I grew up in a farm-house build in 1835. Blood curdling screams were, sometimes, heard in the middle of the night. Oh my! I bolted straight up in bed, hair standing on end, and heart racing!

I was told there were screaming ghosts that lurked in that old 1835 farm-house.

Now you got to believe me, the screams did not happen often. In fact, the gentle mooing of the cattle in the pasture around the tall pines outside my bedroom window, the crowing of the rooster as the sun came up, and gentle rain drops on the well house roof is what this little farm boy heard almost every night.

That is, until one of those nights when all the gentle sounds seemed to come to a sudden stop – dead silence until the SCREAM………. as I write of this my heart is now racing – just thinking about those SCREAMS that happened 70 years ago.

Oh My – I kinda think my Great Great Grandpa, Abe, who built the old farm house in 1835 may have screamed just to scare me  – family legend has it he was a prankster

Life with farm animals is not the angelic life painted in children books – Oh my no. Let me tell you of the rooster that would attack like a fighting cock, the dog that grab your leg wanting to tear you apart if you startled him awake, the bull that we were told never to go near and never wear red – because he would put his horn laden head down and smash you against the wall,

Yipes –  in my dreams.

or big old Dan the draft horse that had what seemed to be 20 foot long hind legs that could reach the back of the stall and kick a hole in the wall – That is, of course, if his kick missed your head.

Oh My Dan broke the fence and not my head.

But, my Mom’s old porch cat named “Polly” would run up to you as soon as you opened the front door – Dad would not allow animals in the house. Polly knew her place was on the front porch – never tried to enter the house. But she would stand there and purr, rub your leg, until you sat in the old front porch rocker. Then she would jump on your lap, snuggle, and pretend to fall asleep.

Polly’s purring could put you to sleep.

We always sat longer than we intended, because who would want to disturb such a trusting loyal quiet friend – the only sound was a soft purr, maybe a brief sigh. The memory as I write this relaxed me so I could almost hear the purr and nod off to sl…

Oh my – I did doze off and dreamed -But, now my heart is racing. The terrible SCREAM. It happened just now in my dream YIPES!

That Polly, the calming cat I described, turned into a screaming monster when the neighbors old Tom cat came within 50 yards of our front porch. The wild jackals of the African plains were pussy cats compare to Polly when her territory was invaded by that old Tom cat.

When did that old Tom come around? and when did Polly turned into a screaming monster – in the middle of the night when old Tom came looking to make Polly his girlfriend.

“Oh My” – says Tom – “I am out of here!”

Even though I know there were no ghosts.  How am I to know that Polly really turned into a monster?  Maybe it was  just Abe  playing a trick on me with Blood Curdling Screams.  – We will never know.

Oh My