Reminiscence

Hello. To anyone who has read my other stories (The Sick Man, Call 9, Jerry III), you know what I've experienced. A spirit, whom I've named "Jerry" (sort of a joke; I'm like Tom from Tom & Jerry, he's Jerry, and I'm hunting him) has been haunting me since I was very young, and almost right after my sister moved out. Well I'm going to talk now about some of those earlier encounters.

The guest room of our old house always scared me. By day, it was dark and scary. By night, it was darker and scarier. Not once could I look down the hall at the open door and not shiver a little bit. I always felt a presence inside the room that wanted to harm me, and ONLY me. Living in a family of three after my brother and sister left, I was always a bit relieved. My brother was the dictionary definition of a jerk, my sister was not much better, and I was screamed at almost daily for every little thing wrong I did. However, none of these hardships could amount to the fear that stirred within me, any time I would gaze down at that creepy, dark, silent, abandoned room...

Several rooms of the house caused me a bizarre feeling of dread that had no connection to the moment. Our basement, guest room, bathroom that connected my room and the guest room, and my parents' closet. I have had more than a few hundred dreams that revolved around these rooms, which seemed to talk to me, unlike a normal dream. I always wanted the door to the bathroom closed anytime I was in my room. Ever since I saw a shadow casting down from the other end, and both my parents were downstairs watching football. Not to mention I ran full-speed downstairs afterward, crying like... the kid I was. I had always had an active imagination, and I sometimes let it get away from me, but these occurrences were becoming too common. I had feared sleeping in my own room for several reasons: strange sounds (some of which were like growling), shadows, situational nightmares, silhouettes in my window, and the strangest was when I was trying to sleep; my eyes were closed, and suddenly there came what looked like this big, hollow, angry face glaring at me.

One thing I never experienced was sleep paralysis. That didn't come until eighth grade, when my worst experience with a ghost happened. That particular ghost whose name I've daubed "Jerry" may not have been the only thing I'd encountered in those days, but I could always see his shadow if he was around. Sometimes during the day I'd look down the hall at the guest room and see his shadow from around the corner casting from the window. Another time was in the basement. Now the basement is about 20 feet in diameter all around, with the stairs in the exact middle. There was one bedroom down there that was finished on the inside, and a long, dark, creepy passage that led nowhere, and had the fixings for a bathroom. But, we never did anything with it. Now then, here's a few things I experienced down there. The scariest part is all I ever saw were totally random hallucinations, and nothing with any explanation. A big face fades in and out on one wall and has big, bulging eyes. The light was on on one side, while the one on the other side was off, and I'd hear shifting footsteps there. I'd see a shadow casting down from the stairs and NOT hear anybody's footsteps as the figure turned to walk back up. Sometimes I wondered if my brother ever saw anything, because he was the one that told me about the weird shadow in the guest room (back when it was my sister's). But I was the only one that ever said anything. Of course mom and dad simply dismissed me as a "little kid".

Once in my parents' room, the lights were on and it wasn't dark or creepy inside. I was VERY young, probably only in kindergarten. So this was BEFORE my sister moved out. I was sitting there playing with toys right by the entrance door. The closet door sat just to the left of it, and it was always dark (except in the mornings when my dad got ready in there). As I sat there, I swear something very nasty started to crawl out and glare at me. Yeah it's funny, but it's no joke. I wouldn't be able to describe this thing now, but I only know it was definitely not friendly. And it wasn't so much a creature, but rather a presence. Except, it had a physical form. Crazy explanation: It was a demon stuck in our world, in our house, that hid in the shadows and only came out when I was around because I was a helpless kid. Reasonable explanation: I had an overactive imagination. You be the judge.

As far as Jerry goes, I never actually saw him until that day in eighth grade (The Sick Man) and he never left me alone after that.

So, here's one theory: Jerry was a ghostly victim of these demons I was always encountering and sought help from me, and stays with me hoping I'll keep the demons away from him.

Another theory: I'm cursed.

Another theory: I have an overactive imagination.

I'm guessing it's not #3, because that's just ridiculous. These are just a few of my many spiritual encounters in my youth. All of them took place in the same house, and ONLY I experienced them (to the best of my knowledge). Whether that's true or not, I may never know. My mom has no interest in talking about my childhood unless it's school-related or about a family get-together, or one of the many "cute" things I did as a little kid, but it doesn't matter. I know what I've seen and experienced. And I think this site features many people who have endured similar things. Whatever it all was, it still happens to me from time to time nowadays.

- CenterCore "Cursed" Software

"A man's worth is measured by his contribution to life, not withdraw"