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 champagne1 bottle makes when the cork2 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 aspirin3 spread all around in the sink. The shampoo bottle head had been unscrewed completely and spilled on the floor, seeping4 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 commotion5 in the front. I hurried to the door thinking we were being robbed. I opened it and there were customers lining6 up in front of the register covered from head to toe in coffee foam7 or soda8. 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.

　　我在南印第安納州開了間咖啡屋，咖啡屋后面還有間屋子，我就在那度過一周的大部分時間。我才剛剛買下這個地方，但是僅僅幾周過后我就意識到了這里是多么的不尋常。

　　我第一次感到有些異樣是在咖啡屋開業(yè)的一個星期以后。那天的晚些時候，我關(guān)了店門，這時聽到后面的屋子傳來一陣聲音。開始我以為是貓咪在玩鵝毛筆，但是隨后我聽見砰的一聲，就好像我們開香檳拔出瓶塞時發(fā)出的聲音一樣。我躡手躡腳的朝屋門走過去，這個聲音又發(fā)出了一次。于是我從柜臺拿起一把鐵尺，舉在手里，推開了門。貓咪嗖的一下從我兩腿之間竄過去，嚇得我差點犯了心臟病。

　　我走進臥室，朝四下里張望，沒看見有什么異常。轉(zhuǎn)個彎進了衛(wèi)生間，才發(fā)現(xiàn)醫(yī)藥箱被打開了，過氧化氫撒了一地，阿司匹林給倒進了水池里。洗發(fā)水的瓶蓋擰開了，都流到了地上，滲進地毯里。我關(guān)上門，又檢查了其他地方，看上去一切都正常。

　　我把地上打掃干凈，重新鎖好醫(yī)藥箱。我睡不著了，總覺得這里還有其他人。

　　幾天以后，大約是下午兩點鐘，一天中我最忙的時候。我正在后面的屋子打點資料，突然聽見前面一陣騷動。我趕忙朝屋門跑去，以為是有人搶劫。打開門，只見在計數(shù)器前排隊的顧客們從頭到腳滿是咖啡泡沫和蘇打水。我定睛觀看那臺機器，發(fā)現(xiàn)從里面朝四面八方噴著咖啡泡沫和蘇打水。我趕忙跑過去拔下插座，當(dāng)然也弄得渾身粘乎乎的。我向顧客們道歉，并且答應(yīng)轉(zhuǎn)天免費為他們提供早餐。我打烊清理衛(wèi)生，也打電話叫了人來修理機器。但是他卻說機器一切正常運行良好。

　　把鋪子整理好以后我吃了晚飯，隨后我坐在吧臺上喝牛奶，一邊檢查最近的收支狀況。這時我見有個人坐在角落里的一張桌子旁，于是我站起來對他說，“我們已經(jīng)關(guān)門了，您是怎么進來的?”他沒出聲，但是站起來朝吧臺這邊走。我趕忙伸手去拿刀子（我一直放在柜臺下面準(zhǔn)備做飯時用的），當(dāng)我再轉(zhuǎn)回身，他已經(jīng)不象剛才那么清晰可見了，而是變成了一小束影子。我定睛觀看，他一邊朝我這邊走，一邊漸漸地越來越模糊。在他來到我跟前的時候，完全消失了。

　　從那以后，我的咖啡屋成了一家“鬧鬼咖啡屋”，人們絡(luò)繹不絕的來吃晚餐，希望能和鬼魂見上一面。