A TALE

Strange sounds led the first tenant to leave the office building. Sounds of bumps, moans and sudden slammings interrupted the underlying drone of computer terminals.

The sounds so unnerved the businessman and his employees that he paid the remaining balance of the lease and left the building within a month.

The second business left the building after a series of odd occurrences. Water poured from every faucet. Vacant toilets would simultaneously flush. On three occasions, the lights flickered on and off like a child trying to re-create the flash of a night club dance floor.

But there was no child at the light switch, no one standing by the faucets, no one in the bathroom stalls.

This tenant refused to pay the remainder of the lease, citing not only what had happened to her, her employees and customers, but the incidents that had run off the first tenant, too. She refused to pay and she moved her business elsewhere.

The third tenant complained of barking. The barking complaints started on the first day of the third tenant’s occupancy. The building’s owner told the tenant to call animal control. Animal control noted that the office was located in a mostly residential neighborhood and that some barking was to be expected.

On the second day, the barking was more persistent. Animal control was called again. This time, the supervisor demanded that animal control come to the office building. Animal control drove around the building and throughout the neighborhood but found nothing out of the ordinary. No dogs barking any more than dogs bark in any other neighborhood.

On the third day, the barking was non-stop and sounded like it was coming from somewhere inside the building. The frantic supervisor called animal control. By the time, animal control arrived, the barking had stopped. Insisting a dog was somewhere in the building, animal control inspected the office from attic to crawl space. No dog was found. The barking started again as soon as animal control left.

On the fourth day, the barking seemed to come from under each employee’s desk, or their trash cans, or from the break-room refrigerator. Employees could hear the dog barking on their phone lines, making business calls impossible. When a female employee swore a dog barked from inside the toilet as soon as she had taken a seat, the employees were sent home for the day.

By the fifth day, the tenant’s company refused to pay the remainder of the 12-month lease. The company demanded full reimbursement of its deposit and threatened to sue unless the building’s owner also paid for all expenses for both moving in and out of the office space.

The fourth tenant lasted a day. Well, half a day.

The office workers were getting situated in their new environment, sharpening pencils, trying out the phone lines, checking computer files and Internet access. The building owner visited the offices to ensure that everything went smoothly with this new tenant. He hoped to find no barking dogs, no flashing lights, no strange noises.

The building owner watched as the office workers experienced a typical first morning in a new office location. At least, it was typical until 11:23 a.m.