15 - Ghosts and Family Legends: The Sheep Farmer's Story

I hear a faint whimper as I start to run a bath for my dog’s swim therapy. I pause, listening, shutting off the water and holding my breath.Silence.I turn the handle once more. The water flows warm and steamy against the foggy rain spattering the windows. I fumble for a towel and shove it into the dryer to warm up. Just as I turn the knob, I hear it.Loud, high-pitched moaning. A dog whimpering at the top of their lungs. It sounds just like Parker when he’s anxious for dinner. But when I came in here, he was snoring away.I leave the water running as I race down the hall, alarmed, kicking myself for not rushing to his side the first time. He must be really upset.I cross the threshold into my room and kneel on the bed beside him, worried and prepared to soothe him and pick him up. But he’s laying there safe and sound, snoozing away. No whining. No grunting. Not even those little playful yips he makes in his sleep sometimes, or the twitching of his massive eyebrows. He’s breathing heavy and deep, as if he hasn’t moved in hours.I head back to the bathroom, flummoxed, and hear the crying once more. There are no other dogs in my apartment. No one else is here. Where is it coming from? Who could it be?Hello and welcome to your weekend hauntwith Spook Lit, an audiobook club by dreary dendrophileI’m your host Lyns, and I’ll be reading aloud our spooky stories. Thank you so much for being here. I hope you enjoy.This week, in Ghosts and Family Legends, we’re reading The Sheep-Farmer’s Story. After this, only one more chapter to go!!You guys, I’ve been racking my brain since I read this story three weeks ago, and I am embarrassed to admit I have zero stories about pets seeing ghosts. I’ve got countless stories about ghost pets, or ghosts talking about living pets, but somehow, I do not recall any situation where a pet brought a ghost to my attention.This seems ridiculous to me, as our pets’ odd behavior is usually the first clue that a haunting is afoot—dogs staring off into strange corners, avoiding certain areas of the house, or straight-up barking at the haunted doll you just brought home. (No? Just me?)I literally just read this post by Chris Stanton about how his dog’s reaction was the only sign that indicated ghostly activity:Alas, I have no such stories. Parker did used to stare up at nothing in my apartment, but it was easy to debunk as he was going deaf and blind. We just assumed he was confused about our exact location.That said, even though this week’s story is about a living dog staying loyal to a human ghost, it reminded me of the ghost dog who lives in my apartment.We found our apartment after putting down a security deposit somewhere else and then getting hit with a series of synchronicities that eventually led to our current home. It was special and magical. It was definitely haunted.But the best part was our landlord’s dog, Rockie. Rockie was a pug who had spent most of his life in our apartment and had passed years ago. The landlord showed me pictures after we told him about Parker.After moving in, I started hearing the phantom whimpers over and over, especially near the giant bathtub when the water was running. Every time without fail, I would rush to check on Parker only to find him peacefully fast asleep.It happened to Dave once, too, when he raced out to check on Parker, only to find him snuggling with me on the couch. This led to the two of us comparing notes and finally coming to the same conclusion…We had a ghost dog.We suspected it might be Rockie. He typically only made himself known when one of us was in the bath or shower. We would hear lots of crying and whining from another room, just like Parker whined when he wanted something.It was always the same story—constant whining and crying, one of us would check on him, he would be fine, we would go back to the bathroom, and the crying would stop.We often wondered if it was an old habit, like maybe Rockie didn’t like to be left alone when someone took a shower. Or maybe he was worried about us leaving Parker alone.Whatever the case, it happened very frequently during our time at this apartment, and it happened to both of us.I think it had more to do with Parker than we realized, though. Perhaps Parker was the reason Rockie stuck around. As many of you know, Parker ended up passing a few months ago, and surprisingly, I haven’t heard any phantom crying since.Even though I don’t remember any pets acting strangely around spirits, it’s pretty common for animals to sense things that we cannot. They say to trust your pets—your pets will always know. I’m super curious if any of you have any spooky stories about your pets. Please share in the comments!!What’s Lurking on Spook Lit:Send me your ghost stories!!October is officially here, and it’s time to get creepy! Do you have a scary story? Let’s talk about it! Did you grow up in a haunted house? Maybe you had a monster under your bed, or a doll that liked to move around your room. Send me all your ghost encounters or scary stories, and I would love to share them on the podcast!Email [email protected]. I’ll keep them anonymous unless you tell me otherwise. Happy Halloween!!Next week: We continue Ghosts and Family Legends with our final chapter! I can’t believe we’re about to finish the book! Until then, thank you for listening to Spook Lit. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.Want to join the book club?Support Spook Lit for just $2.50/month* Get full access to all audiobook chapters* Receive new episodes with original text photos* Help keep independent media hauntingCan’t swing a paid subscription?Recommend dreary dendrophile on Substack or send a one-time donation to support the podcast and join the club!Credits:Audiobook: Ghosts and Family Legends by Catherine CroweChapter: “The Sheep Farmer’s Story”Music: “Horror Spooky Piano” by Nikita Kondrashev on PixabayArtwork: Jeff BentLinktree: https://linktr.ee/drearydendrophileAll Spook Lit Audiobooks are public domain.Hauntingly yours,dreary dendrophile Get full access to dreary dendrophile at drearydendrophile.substack.com/subscribe