria. Then he’d decide if he wants to take his lunch after that.

After dinner, we watched TV and Matthew was nodding off by 8:00pm. I nudged him awake, told him, since he was so tired, he could skip his shower tonight and go straight to bed. He gave me a hug and went straight to bed. Shorty looked confused I had broken our nightly bedtime routine. I just laughed and said, “you too Shorty”. He tilted his head, gave a quiet “gruff” as he ran to join Matthew. I swear that dog understands everything I say.

I was exhausted too but I needed a hot shower to ease my sore, tight muscles. As I was wrapping a towel around my freshly washed hair, I heard a loud thump. It sounded like it was in the hall by Matthew’s room. I went to look but couldn’t find anything that would make that noise. I opened Matthew’s bedroom and he and Shorty were sound asleep. I opened the storage bedroom and found the boxes that Matthew had stacked against a wall had toppled over and were scattered across the floor. Awww, that’s what I heard, I thought, giving me some peace of mind. The first night in a new house always has some creaks and bumps that you have to get used to.

The next morning, Matthew and I got up fairly early. We headed to an IHOP that we had noticed when we first got to town. The coffee was fresh and hot and our breakfasts were delicious. Next stop the Walmart for groceries and a few things for the house. Matthew found a new XBOX game so we picked that up too.

While I was putting away groceries, I asked Matthew to go put the boxes back against the wall and tilt them a little so they won’t fall over again.

He came back a minute later and confirmed, “you said stand the boxes against the wall again,right?” He had a puzzled look on his face. I thought maybe I had confused him when I asked him to tilt them.

“Yes, let me show you what I mean.”

We walked into the storage bedroom and I stopped. “You did them perfectly. Tilting like that will keep them falling forward.” He looked at me still confused and explained, “but Mommy, I didn’t move them. I didn’t even touch them.” I tried to recover with an answer for him and myself, “I must have picked them up last night. I was so tired, I just had forgotten.”

We left the room and closed the door behind us. “Can I go play my new game?” He didn’t ask about the boxes. I, on the other hand, was confused. I remembered leaving them where they had fallen. This freaked me out a little bit but I went back to the groceries.

The next few days were all pretty similar. I was still decorating, hanging curtains, and just normal new house activities. I heard more strange and different noises during the days and nights. I attributed them to the old house settling and shrubbery brushing against windows. One day I heard the water running in the bathroom. That’s strange. I went to check. The faucet over the lavatory was on, not full blast but more than just a trinkle. I decided Matthew had not turned it off tightly when he had last used it. There was another day I heard a loud bang, a soft rumbling sound, then a louder second bang. I looked everywhere trying to figure out what could have made those noises. Finally, I blamed it on the hot water heater turning on. That had to be it, right? I asked myself. Matthew and Shorty were outside and didn’t hear it. I was thankful for that. Now I was scared to think what could possibly happen next.

After the first week, things started happening even more often. I could swear I heard doors opening and closing. Matthew said he heard the front door open one night, just before bedtime but assumed it was me. Then he heard me in the shower. He went and closed the door and locked it. He told me about it later. I could see that it had scared him but he was trying to be brave. I told him we had probably failed to shut the door where it was fully closed and the wind blew it open. I could see the “if you say so” look on his face.

After breakfast the following morning, I loaded the dishwasher and attempted to turn on the power. Nothing. I double checked that the door was closed securely, checked under the sink where it was plugged in and unplugged the heavy 3 prong plug and plugged it back in. It still didn’t work. I even checked the other outlets on that same wall. They worked fine. I called the landlord and reported the problem. He said that he would come by in about an hour and check it out.

Mr. Hershey, the landlord, came and worked on the dishwasher. It wasn’t worth the repair cost so he went to an appliance store and bought a new one.

While he was installing the new dishwasher, I asked him about the strange smell in our storage bedroom. He apologized and said he had hired a professional cleaning service two weeks before we moved in. He had pointed out the smell and the cleaners said they could get rid of it. It was gone for three days then it came back. He shrugged his shoulders and said could call them to try again. I told him it was ok since we keep the door closed. I added that if it got worse, I’d let him know. I asked, "Where did that smell come from?”

He explained that this house had belonged to his wife’s parents. Her dad had died from a heart attack about fifteen years ago. Her mom was diagnosed with stomach cancer and passed away two years ago. When she got so sick, she decided to stay here in her own house rather than go to hospice. She had a nurse friend move in to care for her. To make it easier to tend to her needs and medications, she had a hospital bed put in the little bedroom. The smells came from her medications and from personal hygiene items she had to have close by. Sadly, Flora passed away in that room three months after moving into that bedroom.”

Such a sad story. That certainly explained the medicinal and cleaning solutions smells.

The following week, I reported to my new job and Matthew started to school the same day. We would have a lot to talk about over dinner. Matthew went to an after school program adjacent to his school. I’d pick him up after work at 5:15pm.

For school nights, we had established a routine. Matthew would do his homework while I prepared dinner. Once we finished Matthew eating, then he could go outside to play with Shorty for a while or with his new friend that he had just met at school. James is shorter than Matthew but what a little cutie. Red curly hair, freckles scattered across his face and the brightest green eyes that I’ve ever seen. He and his family live just down the street from us. I hope to meet them soon. I called Matthew and Shorty, playtime over. They came in and Matthew went to take a shower and put on his pajamas. Shorty followed right on his heels to make sure he did everything right. I loaded the new dishwasher.

Our evenings usually ended by lounging on the sofa to watch some TV and talk about our day. At 9 o’clock, I kissed Matthew and Shorty and sent them to bed. I decided to make myself a nice cup of chamomile tea. As soon as the tea kettle whistled by shooting out that hissing stream of steam. I always know to expect it but it still startles me if I’m standing nearby. More so recently since I’m a little jumpy all the time anyway.

I decided to watch the news, so I took my tea and had a seat on my sofa, snuggled under a soft, warm afghan and started watching the news. Soon I got sleepy and decided to head to bed. I took my empty tea cup and set it on the bar that’s between the dining room and my kitchen and saved just a few steps instead of walking all the way around the bar to put my cup in the sink. At least that’s how I justified it. Stretching and releasing several yawns I brushed my teeth, did a short skin care routine. Once in my bedroom, I put on a comfy night shirt and crawled into bed. The next morning, I was making my way into the kitchen to make myself a much needed cup of coffee. I went to the sink to fill the pot with water and almost dropped it when I saw my last nights tea cup had been placed in the sink. I knew Matthew hadn’t moved it. An eight year old could care less about a dirty teacup left on the bar. These events had escalated. I was terrified. In my mind I called her the Teacup Lady.

The next night, the noises started as soon as my head hit my pillow. My first thought was Matthew was up. I had looked in on him when I was on the way to my room. He and Shorty were sleeping soundly. Matthew was a deep sleeper and rarely woke up during the night. Shorty, did exactly as Matthew. Definitely not a guard dog.

Just as I was about to doze off, I heard a door open and close. It was close so it had to be the storage bedroom. Then I heard footsteps, not loud but definitely footsteps. I was so scared I was frozen. I found myself holding my breath. More footsteps. This time the sound seemed to be approaching my room. I couldn’t move. All I could manage was to pull my covers up closer under my chin. It was very quiet now. Eerily quiet. I felt myself begin to relax slightly. Then my heart started beating so fast and so loud that I thought I was having a heart attack. I watched toward the foot of my bed. It looked as if someone had just sat down. I could clearly see an indentation appear. I knew it was her, the Teacup Lady. Finally, I took a gulp of air. I was shaking but I raised myself up on my elbows. “Flora, if that’s you, I’m sorry to hear you left this world but hopefully you’re pain free now. We love your home and I promise to take very good care of it. One thing please, you know I have a little boy. He feels you too. We don’t mind you staying here but, Flora please remain quiet when we’re home. You are really terrifying us. That’s all I ask.”

When I quit speaking, the presence stood up from sitting on the bed and apparently left my room. From that night on, I could sense her around us occasionally but the noises ceased and things were no longer being moved around.

Me, Matthew, Shorty and Flora, the Teacup Lady, shared the house amicably for the following several years.