A Haunting Or A Happening?

Mr. J was a very big man,over six feet tall and about 220 pounds.He was a retired fireman.Two of his most prized possessions were a handmade leather belt with a large silver buckle,and a battered well worn Stetson hat.These he wore every day at the Assisted Living facility where he spent his last two years.He was a favorite of the staff and others there.Loud ,funny,and always with a good word or compliment.He was though, preoccupied with the possibility of a fire.Often he roamed the halls and rooms" just checking,darlin' don' need a far,gotch lots of old folk hyear."He never found one.
He was missed and mourned after his death at age 90.


Almost four months after his death,Myra was preparing the medicines to distribute when she ran out of the Med Room and said"Come here and look,quick..."There in the locked medicine room was Mr.J's old hat set in the middle of the counter.To the disbelief of the two nurses watching,the hat disappeared.

They did not mention it for several days until Al,reporting for the night shift, said the staff had been finding Mr.J's belt in Mrs.T's room twice a night the last two nights even though they would bring it out and put it in the Med room.

They were beginning to get spooked.Myra told them of the hat incident.Al pondered "What the Hell is going on?"That night they found out.

Around 3AM the hat appeared at the Nurses desk while two staff were making rounds.It began to float down the hall.Al yelled "Hey" and chased it.One of the staff members watched with open mouth...The hat, with Al close behind, went into Mrs.T's room.The hat went right through the closed door.When Al got into the room, he found the trash container and one curtain blazing.The room had been checked less than five minutes before.

A quick blast from the extinguisher put out the fire.An unconscious Mrs T was brought out and revived.It seems she was a secret smoker and threw her cigarette in the trash when she heard the staff coming to check her room.She pretended to be asleep.The trash flamed up and caught the curtain on fire.Apparently she fainted as the fire caught and a hat floated through the door.

So was it a haunting?Was it a kindly protective spirit happening to warn the staff?What are your thoughts?
Now, the staff are alerted if the belt and/or hat is sighted to be on the look out for a fire...