Have You Ever Noticed It Too?
We don’t often talk about it. Those small moments that slip past explanation, tucked into the folds of ordinary life. A missing set of keys that appear on the table you already checked three times. A flicker in the mirror, just behind your shoulder, though you know you were alone. The way the hallway feels longer at night, as if the house is stretching its breath.
Maybe you’ve shrugged them off. We all do. Logic is comforting. But sometimes logic doesn’t hold.
Let me tell you a small story…
Last week, a woman—ordinary, sensible, the sort who pays bills on time and forgets where she left her umbrella—was folding laundry late at night. The hum of the washing machine downstairs had already faded, and the house was as still as paper.
She carried a basket of towels down the hall. Halfway to the linen cupboard, she noticed one towel wasn’t hers. Not in colour, not in texture. It was thin, yellowed, smelling faintly of violets.
She frowned, but placed it on the stack anyway. Houses collect odd things, don’t they?
Later, when she opened the cupboard, the stack was neat again. Perfectly folded. Every towel accounted for. Except the violet-scented one. That was gone.
The strangest part?
In the morning, when she went to make coffee, she found it draped over the back of a chair in the kitchen. Damp, as if someone had just stepped out of a bath.
We all live with echoes like these. Maybe they’re memory. Maybe they’re something else.
What about you? Have you ever found something that shouldn’t have been there—or worse, something missing, only to return as though it had been watching you?
I’d love to hear your stories.
Until then, keep your doors closed at night. And check your cupboards carefully.
— Ana W. Black
