Il Vesuvio

I took Mrs Badger out to a lovely little woodland spot last night. We drank moonshine and ate some cheese and bread and had a jolly old chat.

Mrs Badger explained that she wasn't sure whether she believed in ghosts or not. So I told her a story.

When I was a little cub I went out with one of my friends to an old human temple. Inside this temple all was dark and musty. I could smell death had been there and hadn't truly left the place. My friend, who I shall call Kit, was scared. He would only look through the window. What he saw through the window did not match what happened to me inside.

He said he saw a spirit, a kind of shadow, moving around and reaching for my maliciously. He thought that this was someone sent from Dark Old Broc himself, come to claim me as one of his workers, to take me away, never to be seen again. Luckily he didn't catch me.

Inside, I had a different experience. I felt that there was something spooky going on. But I couldn't quite explain it. I knew that somebody else was in there with me and it was larger than me and evil. Something didn't feel right. The hairs on my Badger neck were very high, it was very cold and every noise was heightened. Nothing happened but there was a sense that somehow I had been touched by something evil. Ever since then I have had an enhanced way of picking up evil on things. When my friends run across roads into metal beasts and get splattered I always sense them coming and avoid them. Some call it a 6th sense. I think it is down to that weird temple experience.

Anyway, have you ever been down a volcano? You get that same trippy experience. Go to Vesuvius or Etna. It's scary.

In the meantime, remember, if you sense something scary, there's probably an evil ghost trying to get you.