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Around the age of twelve I moved into a big house with my family. It was on the edge of our little village, with a large garden. The house had two storeys – more than twice as many rooms as either of our previous homes, and was more than a hundred years old.

Everything about the house was ancient. It was built solidly, but it creaked. The stairs creaked, the doors creaked, the windows creaked. Sitting in the house alone, one could always hear noises.

During the next few years I frequently found myself in the house alone. I could always hear the movement of people who weren’t there. There were always noises that were impossible to identify. None of these, I believe, were ghosts, but they led my imagination astray more than a few times.

Patrick Swayze’s not dead…or is he? He could be. I don’t know him personally, so I can’t risk a guess. There is a rumor creeping around the tabloids that, indeed, Patrick Swayze has passed on. And furthermore that his death is a secret kept by friends and family and his agent, I suppose.