I was looking forward to the vacation after months of non-stop work.
It was the weekend of my birthday, I had planned a trip to Tennessee for a few nights in a mountain chalet.
A creative time out I called it. Just me and Chanel, my dog. I had visions of writing and catching up on a few books I've had for months. It didn't turn out that way.
After I checked in at the resort office, I was directed to the extremely remote chalet...miles away on top of a mountain I've not heard of.
As we drove through the mountains, I wondered if my cell phone would work there...it didn't.
I usually don't stay that far out of town. Don't be silly I told myself, ...this is supposed to be a vacation maybe it would be nice that my phone doesn't work! I need a break! 
After finding the right road, we slowly wind round and round the steep mountain till we reach the chalet right on top.
I mean right on top of the world. We are also the only ones checking in.
The other chalets are vacant on the street. I figured more people might be checking in later. It didn't happen.
I unloaded the car and Chanel and I explored the two story chalet. The master bedroom was below the main floor. First off, I found that my computer would work since they had a DSL line. The land line was dead. My cell didn't work either.
It suddenly gave me a chill that I was isolated here. Maybe that's not a bad thing I thought. Sure, we could rough it for a few nights.
The sun went down and we settled in then went to bed. Nice to finally relax and no phones ringing.
About 4:45 AM I was jolted awake by a strange sound.
Lying in the bed in the dark, it sounded like someone rolling Chanel's bone around on the wood floor above my head on the first floor.
It wasn't a random sound. It kept on rolling around for about 5 minutes. Chanel barked once...the I decided to get up and turn on lights. For once she listened to me when I told her to be quiet. 
I flipped on the downstairs lights, then slowly tiptoed up the stairs to peer eye level with the first floor through the spindles. The sound stopped. I suddenly wished my phone would work in case I was itching to call 911.
Chanel's bone was still right in the place she had left it in the kitchen.
Nothing was moving that I could see. The rattling sound had stopped. This was an A frame with no trees hanging over it. So I knew it wasn't a squirrel on the roof. I waited about 10 minutes and all was quiet.
I took a frying pan and broomstick from the kitchen and headed back to the downstairs bedroom. This time I locked the door.
Chanel hadn't opened her mouth while I was investigating. We'd be ready if we needed to defend ourselves. It was hard to get back to sleep. I couldn't wait till sunrise.
The next day I still couldn't figure out what we had heard.
It freaked me a bit that we would have to get through another night without phone service.
So my vacation was not as restful as I had anticipated.
Beautiful place, but it was a little more remote than I would have liked. Maybe it was haunted.
Next time... we might go to the beach instead.
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