咖啡馆幽灵

I own a coffee shop in Southern Indiana. I have a room in the back where I spend most of the week. I had just bought this place and after a few weeks I realized how strange it really was.

The first time that I noticed some strange happenings was about a week after I had opened the shop. It was getting late and I was closing the shop for the night. I heard something back in my room. I thought maybe it was just my cat playing with one of my feather pens until I heard a pop, like the sound a champagne bottle makes when the cork pops out. I inched my way toward the door and heard it again. I picked up a metal ruler on the counter and swung open the door. My cat flew between my feet and nearly scared me into a heart attack.

I stepped into the bedroom and looked around, but there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary. I went around the corner into the bathroom and saw that my medicine cabinet was open. There was spilled peroxide all over the floor and aspirin spread all around in the sink. The shampoo bottle head had been unscrewed completely and spilled on the floor, seeping into the mat. I shut the door and searched the rest of the place, which seemed normal enough.

After I had cleaned the mess and locked up, I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking I wasn't alone.

A few days later at about 2:00 in the afternoon, the busy part of my day, I was in my room typing and heard a commotion in the front. I hurried to the door thinking we were being robbed. I opened it and there were customers lining up in front of the register covered from head to toe in coffee foam or soda. I looked over at the machines and they were spraying foam and soda everywhere! I rushed over to it and unplugged it, now sticky and wet myself. I apologized for the inconvenience and offered everyone a free breakfast for the next day. I closed for clean up and called a repair man. He said there was nothing wrong with the machine and it was running fine.

Later, after I had cleaned the mess and ate supper, I was sitting at the bar drinking milk and balancing my checkbook when I saw someone sitting in the corner at one of the tables. I stood up and said, "We are closed. How did you get in?" He didn't answer, but stood up and walked toward the bar. I reached over toward the kitchen knives (which I keep on the underside of the counter for cooking), but when I looked back, he was not solid anymore, but more of a wisp of a shadow figure. As I watched, the closer he got, the more he continued to fade. By the time he reached me, he had vanished.

Since then, my coffee shop has become a 24-hour "haunted coffee shop," where people drop by for supper, hoping to see the ghost.

我在南印第安纳州开了间咖啡屋，咖啡屋后面还有间屋子，我就在那度过一周的大部分时间。我才刚刚买下这个地方，但是仅仅几周过后我就意识到了这里是多么的不寻常。

我第一次感到有些异样是在咖啡屋开业的一个星期以后。那天的晚些时候，我关了店门，这时听到后面的屋子传来一阵声音。开始我以为是猫咪在玩鹅毛笔，但是随后我听见砰的一声，就好像我们开香槟拔出瓶塞时发出的声音一样。我蹑手蹑脚的朝屋门走过去，这个声音又发出了一次。于是我从柜台拿起一把铁尺，举在手里，推开了门。猫咪嗖的一下从我两腿之间窜过去，吓得我差点犯了心脏病。

我走进卧室，朝四下里张望，没看见有什么异常。转个弯进了卫生间，才发现医药箱被打开了，过氧化氢撒了一地，阿司匹林给倒进了水池里。洗发水的瓶盖拧开了，都流到了地上，渗进地毯里。我关上门，又检查了其他地方，看上去一切都正常。

我把地上打扫干净，重新锁好医药箱。我睡不着了，总觉得这里还有其他人。

几天以后，大约是下午两点钟，一天中我最忙的时候。我正在后面的屋子打点资料，突然听见前面一阵骚动。我赶忙朝屋门跑去，以为是有人抢劫。打开门，只见在计数器前排队的顾客们从头到脚满是咖啡泡沫和苏打水。我定睛观看那台机器，发现从里面朝四面八方喷着咖啡泡沫和苏打水。我赶忙跑过去拔下插座，当然也弄得浑身粘乎乎的。我向顾客们道歉，并且答应转天免费为他们提供早餐。我打烊清理卫生，也打电话叫了人来修理机器。但是他却说机器一切正常运行良好。

把铺子整理好以后我吃了晚饭，随后我坐在吧台上喝牛奶，一边检查最近的收支状况。这时我见有个人坐在角落里的一张桌子旁，于是我站起来对他说，“我们已经关门了，您是怎么进来的?”他没出声，但是站起来朝吧台这边走。我赶忙伸手去拿刀子（我一直放在柜台下面准备做饭时用的），当我再转回身，他已经不象刚才那么清晰可见了，而是变成了一小束影子。我定睛观看，他一边朝我这边走，一边渐渐地越来越模糊。在他来到我跟前的时候，完全消失了。

从那以后，我的咖啡屋成了一家“闹鬼咖啡屋”，人们络绎不绝的来吃晚餐，希望能和鬼魂见上一面。