The Little Toy Soldier

I found him hidden away in the back of an old drawer deep in the long abandon pantry of the old ranch house in Santa Fe. he was the only thing in the drawer. Heaven only knows how many years he had been there. He was tiny, less than two inches tall.

I was Intrigued. I removed him from the drawer and took him to my temporary makeshift office in the old dining room and placed him on my desk next to my computer. A cute little souvenir I thought. Over the next several months, I noticed something strange. The little soldier moved from one side of my computer to the other. I put him back and, low and behold, he moved again. On two occasions, the little soldier was even on top of my computer.

This strange event continued to happen as I would find him in various places throughout my office. As the new resort neared completion, I finally moved my temporary office to the new building. Naturally, I took the little soldier with me.  But, after that, he never moved again. I still have him to this day on my desk at home. He has never moved again.

 

 

The Old Phone

My first strange experience in the old ranch house in Santa Fe was with an antiquated phone that was hanging on the wall in the front entryway. At one time the area was probably the arrival lobby for the original guest ranch. The phone was black and had a rotary dial on the face. It reminded me of the one my grandmother had in her kitchen when I was very young. It appeared to be circa 1950’s. The phone cord was conspicuously dangling below the instrument. It had been cut at some point in the past. It was connected to nothing…

The first time I heard the old phone ring I jumped. The phone had a very loud and distinctive old-time ring all of its own. It was unmistakable to an era gone by. The entire house became very quiet as the phone continued to ring. The new IT technician I’d just hired days before, walked over to the phone. I joined him as it continued to ring. Finally, I picked up the receiver and said, “Hello.” Of course, there was no response. The phone was dead. We both examined the phone closely to see if it was connected by some other method. It was not.

The spontaneous ringing continued to happen off and on as the week went by. Each time it rang, one of us would pick up the receiver and say, “Hello.” Again, there was no response.

After several more frustrating occurrences, the IT technician, screwdriver in hand, removed the obsolete instrument from the wall hoping to find some hidden wire somewhere, thus solving the dilemma. There was none. He even went so far as to take the phone apart. There still was no answer as to why the phone rang or who was calling. Eventually, the phone went to the dumpster. Nobody wanted to admit it was virtually impossible for the phone to ring.