Chapter 16 Voices
“Angela, can I come in the house?” said the woman whose voice carried clearly that evening from the open door leading to the front porch. James and I exchanged looks of concern. I refused to answer, as there was clearly no one physically at the open door, only a voice that had asked permission to come in. This was disconcerting to say the least, but it was not the first time that day that someone or something had tried to gain entry into my home.
Earlier that morning, I had arrived home a little later than I had planned and found two clients already waiting. They were sitting on my front porch, one in the swing and the other in a rocker. The women had stood to greet me as I pulled in my driveway. One was a petite light-haired lady, and the other was dark-haired, tall and slender. I had noticed that this lady was quite thin, as she was wearing a dress that revealed very lean legs. I also noticed that her hair, though long, was fine and uncombed. I walked to my porch gate and looked down to unlatch the hinge. When I looked up, the taller lady was gone. No one remained but the blonde woman. The blonde lady insisted that she was alone and had been the entire time.
Later that day, another client came for a visit. As I opened the front door, I saw a small dark-haired girl dart behind my visitor. The girl was slightly built with long hair. I noticed that she was wearing an elastic tube top. What stuck me about her most were the dark circles under very large eyes and her somber expression. I invited in my caller, and started to invite the child in as well. However, just as the woman had done earlier in the day, the girl had seemingly vanished into thin air. I had to wonder if a spirit was trying to enter my house in disguise.
Hearing the disembodied voice that night requesting entry into my home reminded me of the occurrences earlier that day. Under the circumstances, I felt it best to decline the invitation.
Chapter 17 Missing Persons
There have been a few times that law enforcement officers have visited me, and at least on a couple of occasions, I have been able to be of assistance to them.
One officer from a neighboring town consulted with me by phone concerning a missing man. I told him that I felt that the victim had been killed, his body was in a grassy field near a fence, and that there was a view of a large building nearby like a school or hospital. I felt that a woman with a child would be instrumental in helping find the perpetrator but would be afraid, as she may be emotionally involved with the killer. I felt that the victim had been living a double life, was likely secretly gay, and was involved with drugs. I felt that a dog would find the body. Sadly, I was proven right on all counts.
On another occasion, while I did connect with the spirit of a missing man who I felt had died in the woods from natural causes, I was unable to find his body, though, because his spirit would not accept that he was no longer living. Spirits such as this are in a world where time does not exist. Confused, they feel they are in a dream-like state.
Sometimes, such information comes easily to me. Other times, it is much more difficult to see the details of a missing or deceased person’s whereabouts. Sometimes, I find things when I am not looking for them. This is what happened in the case of a murdered woman I call Zoë.
A law enforcement officer wanted to know the whereabouts of a woman that had gone missing from a local rest home. I told him what I could, but I felt more strongly that I needed to share with him information that concerned another case, that of a young woman who had been murdered a few months before. I told him the name of the man I felt was involved. The officer agreed with me, but replied that since that particular man was in jail on other charges, it was safe to assume that he would be away for a long time. However, he was curious how I came across that information. I explained to him that it came through the victim herself, as she had come to me in spirit just after she died.
I had not been looking for Zoë. I had actually been “floating” in my mind at her work place, trying to get a “feel” of the employees for one of my clients. He had been concerned about his staff and feared someone was stealing from the business. As I explored the energy of his employees, I suddenly felt so cold that I shivered. My client explained to me that Zoë had been sick and believed that the chill I felt occurred because of that. Still, I was not so sure. I had felt a sense of dread at that point and feared the worst.
It was not too long after that that I received a call from my client again. Zoë had been reported missing. It was then I knew that this one would not be found alive. Sure enough, as I feared, her body was found in a wooded area a few weeks later.
In the meantime, however, her spirit had been trying to contact me daily. I had never met the girl in life, but evidently, she had connected with me in spirit on the night when I had experienced that shiver. For days, Zoë’s spirit kept trying to push thoughts and pictures into my mind. I saw a man, a vehicle, and a dreadful scene. Finally, a name entered my consciousness and would not go away: the name of the man who had murdered her.
At last, Zoë’s spirit released me and I prayed for the opportunity to share what I knew. On the day of the officer’s visit, I was able to do that. Having conveyed my message to the proper authorities, I felt better. I believe Zoë rests better because of that too.
Chapter 18 The Case of the Missing Remote Control
I wanted something “interesting” to happen. You may laugh, but that is what I wished for I as lay in bed that sleepless night. Life had been feeling a little more ordinary than usual, and I wanted something to happen that could not be easily explained away. I soon got my wish.
While watching TV in bed one evening, I realized that I needed to do one more chore before calling it a night. I left the TV remote control on top of the covers in a place that I would be sure to find it when I returned. In a few minutes, when I came back to bed, the remote was nowhere to be found. I searched everywhere: under the cover, under the pillows, under the bed. I even searched under my sleeping husband. It was nowhere to be found. I decided that it would turn up soon enough, so I cut the TV off by hand and went to sleep.
The next day, I made a full-blown attempt to recover the missing control. Again, it was nowhere to be found. I searched at the foot of the bed, behind the nightstand, and everywhere in between. I searched the bathroom, the hallway, and the tops of all the furniture. No luck. I remembered the times before when the remote had been lost and then recovered. Once, after an hours-long search, it was discovered in the car. My friend Kim remarked that maybe I had intended on doing a little drive-by channel surfing. However, on the night in question, I had not been outside at all. The device was not in the refrigerator and it was not in the trash, a previous hiding place. Once again, I felt that it might turn up if I did not think too much more about it.
For the next two weeks, I resisted buying another remote control. I unscrewed the handle from the broom and used it as a “hillbilly remote,” since the TV was situated just at the foot of the bed. I became adept at hitting the right buttons in the dark. That is when the wish was made.
I wished that my guardian angels would help me find the missing equipment in such a way that I would not be able to explain it away. I got up and left the room shortly. I thought, “Wouldn’t it be so cool that when I returned to bed, it was lying on top of the cover?” I returned to bed, but the remote remained missing in action. “Oh well,” I thought. The next day, I bought a new remote.
A few days later, I was in a hurry to go out with my daughter. I could not find my shoes anywhere. Jayme reminded me that I had last worn them on a weekend trip awhile back. I remembered at this point that I had left them in my suitcase. My suitcase was closed and stored under my husband’s side of the bed. I pulled it out, opened it up, and – you guessed it – the remote control was inside the suitcase, under my unpacked things. This original remote control had come with the TV, so there was no mistaking it for another one. The suitcase had been stored shortly after our trip, which had occurred several days before the incident occurred. It had not been moved since.
I cannot logically explain how this happened, though I have given it much thought. I am in many ways grateful for the mystery. I asked for it and I got it. I learned that my angels are with me, and sometimes, life does get interesting.
Chapter 19 Guides and Dimes
One should be careful in asking for things, I have learned, as it is often true that you may get what you ask for.
I was at a point in my life where I had become aware that there were beings around me that were assisting me on a spiritual plane. Even though I felt them, I wanted to see them as well. I requested that they reveal themselves to me, but asked them to please do it in such a way that I would not be frightened.
“Please let me have a glimpse of you,” I asked, “but please do not show up at the foot of my bed at one in the morning. Maybe you could just pass me by in a public place,” I suggested, “and when I look back you will be gone.” This would not be scary, I reasoned, but it would be exciting to see them in a way that could not be denied. I continued: “Oh, and please give me a witness so I won’t second guess what I experience.”
I thought that the way I described would work since I had already had a similar experience years ago, though one I had not consciously asked for at all. I had also lacked a witness, but regardless, I am certain of what happened that day.
I was a teenager working in a little factory on a highway at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. This area has as a deeply forlorn feeling to it, and I have never felt comfortable there. The road is long and straight for a few miles before it begins its’ winding ascent up one of the oldest mountains in the world. At that time, there was very little development in the area. In fact, there was little besides road and fields for at least of couple of miles.
Because I had an hour for lunch and had little to do, I often drove up the road during my break to a little store a few miles away, then back again, with plenty of time remaining before work resumed. On one such trip, I saw a young man with long blonde hair walking along in the same direction and, although I realize the foolishness of this choice now, I felt compelled to offer him a ride for at least a mile or so closer to the nearest intersection. Though truly it would be a very short jaunt, he accepted my invitation.
He was a very quiet young man, and I was quite chatty. I babbled on about nothing, a habit I still have to this day, and invited him to my church on Sunday if he were still in the area. I told him the name of the church and told him it was in the neighboring town. I turned to look at him more closely for the first time since he had entered my car, and gazed into the strangest eyes I had ever seen. They were blue, but so light that it almost seemed as if there was no color in them at all. He smiled a small smile, and replied, “Yes, I know exactly where that is.” I cannot say I smiled in return. I was startled when he returned my look. Something about him made me feel unnerved. I did not think he wanted to harm me, but felt that he was unlike anyone that I had ever known. Chills crept up my arms and the hairs stood up on the back of my neck.
I pulled over, and with a nod and another smile, he exited my car. I did a u-turn and glanced into my mirror for one more look at this very interesting man. The roadside was empty. No one was there. I stopped the car and turned around to see more clearly, but no one was in sight at all. I saw no other car, no building, nor even a tree he could be standing behind. Only freshly mown fields were in view. My passenger had utterly disappeared with out a trace.
That event took place many years before a more recent request to see my guide. I felt that, having had the experience once, I was prepared now to have something similar. My guide had a different idea.
It was a beautiful day, a Saturday, and James, our friend Carol, and I decided to go to a mall an hour or so away. The trip started out well, but suddenly I was overwhelmed with emotions that I did not understand. I began to cry, feeling I had no control over my life and afraid because of an inner certainty that my life was going to go through changes that I might find overwhelming. I could not logically explain why or how this was to be. Because of these feelings, I felt unbalanced and was extremely sensitive to the energy of the people around me, so we decided to take time out at a bar where I could perhaps have a drink to help me calm down. I had not yet realized it, but what was happening to me was a prelude to paranormal activity.
James and I sat in a booth, and Carol sat opposite us. She was being very kind to me, and I appreciated her reassuring attention. A server walked by and my eyes followed her as she passed. Suddenly, my attention was riveted to a figure standing right beside me, only inches away. It was a hooded figure, seemingly male, standing at least seven feet tall. Though I could clearly see him, I could see through him as well. His robe concealed his face and his arms were folded in front of his waist, his hands concealed by his sleeves.
Startled, I jumped up and back into James. Carol said, “Angie, what in the world is it?” I turned my head and looked back, fully expecting the apparition to be gone, thinking that surely it was a hallucination brought about by my emotional state of mind. When I looked, however, not only was he still there, but also he remained there for a few seconds more before moving away.
Again, Carol asked what was wrong.
“Nothing. It was nothing,” I said unconvincingly. I still could not believe what I had seen.
“No,” she said, her voice becoming very firm but calm. “You glanced to the side and saw a man in a hooded robe. He was very tall, and you were startled, you looked back, and he turned and left.” Carol confirmed that she had seen what I had seen. The odd thing was that she was so composed in her retelling of it. Carol is very sensitive, and usually very excited by paranormal events, but this time she was strangely serene. She herself later questioned why she had responded so calmly.
Since then, I have asked for no more special appearances. There is no need, as my guides make themselves known in a less dramatic way: I find dimes. When dimes show up in unexpected places, I believe they are little signposts that tell me I am on the right path. When the dimes first started appearing frequently in unusual places, the thought occurred to me that they may well be guideposts for me, but still I was not completely sure.
I was standing in line at a grocery store pondering whether a series of coincidences were occurring, or whether it was all by design. I prayed a silent prayer that I be given the answer to that question. The line moved forward, and when I reached the cashier, my total was some odd dollar amount and a dime. I smiled. Maybe that was an answer to my prayer. The girl opened the register, and said, “I’m sorry, but I have no quarters. I’ll have to give you all dimes.” “Yep,” I thought, “That is my answer,” and I received the dimes and put them in my change purse. When I opened it, I found several more dimes inside that I’m sure weren’t previously there.
For the next few years, I was happy when I found my dimes, but one day my confidence waned and I doubted the very thing that I had come to treasure. Someone told me they often found dimes too, and I was filled with doubt. If everyone was finding dimes, then I was more than likely just imagining a reason to feel special. Suddenly the flow of dimes stopped. I found them nowhere. I noticed the absence and it seemed very strange that I would never have a dime at all when I needed one.
I was back in the same grocery store several days after I noticed the shortage of dimes, and wondered if maybe they were being withheld to get my attention. “Surely not,” I thought, “Everyone finds them, that’s all.” I moved up to the cashier and she rang up my purchase. She needed quarters in order to give me change. She asked another cashier for quarters when she realized she was out. She looked at me squarely in the eyes and said, “I don’t know why, but I really do not want to give you any dimes.” Well, that did it for me. I apologized in my thoughts profusely to whoever was listening in the spirit world at that moment for doubting my gift of dimes. Sure enough, I found one dime on the floor almost immediately, and have had them showing up left and right ever since.
Dimes are good. Disappearing men and hooded apparitions I can do without, at least most of the time. Just knowing they are there is good enough for me.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Thank you for visiting my site. Below are chapters if my book, in reverse order, that I have posted for your amusement. My video blogs are mixed randomly below, as well. Thanks you to the nice people who have shared with me that those have been helpful. I often feel discouraged, thinking that I am just being foolish or wasting my time-- then someone will write and say I had made their day. Thank you.
Ok then! Come back anytime.
Ok then! Come back anytime.
Friday, January 4, 2013
Chapter 13-15. Scroll on down for vlogs
Double Trouble: Tony, the children, and I also lived in an apartment that had been a hospital. Since this apartment was once a place where lives began and ended, it should have been no surprise that it was haunted. Such conditions tend to open portals between realities. I awakened briefly one night to see a filmy woman’s figure pass by me and on through the door. As she passed by, her negligee floated behind her. On her manicured hand, a very large ring adorned her finger. It seems that in spirit, she kept the energy of what was important to her in life as well.
This strange place was the setting for many odd experiences for my family, including the sighting of my son’s double, just as a neighbor had seen my double years before.
While sitting on the couch in the living room one morning, I heard the sound of my seven-year-old son getting out of bed. I watched as Dusty walked sleepily down the hall, wrapped in a full size sheet that he had been attached to from infancy, and saw him enter the kitchen in search of his usual breakfast of cold cereal. I watched and waited for him to come out of the kitchen, but did not hear him even making a sound. Just as I began to wonder what was happening, I heard the toilet flush from the far end of the hall and saw my son once again walk down the hall, wrapped securely in his sheet, and enter the kitchen. Only this time, I heard the sounds of cereal and milk being poured into his favorite bowl.
A few weeks after this event, I awakened during the night. I seemed to be floating from the waist up, and it felt completely normal and very pleasant that I was doing so. My legs felt oddly heavy or even stuck, yet I felt no need to free them. I looked to the door of my room that opened to the hallway. I saw my son, wrapped in his ever-present blue and white sheet, walking down the hall toward the front door. While this should have startled me, as Dusty was a sleepwalker and had been known to sleepwalk right out of the house, I felt completely fine and only mildly curious about what he might be up to. After that, I must have fallen back to sleep.
The next morning, I remembered what I had seen but decided it had been a dream. However, Dusty started a conversation that caused me to change my mind. He said, “Mom, I had the weirdest dream last night. I dreamed that I was out of bed and walking down the hall, but I looked down and my feet weren’t touching the floor, no matter how hard I tried to make them do it!” I can only assume that we were both out of body, floating around the apartment in the wee hours of the morning.
Often, many of us are out of body at night, and we do in fact cavort with spirits and guides. They provide assistance as we have this human experience. When we awaken, we give up conscious knowledge of the interaction, but we retain the essence of what we experienced. Sometimes, we visit with those who have gone on, and we interpret that visit in the form of a dream. While dreams are usually symbolic, with each character representing an aspect of our own personality, they often provide a way of traveling in spirit or venturing into alternate realities. Sometimes in dreams, we are visiting with those still living, but who are out of body as well.
Dusty also seemed to be visiting in his sister’s dreams. During the dead of night, he awoke the house screaming: “Snakes! Get them off of her! Snakes!” Jayme awoke and explained that she had been having a nightmare, dreaming that she had fallen into a pit of snakes. Dusty did not remember dreaming anything at all, but had awakened himself with his own terrified pleas for help.
Chapter 14 Little People
A couple of years later, Dusty’s screams woke me again in the middle of the night, but for a much different reason.
The phone rang once, and then suddenly my child’s cries for help jarred me from my sleep. Although I assumed “night terrors” had caused Dusty to call out, I jumped from my bed and ran to comfort him. It was a stormy night, and flashes of lightning illuminated my steps as I hurried to his side. I heard him exclaim that something was touching him, pulling his hair and yanking the covers at his feet. In my half awakened state, I yelled to him as I ran to the living room to the couch where he was sleeping. “It is only the cats, Dusty,” I said, “Don’t be afraid!”
In fact, I was sure our two young cats were only playing as he slept. When I started through the door of the room, however, in the midst the darkness I saw the shadow of a small form sitting on the arm of the sectional couch near my son’s head, and another sitting at his feet. They both seemed to have very large pointed ears and seemed much larger than our pets. Although I was quite confused by that, I still believed our cats to be the source of the trouble. Suddenly, as I neared the couch, the figure nearest me at my son’s head bent over, dropped silently to the floor and disappeared. The one at his feet faded while I watched. I stopped momentarily, too stunned to walk. I forced myself to continue moving toward my son, sat there on the couch with him, and comforted him. He was awake and genuinely terrified.
He said that he had awakened to find what he perceived as strange little men on the couch with him. Though he was unsure why, he had felt that they had come through the window that was directly behind the couch. He explained that one was lightly pulling his hair while another was at his feet holding fast to the covers thereby preventing him from pulling the covers over his head. I attempted to convince the boy that the entire episode was likely a dream, while secretly trying to convince myself of the same thing. Meanwhile, I opened the curtain and looked through the window to assure myself that the screen was still closed. On the sill lay our cats, curled up together and both fast asleep.
The next day, thirteen-year-old Jayme invited her friend Christy over to spend the night. On the day following, she urged her friend to tell me about their nocturnal experience.
Christy then said she had had the strangest dream while at our house. She said it was so real that she could not believe it was a dream, and was certain that she was awake at the time. However, under the circumstances, she felt it had to have been a form of nightmare. She said that she and Jayme had fallen asleep on the couch in the living room after spending most of the night talking to friends on the phone. Christy said that she had awakened when a small-wizened creature that appeared to be a tiny old man came through the window and began to wrestle with her, and even attempted to strangle her as she fought with him. She said that she screamed for help, but Jayme was completely unconscious. Finally, she was able to throw the creature to the floor. Just as it fell, the phone rang once, and the being disappeared.
At that point, Jayme awakened to find Christy nearly hysterical. Finally, Christy decided it must have been a strange dream and went back to sleep. The funny thing, Christy said, about her so-called dream, was that the little man was wearing red shoes, and had pointed ears. Jayme didn’t to tell her of Dusty’s adventure until the next day.
Less than a week later, I received a phone call from my cousin Debra. She wanted to know how I was, as she and her friend, Dee, had experienced an odd occurrence the previous night.
Debra, a gifted intuitive and astrologer, owns a business and, being the night owl, she likes to do her books late. That night she had been working at three a.m. while her friend Dee kept her company. Suddenly, Dee, who is also quite intuitive, said, “Call Angie, call Angie now!” Debra did not want to do that, being sure I would be asleep. She became alarmed, though, since Dee appeared to have gone into a trance, her eyes fixed on some distant unseen vision.
“What’s happening?” Debra asked her friend.
“There are little people, little men, and they are on the bed with Angie,” she exclaimed.
“What is Angie doing?” Debra asked.
“She is sitting on the bed,” Dee answered. “But she is asleep. They are toying with her,” she continued.
“Why?” inquired my cousin.
“Because they can,” she said.
“Where do they come from?” asked Debra.
“They come from the basement. Call her now!” exclaimed Dee.
Debra picked up the phone, and it rang once.
Dee said, “Hang up. They’re gone.”
Debra did so, and reported the entire incident to me the next day. I have no memory of the event whatsoever. However, I “knew” before she told me that the little men came from the basement. Debra told me one more thing that Dee had said. In her vision, oddly enough, the beings were wearing little red shoes.
Perhaps these beings exist in an underground realm, where trolls, dwarves and other underground faerie creatures dwell.
It is said that when one feels uneasy in one’s basement, it is because there are dark elves hiding in the corners or behind the stairwell. These beings are not harmful, but enjoy hiding in the dark corners of our homes. Maybe many of us have portals existing right underneath our floor, leading to strange and magical places hidden away beneath the soil.
Chapter 15 James
I read somewhere that there was a substantial increase in UFO sightings over the mountains of western North Carolina in early 1966. Knowing that my husband James was born in this area that year, this makes sense to me. You see, while many feel that men come from Mars and women come from Venus, I have long held the belief that my current husband James comes from a place known as “opposite world.” This belief was confirmed to me when I witnessed James dragging an oversized inner tube one hot summer day into a cool mountain creek. Having adjusted himself comfortably into the center of the tube, he kicked away from the bank and proceeded to gently float UP-stream. Only a refugee from opposite world could command such a feat.
I think that dogs must have a strong role in opposite world, perhaps even leadership qualities. This came to my attention when James casually asked one day if I ever wondered if our dogs speculated as to whether or not we had to pay extra for the doggie bags that we brought them. He has also alleged for years that our small mixed breed dog, Baby, cavorted with aliens. He swears he saw blue sparks popping off her fur one night as she lay under the bed. For him, the most natural and obvious reason for such a thing would be that she was secretly sending messages to those from another world. After that, he still viewed her with much love, but not without suspicion.
“Opposite world” inhabitants evidently place different values on items than folks of our realm. For instance, I value food. When the world was threatened pre-millennium with potential power outages and such, I felt it wise to stock up on a few days of food and water, just in case. James learned how to build a still and make moonshine, just in case.
I imagine that people from his world tend to grow at a different pace than we do. At least that is what I surmised when I saw him measuring his elderly father’s nose. James was certain that the nose was increasing too rapidly in size. His father never batted an eye. Evidently having one’s nose measured is a very natural, even common, experience where they come from. This leads me to believe that dear old dad was an “off world” immigrant also.
Of course, time is measured differently as well. At our house, we have a thing known as a mandatory waiting period. This is the time between when something is broken and the time that the repair takes places. It is a secret time, unknown to all but James. No amount of pleading or cajoling will cause James to reveal the code. I have found it wise to wait and just pray that the spirit will move him to perform his appointed chore.
However, part two of the secret rule says that no job should ever be completely finished. That accounts for walls left with unpainted spots, cleverly hidden by various pieces of artfully arranged furniture. Brakes are replaced and left partially bled, creating a completely new vocabulary of cursing by me at stop signs and intersections. Leaks in plumbing are all carefully plugged, with that one exception of the tiniest leak in the darkest place leading from the hot water heater. Of course, he insists that all jobs will be completed…but not until “next Tuesday”. Next Tuesday has never actually arrived. It seems that current Tuesdays find him taking time for fishing.
This man looked me dead in the eye and told me he needed to explore his lesbian side. He avoids looking into cat’s eyes during thunderstorms, being certain that their eyes will draw down the lightning.
Death must come rather unexpectedly to those of his original domain. Having pulled out from gas station late one night in his little brown truck, he saw a hearse behind him. Of course, in his mind, this could only be a sign that death had found him. James sped up to escape, but the hearse accelerated as well. Looking in his rear view mirror and turning a slightly pale shade of green, he sped up even more. The hearse continued to keep pace.
Throwing caution to the wind and squelching the screams that threatened to escape from his lungs, James went faster. The hearse flashed its’ lights, not once but twice. James continued his flight down an empty main street, his foot heavy on the gas pedal, his speed ever increasing. Sweat was forming on his brow and trickling down the side of his face. Finally, the hearse caught up and passed him. The driver motioned helpfully for James to turn on his headlights.
He was spared from death’s grip - this time.
This strange place was the setting for many odd experiences for my family, including the sighting of my son’s double, just as a neighbor had seen my double years before.
While sitting on the couch in the living room one morning, I heard the sound of my seven-year-old son getting out of bed. I watched as Dusty walked sleepily down the hall, wrapped in a full size sheet that he had been attached to from infancy, and saw him enter the kitchen in search of his usual breakfast of cold cereal. I watched and waited for him to come out of the kitchen, but did not hear him even making a sound. Just as I began to wonder what was happening, I heard the toilet flush from the far end of the hall and saw my son once again walk down the hall, wrapped securely in his sheet, and enter the kitchen. Only this time, I heard the sounds of cereal and milk being poured into his favorite bowl.
A few weeks after this event, I awakened during the night. I seemed to be floating from the waist up, and it felt completely normal and very pleasant that I was doing so. My legs felt oddly heavy or even stuck, yet I felt no need to free them. I looked to the door of my room that opened to the hallway. I saw my son, wrapped in his ever-present blue and white sheet, walking down the hall toward the front door. While this should have startled me, as Dusty was a sleepwalker and had been known to sleepwalk right out of the house, I felt completely fine and only mildly curious about what he might be up to. After that, I must have fallen back to sleep.
The next morning, I remembered what I had seen but decided it had been a dream. However, Dusty started a conversation that caused me to change my mind. He said, “Mom, I had the weirdest dream last night. I dreamed that I was out of bed and walking down the hall, but I looked down and my feet weren’t touching the floor, no matter how hard I tried to make them do it!” I can only assume that we were both out of body, floating around the apartment in the wee hours of the morning.
Often, many of us are out of body at night, and we do in fact cavort with spirits and guides. They provide assistance as we have this human experience. When we awaken, we give up conscious knowledge of the interaction, but we retain the essence of what we experienced. Sometimes, we visit with those who have gone on, and we interpret that visit in the form of a dream. While dreams are usually symbolic, with each character representing an aspect of our own personality, they often provide a way of traveling in spirit or venturing into alternate realities. Sometimes in dreams, we are visiting with those still living, but who are out of body as well.
Dusty also seemed to be visiting in his sister’s dreams. During the dead of night, he awoke the house screaming: “Snakes! Get them off of her! Snakes!” Jayme awoke and explained that she had been having a nightmare, dreaming that she had fallen into a pit of snakes. Dusty did not remember dreaming anything at all, but had awakened himself with his own terrified pleas for help.
Chapter 14 Little People
A couple of years later, Dusty’s screams woke me again in the middle of the night, but for a much different reason.
The phone rang once, and then suddenly my child’s cries for help jarred me from my sleep. Although I assumed “night terrors” had caused Dusty to call out, I jumped from my bed and ran to comfort him. It was a stormy night, and flashes of lightning illuminated my steps as I hurried to his side. I heard him exclaim that something was touching him, pulling his hair and yanking the covers at his feet. In my half awakened state, I yelled to him as I ran to the living room to the couch where he was sleeping. “It is only the cats, Dusty,” I said, “Don’t be afraid!”
In fact, I was sure our two young cats were only playing as he slept. When I started through the door of the room, however, in the midst the darkness I saw the shadow of a small form sitting on the arm of the sectional couch near my son’s head, and another sitting at his feet. They both seemed to have very large pointed ears and seemed much larger than our pets. Although I was quite confused by that, I still believed our cats to be the source of the trouble. Suddenly, as I neared the couch, the figure nearest me at my son’s head bent over, dropped silently to the floor and disappeared. The one at his feet faded while I watched. I stopped momentarily, too stunned to walk. I forced myself to continue moving toward my son, sat there on the couch with him, and comforted him. He was awake and genuinely terrified.
He said that he had awakened to find what he perceived as strange little men on the couch with him. Though he was unsure why, he had felt that they had come through the window that was directly behind the couch. He explained that one was lightly pulling his hair while another was at his feet holding fast to the covers thereby preventing him from pulling the covers over his head. I attempted to convince the boy that the entire episode was likely a dream, while secretly trying to convince myself of the same thing. Meanwhile, I opened the curtain and looked through the window to assure myself that the screen was still closed. On the sill lay our cats, curled up together and both fast asleep.
The next day, thirteen-year-old Jayme invited her friend Christy over to spend the night. On the day following, she urged her friend to tell me about their nocturnal experience.
Christy then said she had had the strangest dream while at our house. She said it was so real that she could not believe it was a dream, and was certain that she was awake at the time. However, under the circumstances, she felt it had to have been a form of nightmare. She said that she and Jayme had fallen asleep on the couch in the living room after spending most of the night talking to friends on the phone. Christy said that she had awakened when a small-wizened creature that appeared to be a tiny old man came through the window and began to wrestle with her, and even attempted to strangle her as she fought with him. She said that she screamed for help, but Jayme was completely unconscious. Finally, she was able to throw the creature to the floor. Just as it fell, the phone rang once, and the being disappeared.
At that point, Jayme awakened to find Christy nearly hysterical. Finally, Christy decided it must have been a strange dream and went back to sleep. The funny thing, Christy said, about her so-called dream, was that the little man was wearing red shoes, and had pointed ears. Jayme didn’t to tell her of Dusty’s adventure until the next day.
Less than a week later, I received a phone call from my cousin Debra. She wanted to know how I was, as she and her friend, Dee, had experienced an odd occurrence the previous night.
Debra, a gifted intuitive and astrologer, owns a business and, being the night owl, she likes to do her books late. That night she had been working at three a.m. while her friend Dee kept her company. Suddenly, Dee, who is also quite intuitive, said, “Call Angie, call Angie now!” Debra did not want to do that, being sure I would be asleep. She became alarmed, though, since Dee appeared to have gone into a trance, her eyes fixed on some distant unseen vision.
“What’s happening?” Debra asked her friend.
“There are little people, little men, and they are on the bed with Angie,” she exclaimed.
“What is Angie doing?” Debra asked.
“She is sitting on the bed,” Dee answered. “But she is asleep. They are toying with her,” she continued.
“Why?” inquired my cousin.
“Because they can,” she said.
“Where do they come from?” asked Debra.
“They come from the basement. Call her now!” exclaimed Dee.
Debra picked up the phone, and it rang once.
Dee said, “Hang up. They’re gone.”
Debra did so, and reported the entire incident to me the next day. I have no memory of the event whatsoever. However, I “knew” before she told me that the little men came from the basement. Debra told me one more thing that Dee had said. In her vision, oddly enough, the beings were wearing little red shoes.
Perhaps these beings exist in an underground realm, where trolls, dwarves and other underground faerie creatures dwell.
It is said that when one feels uneasy in one’s basement, it is because there are dark elves hiding in the corners or behind the stairwell. These beings are not harmful, but enjoy hiding in the dark corners of our homes. Maybe many of us have portals existing right underneath our floor, leading to strange and magical places hidden away beneath the soil.
Chapter 15 James
I read somewhere that there was a substantial increase in UFO sightings over the mountains of western North Carolina in early 1966. Knowing that my husband James was born in this area that year, this makes sense to me. You see, while many feel that men come from Mars and women come from Venus, I have long held the belief that my current husband James comes from a place known as “opposite world.” This belief was confirmed to me when I witnessed James dragging an oversized inner tube one hot summer day into a cool mountain creek. Having adjusted himself comfortably into the center of the tube, he kicked away from the bank and proceeded to gently float UP-stream. Only a refugee from opposite world could command such a feat.
I think that dogs must have a strong role in opposite world, perhaps even leadership qualities. This came to my attention when James casually asked one day if I ever wondered if our dogs speculated as to whether or not we had to pay extra for the doggie bags that we brought them. He has also alleged for years that our small mixed breed dog, Baby, cavorted with aliens. He swears he saw blue sparks popping off her fur one night as she lay under the bed. For him, the most natural and obvious reason for such a thing would be that she was secretly sending messages to those from another world. After that, he still viewed her with much love, but not without suspicion.
“Opposite world” inhabitants evidently place different values on items than folks of our realm. For instance, I value food. When the world was threatened pre-millennium with potential power outages and such, I felt it wise to stock up on a few days of food and water, just in case. James learned how to build a still and make moonshine, just in case.
I imagine that people from his world tend to grow at a different pace than we do. At least that is what I surmised when I saw him measuring his elderly father’s nose. James was certain that the nose was increasing too rapidly in size. His father never batted an eye. Evidently having one’s nose measured is a very natural, even common, experience where they come from. This leads me to believe that dear old dad was an “off world” immigrant also.
Of course, time is measured differently as well. At our house, we have a thing known as a mandatory waiting period. This is the time between when something is broken and the time that the repair takes places. It is a secret time, unknown to all but James. No amount of pleading or cajoling will cause James to reveal the code. I have found it wise to wait and just pray that the spirit will move him to perform his appointed chore.
However, part two of the secret rule says that no job should ever be completely finished. That accounts for walls left with unpainted spots, cleverly hidden by various pieces of artfully arranged furniture. Brakes are replaced and left partially bled, creating a completely new vocabulary of cursing by me at stop signs and intersections. Leaks in plumbing are all carefully plugged, with that one exception of the tiniest leak in the darkest place leading from the hot water heater. Of course, he insists that all jobs will be completed…but not until “next Tuesday”. Next Tuesday has never actually arrived. It seems that current Tuesdays find him taking time for fishing.
This man looked me dead in the eye and told me he needed to explore his lesbian side. He avoids looking into cat’s eyes during thunderstorms, being certain that their eyes will draw down the lightning.
Death must come rather unexpectedly to those of his original domain. Having pulled out from gas station late one night in his little brown truck, he saw a hearse behind him. Of course, in his mind, this could only be a sign that death had found him. James sped up to escape, but the hearse accelerated as well. Looking in his rear view mirror and turning a slightly pale shade of green, he sped up even more. The hearse continued to keep pace.
Throwing caution to the wind and squelching the screams that threatened to escape from his lungs, James went faster. The hearse flashed its’ lights, not once but twice. James continued his flight down an empty main street, his foot heavy on the gas pedal, his speed ever increasing. Sweat was forming on his brow and trickling down the side of his face. Finally, the hearse caught up and passed him. The driver motioned helpfully for James to turn on his headlights.
He was spared from death’s grip - this time.
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