(This isn't finished. I got stuck and couldn't think of an ending I wanted to use. Also, it's a continuation of the story I did last time so is linked to it here.)

Josie was a little startled to learn, as she prepared to move into her lovely new apartment, that her daughter and grandson would need to come share it for a few weeks while her widowed daughter was working on a project in this city.  Well. . .. .family in need And  her very young grandson had health problems, so he needed to have a supportive setting. And quiet. Her first night in the apartment, she looked around and wondered how she was to amuse him. Then she went to bed.

Only to wake up in the middle of the night. Well, you couldn’t expect to spend a peaceful first night in a new home. Strange noises and all of that. And they were very strange noises. Sort of a snuffling noise, and that was bad. It would frighten her grandson. After all, it frightened her. She got up to try tracing its source. That turned out to be impossible. When she went into the living room, it seemed to come from the second bedroom. When she went into the empty bedroom, it seemed to come from the living room. When she went back there, it seemed to come from the kitchen. When she went there, it came from the living room again. But not before she saw the wastepaper basket move a little bit. Exasperated rather than scared, she headed back to her bedroom. But as she entered, she saw one of her slippers, which she’d neglected to put on, rose up in the air and then fell down in a different place. Oh, great, a poltergeist. Just what she needed. “Behave, you,” she snarled. “Don’t you dare scare my grandson.”

The next thing that happened was she felt something licking her hand. It was a tentative, friendly lick, no mistaking that. A dog? If it was a reasonably well behaved ghost dog, perhaps her grandson would love it.

Josie spent the next few days being amused and entertained by the thought of her ghost dog, which was actually rather quiet during that period. Then she received a phone call from her daughter fretting that her son had been very much on edge recently, made very uptight by his health problems. Could Josie guarantee that her apartment was quiet and serene? No noisy neighbors? No frequent nighttime sirens outside? Josie guaranteed and then felt guilty. No way was she telling her matter-of-fact daughter about the ghost.

She was still brooding about the situation when one of her neighbors stopped by for a welcome-to-the-building visit.  The neighbor was talkative and Josie found it easy to direct the conversation to previous occupants of the apartment.

This paid off.  At first Mts. Harris only made comments about what nice people they were. But then l shifted into a few more interesting comments about oddities. And then, Bingo! She launched into an account of how they were always complaining about an imaginary dog.

“Really!” said Josie in her most sedate, grande dame  voice. “Did they say it barked?”

“No. It more just played with things and snuffled around,”

“How very odd.”

The new neighbor tittered. “You haven’t noticed anything?”

Josie had no wish to be considered the loony new person on the block, so she said, ‘No, thankfully.”

There was a moment of silence, and she added, ‘That’s rather sad. Did they have any explanation?”

“Oh, they said the dog must be one left by the previous person.  Who had a dog until his family had him put in a care home.”

“What happened to the dog.”

“Taken away.  It was old, I think. If the family didn’t want it, it probably was put down.:

Josie shook her head again. “Sad. And you say the people here before were really bothered by all this?”

“Oh, yes. They even called some kind of medium to get rid of it.:

“What?”

“Well. She did. He was furious about it and they had a big fight.” The neighbor wad obviously delighted to be able to recount such a tale. “So they kept fighting. And divorced. And both moved away.” She sounded a little sorry to lose such entertaining neighbors.

Josie couldn’t resist asking, “Did you ever meet the medium?”

“Oh yes. She goes to my church.

Josie blinked. Her church didn’t attract mediums. Too bad.  “What is she like.”

The neighbor shook her head. Apparently she didn’t completely approve. “Nice, I guess. I haven’t talked to her much. Someone did tell me she said that the dog should be sent on,”

“Sent to follow it’s master. But it’s already dead.”

“But it has to be told, or something. She did say the man had probably left instructions of some kind here for the dog and someone should tell them to the dog.”

“How?”

“Read them to it, I guess. But people got curious and looked all over and didn’t find them…”..