When you are alone at home, your imagination can get the best of you.
Many of them recalled having unexpected visitors. Not all of them were human.
It Was A Hoot
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Giphy
"I was woken from a deep sleep by the most horrifying high pitched howling noise. We lived deep in a wooded area, and I was familiar with sounds like foxes barking or even fisher cats screaming, but this was eerie and didn't sound like an animal. Then it came from the other side of the house, but there was no sound of anything walking. You know how your mind isn't really logical when you first wake? I was convinced it was some terrible otherworldly creature."
"In the morning I checked some online recordings of sounds to figure it out. Turned out to be a tiny harmless screech owl. Little guy can make some demonic sounds tho!"
Unexpected Visitors
"I was taking a nap in my apartment under blankets in my bed when I hear the door open. Thinking it's my husband, I ignore it. But about five minutes later, I hear several female voices. I'm thinking I'm dreaming so again, I ignore it. The voices get louder and suddenly my bedroom door opens."
"I freak out and bolt upright in bed. Three women were in my apartment: 2 young, 1 older. I shriek! They shriek! They run out of my apartment!"
"It turned out that the management company showed the wrong apartment available for rent that day. I got an apology and a bouquet of flowers."
The Boom
"I was maybe 11 or 12 and was home alone one winter day. The desktop computer I was using shared a wall with our (unheated) garage. The house was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. All of a sudden this boom erupted from the garage that shook the wall, it honestly sounded like a bomb went off. 20 minutes later, after hiding behind the couch and getting my heart rate down I finally went to inspect."
"A 2 liter sprite bottle had frozen and exploded off the shelf."
Man In The Window
"I was probably about 12, newly allowed to be home alone for a couple hours over the summer. A man was walking through my fenced in backyard, walked right onto my deck to the back window. My dog was going nuts barking with her hair standing up. I had no way out of the house or to the phone without this man seeing me in the window. So I'm hiding behind the couch waiting for him to break in when I see him exit my yard through the gate. I immediately call my mom almost in tears and she said 'oh I forgot to tell you the gas meter guy was coming.' Of course the gas meter is right next to the window my brother and I always used to 'break in' to our own house when we forgot our keys. My dog was the only bada** that day.."
A Forgotten Delivery
"I was about 9. My mom and I were babysitting my younger cousins at their house, and my mom ran to the store real quick. Before she left, she ordered a pizza.I don't know the exact details. I think she thought She would be back before the pizza came, but she wasn't. My mom And I lived in a rural area, so we never had a pizza be delivered, so I guess I just forgot it was coming.. So I was alone with a two and a four year old, and all of a sudden this dude starts banging on the door. I hid with them behind the couch. He kept banging and banging for quite a while. I guess he went to leave, and that's when my mom came home. We were so scared!"
– Smippity
"Furbys suck."
"I was babysitting a family I was unfamiliar with. My parents knew them and suggested me when they needed a babysitter and as I liked having money, I accepted. The kids go to bed and I kill time as one does before smartphones are a thing by...reading I think? Maybe doing homework, but that seems unlikely."
"Anyways, I start to hear speaking from another room. Not just speaking, but this low, almost demonic voice speaking to another one. I'm not a religious sort, but when you realize that no, you're not just hearing things there's definitely a voice it's more then a little creepy."
"Not knowing what was going on, I slowly crept up to the doorway of the sitting room, then peered around the corner."
"F'KING FURBYS. TALKING TO EACH OTHER. AT NIGHT. IN THE DARK."
"Furbys suck."
– calette
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Giphy
The Stranger
"The first night alone at my new house, a dude tried scouting around my home looking for a way in. I flipped on all the lights and ran downstairs as loudly as I could holding a plastic tomahawk in one hand, and my phone dialing 911 in the other. He never actually got inside the house, but it was terrifying especially since it was literally my first night of living on my own."
A Bad Reflection
"Growing up we had large old mirror with a thick wood frame leaning against the wall in our hallway. I was doing some homework in the kitchen but got up to get something from the living room. The hallway is the connecting room between the two. So I passed through it, picked up whatever I needed in the living room, turned around and was on my way back ....and that old mirror is broken on the floor. IT'S SHATTERED. Pieces everywhere. As if it had EXPLODED. It was completley fine when I passed it just seconds before. I didnt hear it break."
"I just kind of walked by it and headed out the kitchen door. Scared the sh*t out of me."
Moving Out Fast
"Was in the shower when I heard the door to my apartment being unlocked. Husband wasn't due back for several hours. Turns out it was the skeevy building manager snooping around people's apartments when he thought they were not home. Reported him to the company that own the building but nothing ever came of it. Moved out shortly after."
Meowwww...
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Giphy
"I was house sitting for some family. They neglected to mention that their cat knows how to open doors.
I learned this at 2AM when the bedroom door flung open."
Not So LOL
"I once lived in a building where the realtor got a little too comfortable not informing me of showings and just letting himself in. My girlfriend and I were in the bedroom getting busy and I heard voices in the kitchen say, hi we're here. My buddies were around using my laundry machine so I just yelled, yea so what, busy in here. I then hear the realtors voice say my name. We toss on clothes and open the bedroom door to a family of three staring back at us. Young me was just embarrassed. Now me would have been livid. No matter tho as we had some good laughs afterwards."
- alxx11
The Sellers
"When I was in college I lived in the upstairs apartment of a house. The owners we're trying to sell the house so realtors would come by with potential buyers, but I was never notified of these times. The people downstairs were supposed to let me know. I was napping once and woke up to people coming into my room. After that I would turn on my magnetic alarm so it would go off when the door was opened and off when closed. It wasn't a pleasant way to wake up, but better than people in my apartment."
- yma_bean
Lock them Out
"Was in the shower when I heard loud banging outside. Panicked, I shut off my shower and tried to figure out what to do. I wrapped myself in a robe and peeked out my bathroom door to see that my building's superintendent had taken a hammer to the latch lock (not sure what they're called. The type of lock where you flap it over from inside the apartment) and completely ripped it off the wall to get in.
When I asked him wtf he was doing he claimed he had to change the air filters???? They were supposed to text or call when they wanted to enter. Wasn't my first or last run-in with him. So scary when creeps have keys to your home."
Stay Out
"We lived in a maisonette in London (we lived upstairs and a man was downstairs), he came banging at our door one day screaming that his flat was being flooded from our bathroom and to let him in. Well I was 14 and my bro 13 (mum was out). He came in, went in to the bathroom and did something. I don't know what (he was an adult and we trusted him). Well mum called the council out and there had never been a leak.
No water marks or anything so mum told us not to let him in again. Next time mum went out he came banging at the door again and we told him what mum said. He... Went.... Apes**t. LET ME F**KING IIINN, LET ME F**KING IIIINN. All the while banging the heck out of the door. God knows why he wanted in. Scary."
Wrong Address
"I once went to look at a duplex for rent. The property management company gave me the key and the address and just told me I had to turn in the key by such and such time. I get there, unlock and open the door, and see clothes, furniture, knick knacks etc. And then I hear the click of excited dog feet coming down the stairs. I look over to see a very confused, VERY large Rottweiler mix.
He freezes and starts at me. I freeze and stare at him. My brain finally caught up to the situation and slammed the door shut just as the dog launched himself at me, barking furiously.
The landlord meant to give me the key and address for the other half of the duplex -_-."
- tmills87
Fisher Out
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Giphy
"First time I heard a fisher cat in my back yard at night I nearly pooped myself. Those things sound like screaming human babies and just, no. At the time I wasn't familiar with them so I noped quickly back into the house."
the old spring
Yeah, my SO and I recently bought a house, and the garage door had a pretty old spring. So old the door was very difficult to open. Asking the sellers to get that replaced was at the top of the list of stuff to do before we signed the papers. I didn't like the idea of that thing going while working on something in the garage.
- cparks1
They're Here!
"I was home alone in the summer as a kid and I hear people on our roof and trucks in the drive way. I call my mom from underneath her bed and whisper that there are men walking on the roof. My mom: "oh yea, the roofers are coming today." 😑
Boom & Sparks
"So there I was, 11 years old, home alone. I hear a creaking noise from the garage so I grabbed a broom and went to chase off whatever animal it was. Cue me standing in the garage looking around... deadly silent. Then BAM!! Sparks fly across my vision and the sound of two planets crashing into each other assaulted my ears. Have you ever seen a half naked 11 year old white boy run when scared? Usain bolt could not have beat me in that moment."
The Crash
"A tree branch crashed through my window when I was home alone playing Xbox.
I've always thought I would be prepared for like an intruder or something, but if that was a dude that just like did that SWAT rope swing thing through my window, he would have had enough time to walk over to me, grab a gun from my hand, load it, and shoot me before I figured what the heck went on.
I was like one of those goats that faint when you scream at them."
It's Me!
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Giphy
"I was at a friend's house (watching her cats) and suddenly someone stood on the balcony, right when I walked down the hallway. I stopped dead and stood frozen for minutes, heartbeat up in my throat. Turns out it was my reflection...Took me solid 10 minutes."
- Deltaas
Call 911
"I was babysitting my little sister. We were both watching television. All of a sudden I hear gun shots and bullets ricocheting from the window security bars. A moment later I hear moaning and screams coming from my front door. It was a drive by shooting. Three teenagers where shot up and managed to crawl to my door seeking help. As a 14 year old at the time. It was something I was definitely not prepared to handle."
Let who In?!
"I was home alone since my husband was away on deployment. One night as I was falling asleep both my dog and I heard someone on the porch walking around. My dog flipped out and I decided to go downstairs. I grabbed my gun out of the safe and headed downstairs. About two thirds of the way down I saw the man through the front door windows. We locked eyes and he said, "Let me in." I told him that he needed to leave. Again, "Let me in."
I told him he needed to leave and that I was calling the cops. "Let me in." I told him I that had a gun. "So do I" and he lifted up a gun and aimed it at me. I fired my gun through the window but missed him. He ran off. The cops found him a few blocks from my house a little bit later. His gun ended up not being loaded. Still. Most terrifying crap ever."
Legos...
"I had a massive tub of lego fell over while i was eating downstairs. I kid you not, it sounded like somebody went through the window. I was frozen on the spot thinking i was going to be killed or kidnapped or something. An hour and a bit passed and i thought they must have left. I slowly went around the house looking for evidence of a break in. Then i saw the lego all over the floor."
Texas in the 90's
"I was 11 and home alone. I got out of the shower to discover my house had been broken into. Teen from down the street and his sister were in the living room ransacking the place. My dad kept one of those glass door gun cabinets at the end of the hall by the bedroom door. I took out the first gun I could grab and yelled at them. Dude turned around with a knife but dropped and ran when he saw the rifle.
Coward shoved his sister down as he bolted back out the door. The girl stayed on the ground screaming as I called the cops. They both got arrested over a pocket full of change the guy had shoved in his hoodie.
This was in the 90s in Texas and my mom was more pissed about the broken door and them touching her change jar than anything."
- Silaquix
Hisssss...
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Giphy
"A big, freshly-shed rattlesnake skin on the floor in front of the tv where my kids were watching cartoons.
NO! 😳This was in small town Texas, and I had cowboys and deputies and farmers and HS quarterbacks all stomping through my house, from under the porch to the rafters. We did not sleep well for weeks— and we all wore boots in the house."
- Lalllo7
Out of the Basement
"When I was like, 7 or 8, I was taking a bath when I saw a guy walk out from the basement onto the back porch, and out the back yard. Turns out we were being robbed when we got home, the guy hid in the basement for like an hour or two until he made his escape. He had stolen a bunch of hunting knives and stuff like that."
The Stranger
"Just moved in to our brand new home, my husband goes out to pick up dinner. I'm just setting up our tv and all of a sudden a man comes down the flipping stairs. I scream at the top of my lungs and run for the front door. He screams at the same time. Thankfully the neighbors next door were outside so I squeak out that there is a strange man in my house. He comes out of my house and turns out he works for the development, and had been fixing an upstairs bathroom. My husband forgot to tell me he was there. 🤦🏽♀️"
Blankets
"Once i was up early so i went watch some tv, it was dark and i saw a pile of blankets on the floor so I stepped on them to reach the tv and a strange man jumped out! I screamed the house down, turns out it was just my sister's bf that she forgot to tell me was staying there."
Through the Peephole
"I was super high cleaning the apartment one day, probably around 1pm. So the music was up, I was in my zone.
Then someone started slamming on the door. It kept going. I stopped the music, thinking that maybe it was just a neighbor who wanted the music turned down. I didn't feel like answering the door because 1) i smoked a ton so was in no place to 2) covid
Stopped the music, went quiet. But the aggressive knocking did NOT stop.
So I looked through the peep hole, smaller girl a bit bigger than my stature. Never seen her before, and I live in a complex with 6 units. So I know what my neighbors look like. But she keeps knocking. Being stupid, I opened the door. She just stared, asked where Jon was. I told her I don't know, there's no Jon here. She just stood and stared at me, definitely on something. I tell her to try down the hall, since I think there might be one that lives down there. I slowly go to close the door and she legit shoves her foot in the crack and starts to shove.
So I start to struggle back, we are both actually wrestling with this door. I just go "what?? Can I help you?? I'm trying to close the door!"
She stops and relents a bit and does some weird eye shit and goes "oh... okay" then walks off.
Locked and bolted that mess real quick. But yeah don't open doors to strangers."
Out of the Cage
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Giphy
"Our garter snakes had gotten out of their cage. We searched everywhere but couldn't find them. Finally my husband went to bed and I stayed up watching TV for a while.
We had one of those gigantic old console TVs we had gotten when someone was throwing it out. Suddenly one of the dust-covered wires came slithering out from behind the TV. I had read Stephen King's "Dolores Claiborne" not too long before, and in that book the crazy old lady thinks the wires in her house are coming alive. I had a moment of "holy crap, it's actually happening!" before I realized it was one of the snakes.
That got my blood pumping, you better believe."
Chucky?
"They put a warning out on the radio in my hometown a few years ago to call the police and NOT stop if you saw a car seat with a child in it abandoned on the highway. There was a slew of robberies where a group of guys would be hiding in the bushes waiting to jump anyone who stopped. The car seat just had a doll and an audio recording of a baby crying. Something like 6 or 7 women got attacked for stopping to check it out.
I still get chills thinking about it."
I Hear it too!
"In the house alone one night and from my room I hear deep, gutteral voices. Go in to check and no one is there. This happens a few more times that evening. After checking and finding nothing... again I stand perplexed and then I hear the voices again, from my stereo speakers! Turns out it was a nearby Ham operator coming across, somewhat, on my stereo speakers."
Week One
"On my first week in my new apartment, my drunk upstairs neighbor tried to break into my house, thinking that I was in her apartment. I literally had to let her take a walk into my half boxed livingroom at 3 am, and then walk her home.
She's a good lady, just had a bad day. Never had any other problems with her, or her family, but Goddamn, did I poop myself that day."
The Left Behinds
"Late at night I had both my cat and my girlfriend's dog start freaking out. I got up, grabbed my gun and flashlight and went through the house. Both the animals were growling and hissing at one of the vents so I went over and shined my light into it and saw a cat. Turns out the previous tenants left their cats and there was a way for animals to get into the ventilation. Fun stuff."
The Creepy Head
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"Someone trying to break open the window, woke up because my dog was barking, looked at the window and seen someone's head staring at me... he ran away and left a couple of tools."
Frozen
"This year my Pipes had Frozen in my mobile home. My partner had gone to work so I was home alone dealing with this issue. I order to get them back running you have to go under the trailer and turn on a heater to heat it up so it can run. The only access to get under the trailer is by getting under the deck. I dug out a large hole in the snow under the deck and had just enough room to squeeze under as I started to shimmy towards the door to get under the ice build up became more dense and soon enough the deck and the ground had me stuck. I am not even claustrophobic and I was having a huge panic attack.
I reached for my phone but realized I had left it back in the house. The only thing I did have with me was a pry bar to get the door open so I managed to grab it and start to chip the ice away under me. Eventually after 10 minutes I was freed and got the hell out of there. The kicker to the story, my pipes were not even frozen a city water main had broke so none of this was necessary."
- Mywork93
Lungs
"Had whooping cough and after a coughing fit I was not able to breathe in again. Luckily I tried to force one more cough out of my empty lungs, it worked.
Best breath I took in my life. 10/10 would breath again."
One Foot In
"I am an ex-Mormon. I was in my 20's and living at home, my parents were out of town and I had the whole house dark. I hear the doorbell ring and see a guy a little younger than me that I barely knew from my old ward standing behind a complete stranger I had never met. The stranger introduced himself as a new leader in the ward and said he wanted to come in and talk about the church. I declined, said goodbye, and started to close the door.
As I was closing the door he put his foot in the way and tried to force his way into the house while trying to tell me they were friends and that they just wanted to talk. I had to get more forceful with him to finally get him to leave.
It was completely inappropriate for him to even be there and even worse that he was trying to force his way into the house."
"Hey over here you idiot!"
"I woke up one morning to a guy staring into my window right at me. I jumped up of course, ran to the kitchen, grabbed a knife, and went to confront the guy. I found out that there was going to be a house remodeled across the street and he had came to the wrong house. He apologized profusely and a coworker of his yelled out "Hey over here you idiot!" So that turned from terror into comedy.
I also have sensor lights in my hallway. I was sitting one time, felt a really cold sensation so I turned around. The sensor lights were turning on 1 by 1 as if somebody was walking towards me. It was scary but I don't really believe in ghosts and I didn't see anybody coming so I just brushed it off as a malfunction."
Don't Say Anything
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"When i was 12, a drunk neighbor tried winning back the affections of his ex by beating on her window with a plastic chair, shouting "come out here you stupid witch!" at around midnight. Then threatened to harm anyone who tried to stop him."
Running head on...
"First time living alone, took my dog in the backyard early morning (still completely dark out) before work. Heard a bloodcurdling scream from next door and looked over to see the figure of someone jumping out the first floor window and proceed to start hopping the fence into my yard. Burglar was coming right at me. Luckily my dog was skittish as hell and was already on her way back to me cause of the scream. Slammed the door and locked it and proceeded to call 911.
Somehow I called 911 before the guy who was burglarized because he was in shock."
Signs
"I moved into a house at the beginning of last year and decided I wanted to get a security system. I got one that included cameras, door and window sensors, motion detectors, etc. Installing everything myself was pretty easy and straightforward. For the first week or so, if the alarm is tripped, no police are called and there's no response whatsoever, so you can get used to it. On my 3rd night in the house at about 2:30-3:00am, the alarm starts blaring and I remember jumping out of the bed in a panic.
I couldn't believe my luck that I was really getting robbed and a lot of stuff was still in moving boxes for the guy. I turn off the alarm, grab my gun and clear the whole house. There wasn't a sign of entry anywhere to be seen.
Turns out that one of the sensors I put up wasn't secured properly so it fell off the door and assumed that the door was "opened" in the night. Felt real stupid after that."
- sooshi
TV Time
"One day my mom left the house and the tv was not working so I went upstairs to play with my legos and a car ran into the backyard fence and a wooden pole flew into the window that was right next to the couch we use to watch tv And all the glass fell onto the couch and floor."
A Hard Night
"I was in my apartment which was on the top floor of a 4 story building which had a slanted roof with mexican tile shingles. I heard what sounded like a possum or raccoon jumping on the roof. All of sudden I hear a loud boom and feel the apartment shake. All of a sudden there was a man on my balcony; this balcony had an 1.5 foot overhang from the roof and no discernible way to get from the roof to the balcony. He was screaming that people were shooting at him (I had not heard any gunfire). I yell through the glass to get down behind the wall as I was calling the cops for him.
Not 10 seconds passed when I heard the glass sliding doors crash as he threw a potted plant into my living room. I happen to be in the kitchen and grabbed a knife while I yelled, "get the f**k out or I will f**king kill you." He ran toward the door and out. The cops took another 10 minutes to show up, while other cops caught the guy.
The 25 year old guy skipped his meds and ran out of his parents house believing he was being hunted.
It was hard to sleep for a few nights."
Crawlers
"Spider running out of shorts I just took off to get a shower while no one at home."
- Hexariel
the man in the mirror
"When I was younger (probably 14 years old) I was playing hide and seek with my little brother (about 4 years old). I was hiding and he was taking quite a while to find me. I was hiding in his room which was right next to mine. He suddenly comes running into his room (where I'm hiding) and goes straight to where I was. I asked him "how'd you know where I was?" He says "the man in your mirror told me where you were hiding."
Can I come in?
"I was left home alone to watch the dogs while my parents did a carriage job. I was sitting near a window watching random videos on my phone. Being home alone at night always makes me uneasy, and the fact I was watching the occasional horror game did not help. I looked over at the window and saw two glowing eyes staring in at me. I literally screamed and almost fell out of my seat.
It was my cat. She wanted to come inside."
11 Flights
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"The apartment above mine caught fire. I thought the fire alarm was just a test until I heard something explode directly above me. I grabbed my cat and bolted down 11 flights of stairs to see flames bursting 10 feet out of the balcony above my unit."
It’s weird how much stuff we let slide when we’re kids. Even if you look at the TV shows we watched back then, we had such a high threshold for the bizarre (early 2000’s Nickelodeon, anyone?). So it’s no surprise that some of us straight-up didn’t react when we saw weird crap in person.
Here are a few wild examples of seemingly harmless things we saw as kids that would be horrifying to see now. Brace yourself, this one gets crazy.
Kids and water aren’t a great mix sometimes. It can get real gross, real quick.
Not worth the tranquility.
I've always loved the tranquil feeling of being under water. When I was a kid I would just hold my breath and float around. Sometimes adults would think I was drowning and run up and scoop me out. I don't remember this (it was when I was pretty young) but my parents have told me about it
I used to think it was a funny story... people thinking I was drowning when I was just trying to relax
....until I watched a video explaining child drownings and yeah, the way I acted in water looked exactly like a drowned kid.
I don't think it's funny anymore.
Uhhhhhh.....ew?
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Flood water. It was fun and games for the kids, and we even splashed around in it, much to the horror of our parents (who immediately scrubbed us down). We didn't understand then, but now, oh wow...sewer, insects, rats, parasites, etc.
That’s actually hilarious.
My friend and I were walking along the road in about thigh high flood waters. A small boat with two men comes up to us. We were about 9 years old and I think they were National Guard. Anyway, one of the men asks if we remembered exactly where the manholes in the road were. We answered no. He told us that all of the covers had most likely been washed away in the flood but not to worry because it would probably only take them a few days to find our bodies if we were sucked down one of the holes by currents they produced. He spoke in a matter of fact tone and then left.
As an adult, I have zero doubt those two men had a good laugh as they looked back and watched us nope out of that water like two roadrunners in a cartoon.
Edit: It was Fish and Game Wardens. The NG didn't come until later.
Not to mention the crazy injuries that kids somehow are constantly surrounded by.
Had a jogger get hit by a car outside my house once when I was about eight or nine. My nephew came running inside yelling at my parents and my sister to call the ambulance because he was bleeding pretty badly.
I could even see him from our playrooms window and I wondered what he was doing lying on the grass. Turns out he was bleeding out pretty badly, deliriously yelling at my parents when they tried to help.
Eventually, an ambulance came and picked him up, but my parents always told me he made it out okay. The day after, in the spot he was found someone had put a lily in the grass in a vase.
It took me longer than I care to admit to figure out he died from the hit and run.
How sharp were they, though?
A kid f*cking sharpened his fingers with an automatic pencil sharpener at grade 2. Everyone didn't know what was going on until the teacher started freaking out.
I just remembered I tried to stick my finger into electric pencil sharpeners as a kid and disliked how my fingers were too big to fit in it. What the hell was I thinking?
Rock climbing can definitely be dangerous.
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We did climbing in PE (sixth to eight grade). Like rock climbing and we had to do our own harness and stuff. PE teacher (supposedly) checked it after we were done to make sure it was done right. One day my neighbor broke an arm and leg because she wasn't properly strapped and fell.
This was at an international American school in Egypt around year 2000, for all those wondering what type of school does rock climbing.
Kids are, in fact, made of elastic.
We used to jump of our roof. First time hurt a little, but after a few times you learnt how to land.
Did it regularly and would try various items as 'parachutes' to see if it slows you down any.
I look at that height now and wonder how the hell we never broke anything - kids bones are more elastic I guess.
It’s amazing what adults can get away with right under kids’ noses.
A casual hit-and-run.
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My babysitter was running late to take me to piano lessons and rear ended an old man at a stoplight. She told me that he must not have noticed because he didn't get out of his car. I thought nothing of it, and she drove away and took me to my piano lesson.
I forgot about it, and it didn't click until I remembered the incident years later that I had been unknowingly involved in a hit and run.
Big yikes.
Not so much something I saw - but when I was 5 or 6 I was at a family wedding, and there was this really friendly adult guy (who I didn't know) who told me he was really worried about his nice new car in the parking lot and how he wanted to check on the car but didn't want to leave the wedding.
He asked if I could go check on it and he would pay me $5 just to go see if his car was "okay" being that age $5 was a crazy amount of money so I couldn't believe my luck.
On the way to the parking lot, my mom intercepted me and was absolutely horrified, I remember not understanding why, like trying to tell her no she had it wrong he was nice and paying me! And as an adult now I'm like that's so messed up and I wonder how close a call that could have been.
Go grandma!
Until the age of 12 my grandma had custody of me. I used to sleep with her and she slept with a baseball bat next to her bed. It wasn't until I was much older that I realized she did it dads friends wouldn't be able to do anything to me.
Dad was a drug addict and drunk and when he was out of prison he had all kinds of people in and out of the house. You would never know what would be missing the next day - often my Nintendo :(
She did everything she could to protect me from God knows who/what and I had zero clue!
Edit: Damn this blew up while I was sleeping!! Thank you so much to everyone for the support :)
Im adding extra details to help understand the situation.
My grandmother was born in 1914, had a third grade education and was a housewife her entire life. She was already 71 when I was born! My grandpa died when I was 4 and it was just her and I. We lived in a tiny 2 bedroom house in a terrible neighborhood. It was paid off and that's all she could afford. She lived off of the social security death benefits from my grandpa and food banks. She couldn't just "leave" and go anywhere else.
Also, for those suggesting she should have called the cops - cops don't do anything if you say "I'm scared these guys will do something bad" cops have to wait till something bad happens.
She did her very best and raised my right! Now my father is back in prison (shocker) and is pissed at me for not letting the past be in the past and welcoming him with open arms. Meanwhile I'm a 2x college graduate with a great job, my own house and recently married! She definitely did something right. Unfortunately she died when I was 12. Id give anything to be able to tell her how grateful I am to her for doing everything right.
We see some scary stuff as kids. No wonder most of us are so messed up years later. Often these things don’t even register as something terrible- a lot of times, the things we witnessed were just a part of life.
The best we can do is to take our trauma, and learn from it, so we don’t pass it down to our own children. Because kids don’t deserve it- they deserve to have happy childhoods and not think about the horrors of the world.