Spooked

I took Tiger out for a walk at 2am some nights ago. Tiger gets walked twice a day, where he does 'small' business and 'big' business. So I was taking him on his usual route near my place. He stopped at the gate of the adjacent apartments to pee as I waited.

It was all quiet and serene when there was a loud crash of metal. This is the kind of sound you get when you walk on metal gratings that they put over manholes/drains. So I looked towards the source of the sound, just right inside the condo, among the dark bushes, expecting to see a cat because Tiger started getting very excited. His ears and tail were errect and his muscles tense. He pushed the gate open and it gave in to his pressure, but he stopped short of stepping in.

I followed his gaze as I wondered where the 'cat' was, peering into the deep recesses of the shubbery, until I realized there wasn't any. He was staring right into the space ahead of us as though he saw something I couldn't see. Then I remembered it was the "Ghost Month". I don't subscribe to it, but well, I thought okay...time to make a move. Usually he would be reluctant to go home after such a short walk, but this time, he followed my lead readily, and couldn't wait to get past our own condo's gate, making whiney noises until we reached home.

I am spooked.