our ghost

So I think we have a ghost at the new museum. It's not a mean ghost or anything, just sort of a playful one. For months now, when supplies get moved somewhere they're not supposed to be, or something disappears, we jokingly blame our ghost. In one of our programs, we have about 8 ball and cup games (the kind where you try to catch the ball in the cup, hence the name). From time to time, the strings of those games get so tangled and knotted together that it takes a good 10 to 15 minutes to untie them. I always blame that on the ghost. To be fair, one of the construction guys is convinced that kids from the neighborhood hop the fence during the night and screw around in the museum, moving things and stealing things and stuff, so it could be someone like that doing it to be annoying. Once, a few weeks ago, the owner went in on the weekend and saw someone running out of the front gate as he came in the side gate, so apparently someone's been in there at least once. It could reasonably have happened more often that we don't know about. And that person could be a huge jerk and spend a ridiculous amount of time tangling up ball and cup games. It might not be a ghost.

However, one of our newer store employee claims that several times in the past few weeks she's been tidying up the store, putting things back in order, and will turn her back for a minute, then turn back around and something will be moved by several inches. Generally the store merchandise is arranged in straight lines, so it's fairly easy to tell if something's been moved. She said it's happened more than once. She blames the ghost.

All of this build up brings us to my story from yesterday. I got to work early, and was in the office alone. The office is a one end of the store, so I can see all of the entrances and the entire store from my desk. We have a display of loose marbles for sale right in the middle of the store, and one of the most distinctive (and obnoxious) sounds throughout the day is when kids run their hands through the marbles and swirl them around. It's kind of a rattling, clanking noise. Well, yesterday morning, I was at my desk working, and heard what sounded like someone moving the marbles around. I assumed it was my boss, though I hadn't heard the door open, so I looked up to say hi. The lights in the middle of the store were still off, and I couldn't see anyone. So I got up and went to the office door. No one was in the store. Immediately I thought of our ghost, and the show "Ghost Hunters," and did what they would have done: gone investigating! I walked to the other end of the store, where my boss's office is. He wasn't in there and his truck wasn't in the parking lot (which I could see from his office). I checked all the doors: still locked, and I was still the only one inside. I went outside and found the construction guys. They had been in the area kind of behind my office, in the opposite direction of the store. I asked if they had been using a chain or any equipment that might have made a rattling noise. They told me I was crazy, that they hadn't been using any tools or anything yet that morning. So, after eliminating all of the possible explanations I could think of, the only one that remains is our ghost. Which is actually really exciting! I maybe heard a ghost!