Sleep Over Visitor

I am a new member but like many others have enjoyed reading the varied experiences expressed on this site for quite some time. Thank you.

Although it seems like many moons ago now, I have had an interest in the afterlife since I was very young and have been fortunate enough to have some of my own experiences over the years. I will share these over time but will begin with one of my earliest.

It was the late 70's, I would have been around 11 years old and was sleeping over at my friend Karen's house who lived in the next street to mine at the time. We had had a normal fun day and when it came to bedtime, her mum, who was a single parent, let us sleep in her double bed, while she slept in my friend's bed so we could chat and giggle. We chatted away for some time before my friend fell asleep so I was trying to do the same but was having trouble because I could hear her mum snoring in the next room.

There were only the three of us in the house. From the moonlight coming through the blinds I could see my friend sleeping and I could hear her mum sleeping so was quite shocked (to say the least) when a figure caught my eye walking from the opposite side of the room to where the door was, to come and sit at the end of the bed near my feet! I could see this figure sitting at the end of the bed and felt the weight of it pushing the edge of the bed down. I remember the fear rippling through my body and holding my breath as if to pretend that I wasn't there, but at the same time being so absolutely mesmerized by it that I didn't take my eyes off it until of course it just disappeared and was gone. Once I managed to exhale and relax every muscle in my body I drifted off to sleep but strangely had a sense of elation because my previous thoughts of there being life after death (yes, strange for an 11 year old, but a regular contemplation nonetheless) had, for me, been confirmed.

On reflection I felt it was a male presence, but there was no bad feeling from this figure, if anything it was more of a sad feeling as it sat as though it were slumping with its head down (as you do when you are sad) and it was almost like he belonged there. Perhaps he had lived there before or, more likely, was connected to the family. As a child I was quite shy and never would have pried into their family business so unfortunately I never did find out, but that experience opened up a whole new perspective for me which to this day I am utterly fascinated with.

Happily it wasn't my last encounter with the other side...