Shadow Man - My True Encounter with a Ghost
Once Upon a Time...
When I was a child I was afraid of almost everything, especially the dark. I used to watch scary movies with my family at night and I dreaded the hour when I had to go to bed. I would lay alone in the dark in fear every night until I fell asleep. I was afraid to get out of bed because I thought something under the bed would grab my ankles. I was also afraid to sleep on my side for fear of waking up and seeing something terrifying in my face. To this day I prefer to sleep on my back.
I don't know why I was so afraid of things. I probably had a great imagination (and watched too many scary movies). Regardless, things that freaked me out didn't seem to phase my sister or other kids. This intense fear of the darkness, demons, and ghosts lasted well into my teens and for good reason.
A Shadow
When I was 14 years old I was still afraid of the same things, but I continued to watch scary movies and I even played with Ouija boards and attempted to contact spirits with my friends. This may have intensified some of my fears, but as an oblivious teen I was looking to fix my boredom and I was along for the ride whenever my friends wanted to do something.
One night when I was getting ready for bed I heard the sound of drawers opening and closing and things moving around in my sister's bedroom (right next to mine). I was bored and curious, so I got up to see what she was doing. Before I opened the door to my room I reached to turn off the light as a reflex (I turned off the light every day before going to school) and when I did I felt and saw someone jump out in front of me. I even threw out my arms to catch my balance because I was so startled.
I quickly turned the lights back on and though I was pretty freaked out I didn't think much of it. I thought it was just my mind or my eyes playing tricks on me in the dark. I opened the door to go see what my sister was up to and I saw her coming down the hall towards her room. I asked her what she was doing. She said she had been in the bathroom. For how long? The last 5 or 10 minutes.
She was not in her room when the drawers were opening and closing. Then who was? The rest of our family had already gone to sleep for the night. I told her about the noises I heard and we went into her room to investigate, but did not see much change. It scared my sister enough for her to ask if she could sleep in my room that night. I was happy not to have to spend the night alone after all that happened.
Ghost
That night I slept on my side since I wasn't alone and we were crammed together in my twin bed. I was facing out toward my bedroom and my sister was next to the wall. Luckily for me there was a streetlight outside my window which lit up my room pretty well. I wasn't so afraid in there and I rarely slept with the lights on anymore (this was our new house by the way). In my old house I usually slept with night lights or lamps on all night. But this room was bright and it made me feel secure.
As my sister was talking I closed my eyes for a moment. When I opened my eyes to respond something was next to my bed right in front of me. It was a shadow of a person's face and I could see it perfectly in the well lit room. Even though the whole face was a shadow I could see the outline of the eye sockets, nose, mouth, and hair. The best way that I can describe it is that it looked like a wooden doll. The shadow figure resembled a wooden doll and it was in my face. I screamed and hid my head under the blanket and then my sister looked up and saw it too. It was moving towards her.
My sister was finally brave enough to come out from under the blanket to see if it had left, but I kept my head under the blanket until the morning. The thing that disturbed me the most was the fact that it was in my face the one night I decided to sleep on my side. It was as if it knew what I was afraid of and it wanted to hurt me and terrify me.
I never saw it again, but I have always remembered it. I never fall asleep on my side anymore just in case it wants to come back. I don't really know what it is, but I know it isn't nice. Anything that preys on your worst fears is not friendly or benevolent. Ever since that day I have been a firm believer in ghosts, but I am not sure if I believe in demons. I try to tell myself that my mind was playing tricks on me that night, but I know that it is just not true. I saw it, my sister saw it, I saw its features, and we both heard it. Maybe it was attached to that house. Maybe it found us. Either way, I hope I never see it again.
