I have so many memories I can't seem to expunge and I hate it. I can't tell what is worse, my abusive ex stepfather, the bullies or the times I almost died. I have such a plethora to chose from. It's a wealth of darkness. But my childhood was still happy, just flawed.
The Wall
ouch wall GIFGiphyI remember a day at summer camp where we were on a portage trip through crown land in Northern Canada and it was a super windy day.
We came to a section of the woods and for some reason the trees and foliage were completely still. For a few hundred feet there was just silence it was so weird. Almost like an invisible wall was hit. What made it creepier is how I could see how white our guide was getting. It was very creepy.
Aunt Liz
When I was younger (no idea how old) I had a dream that my aunt came to visit me. I was named after her husband who died a few months before I was born so she always loved me. So after the dream I went into my parents room and told them that Aunt Liz came to see me and she told me to say goodbye. A few hours later they got a call that she had passed away.
A few years later my grandfathers friend Mary got brain cancer and she lost her ability to speak and her face was paralyzed. The last time I saw her I told my mom I just wanted to see her smile one more time. A few nights later I had a dream where she was smiling at me. Few hours later, parents got a call that she had passed.
When I was 11-12 I had a dream my dad died. He was sh*tting bricks for weeks. 14 years later he's still alive though.
The Guy
A guy in a car asked me once if I wanted some candy. He was younger, possibly teenager, possibly in his 20s. I was about 10.
I was walking alone back from a friend's. I just stared at him for a few seconds and said no, he asked if I was sure, I think I just stood there. He drove off.
I've gone back and forth throughout my life about whether he was crazy or just a dude messing with me. Still not sure.
Change the Channel
My brother and I were watching TV one time late at night in the mid-90's. Suddenly the audio to the show we were watching cut out— we changed to various channels, and only the show we had been watching had lost audio. We flipped back to see if the audio had returned, and it was literally the audio of people having a phone call.
Not scripted, not associated with the show— like a LIVE phone call— like the way you can sometimes hear other people's chatter on a walkie-talkie. It was a man and a woman talking and they were trying to find their friend "Howard." Just this panic back-and-forth dialogue about where he could be— it was clear Howard wasn't their child, because they kept referring to him as "that motherf*cker" and almost sounded like they wanted to harm him.
I even wrote down some of the things they had said and Google searched them many years later to see it they were lines from a script or a show or something— nope. Not a result. The Howard conversation continued for about five minutes and my brother and I listened to the whole thing. Then the conversation ended. Click.
The audio for the channel didn't return until morning.
Haunted
The Conjuring Halloween GIF by ALTER – The Best Horror FilmsGiphyI was laying in bed one night probably about 6 and I swear on my life that my Ariel doll started floating and slowly floated through the wall.
I couldn't find it in the morning. I had a couple of weird experiences in that house. Another night I remember the feeling of someone laying their hand on my leg while I was laying under the covers. I grew up religious so when I was a kid I always thought it was God coming down and blessing me.
Yeah, I definitely would be seeking therapy for all of those moments. This is why I always hated dolls. I prefer stuffed animals. And don't get started on creepy neighbors and noises that go bump in the night. And they say "A Nightmare on Elm Street" wasn't autobiographical. Wanna hear more?
Silhouettes
soccer smoke GIF by Nike FootballGiphyWhen I was young, probably around six years old, I woke up in the middle of the night to see a dark figure just standing at the corner of my bed.
Rather than resembling a person, it looked exactly like the silhouette of one. Just pitch black, which was odd considering I had a night-light in my room. Never had experienced anything like that since, and honestly question whether or not it was simply a dream.
The Nanny
It was my nanny's youngest sons birthday, I was 4 years old. I didn't fully understand why but I hadn't seen my nanny in roughly 6 months, and had just returned to her that week. She mentioned the birthday and I asked if I'd get to play with youngest son, which she cried at.
I moved on to the next thing and hung out around the kitchen when the neighbors popped in, as well as my nanny's husband, and the youngest son. He was now 3 years old, and still didn't talk much but he smiled, and let a balloon go from his hand and it flew to the ceiling. My nanny later asked where the balloon came from, and I said it was "youngest sons's" and that he let it go up there.
She started crying again
As an adult I understand that youngest son died at 2, he and my nanny were hit by a distracted driver. Nanny survived but had serious injuries, her son died the day after the collision. I know what I saw in the kitchen, and I have no rational way of explaining it.
Mutants
Had an incredibly vivid reoccurring nightmare where I was constantly hunted down by a black dog with yellow eyes when I was around 5-7 years old. Always started and ended the same way. I eventually stopped getting them for a while and kinda forgot about it. Probably a year after I stopped getting them, I was sitting in my living room watching the new episode of monster quest and it literally had the exact same dog that I had been seeing in my nightmares. Was thoroughly spooked from that for a while. And for those who are curious, it was the mutant canines episode.
Not So Cheery
When I was younger, about 10 years old, my room was covered in posters.. posters of celebrities (you know the ones you tear out of the magazines) and I had a giant NFL cheerleading team poster. When I was in bed at night, my posters would move and the cheerleads would do backflips and cartwheels across the page... this scared me so much I gave my cheerleading posted to my older brother (which he didn't mind) and I kind of had forgotten about it for a while until now.
I also used to see visual hallucinations floating around my room at night when I was going to bed. They would never make any noise but they would be really scary and sometimes even interact with me. They were there when my eyes were open and closed.
Snap...
excited pokemon GIFGiphyWhen I was about 4, playing Pokémon Snap, I was on the main menu where you talk to Prof Oak.
One time, I remember the text box turning orange instead of green, and he had this frown on his face, and the game froze. That was years ago, and I've never been able to make it happen again, nor have I heard about anyone else having the same experience, so I conclude it was likely a false memory, though it seems real.
Ok, I've heard enough. I already have enough issues falling asleep at night. This is why we drink. I guess the key is to try and fill up the rest of our lives with happier memories and adventures. Post Covid of course. Sweet Dreams.
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