Phantom Sounds!

Saturday, August 9, 2008, 12:46 a.m.

I was sitting in the inner office at the day manager's desk finishing up the midnight audit when I heard the front door of the lobby open.  Given the fact that I had locked that door at midnight, I was up out of my chair like a shot.  In two seconds, I was standing at the front counter looking at a closed, locked front door.

I immediately stepped to my left toward the breakfast room to examine the entire lobby and breakfast area.  As soon as I stepped to the end of the counter, I heard the lobby floor in front of me creaking as if someone was walking across the floor.  I followed the progress of the sound with my eyes until it stopped after about five "steps."

As I was standing there staring at the floor, I heard a snapping sound coming from the direction of the breakfast room on my immediate left.  It sounded like someone had snapped their fingers.  My head spun around and I looked into the breakfast room.  There was no one there.

I stood there for several minutes waiting for that proverbial "other shoe to fall," but nothing happened.  I then went back into the inner office to finish the audit.

At 8:00 p.m. the evening before, I had emptied the garbage bin in the middle, breakfast prep room, placed a fresh bag in it, and positioned it close to where I would be working in the morning next to the counter.

As I walked up to the counter at 5:45 a.m. to begin getting breakfast together, I noticed that the bin had been moved four feet to my left from the original position where I had placed it on the previous evening.  This area is within my view the entire night while I sit and read.  I never heard it move and didn't notice that it had moved during my many trips through that room during the night.